Broader View

2024 Survey of American Jewish Opinion, AJC, June 2024

Public Opinion Poll No. 92, Palestinian Cener for Policy and Survey Research, June 12, 2024

[T]wo-thirds of the [Gaza and West Bank Palestinian] public continue to support the October 7 attack, and 80% believe it put the Palestinian issue at the center of global attention.

Public Opinion Poll No. 91, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, March 20, 2024 [pdf]

With humanitarian conditions in the Gaza Strip worsening, support for Hamas declines in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip; and as support for armed struggle drops in both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, support for the two-state solution rises in the Gaza Strip only. Nonetheless, wide popular support for October the 7th offensive remains unchanged and the standing of the Palestinian Authority and its leadership remains extremely weak.

The Palestinian Authority’s Inability to Get Out of Its Own Way by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, February 22, 2024

The PA is poised to emerge from the chaos in Gaza better positioned than it has been in years. But its inability to lead or to even adapt will instead leave it weak, ineffectual, and barely relevant.

Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 90, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, December 13, 2023

Wide public support for Hamas’ offensive on October the 7th, but the vast majority denies that Hamas has committed atrocities against Israeli civilians. The war increases Hamas’ popularity and greatly weakens the standing of the PA and its leadership; nonetheless, the majority of the Palestinians remains unsupportive of Hamas. Support for armed struggle rises, particularly in the West Bank and in response to settlers’ violence, but support for the two-state solution rises somewhat. The overwhelming majority condemns the positions taken by the US and the main European powers during the war and express the belief that they have lost their moral compass.

The Palestinian Leader Who Survived the Death of Palestine by Adam Ragson and Aaron Boxerman, Foreign Policy, July 31, 2023

What would it mean for Hussein al-Sheikh to lead a people whose dream of independence is no longer alive?

Anatomy of a power vacuum: How sewage and import rules stoke West Bank conflict by Haviv Rettig Gur, The Times of Israel, July 6, 2023

Part of the story of escalating violence is as boring as it is devastating: Bureaucratic ineptitude, driven by the lack of democracy in areas under its control.

Palestinian poll: Islamist terror groups best thing since 1948, Jewish News Syndicate, June 15, 2023

A majority of respondents support “armed struggle” against Israel.

Israel’s Obligations in Abbas’s War by Shoshana Bryen, Jewish News Syndicate, June 7, 2023

It should protect its people, not serve as the P.A. leader’s Praetorian Guard.

Video (30’36”): Rejectionism in Palestinian Children’s Education: How Influential?, Itamar Marcus (Palestinian Media Watch), Middle East Forum, May 22, 2023

Ad-libbed at the General Assembly, Mahmoud Abbas’s full-blown rejectionism by David Horovitz, The Times of Israel, May 18, 2023

Speaking at the UN’s Nakba fest, the PA chief contradicted his previous assurances to Israel. In a reflection of the collapse of negotiation prospects, hardly anyone even noticed

Why the Palestinians have failed to create a state by James Sinkinson, Jewish News Syndicate, May 3, 2023

Valuing terror over governance, Palestinian leaders have left their movement bereft of the basic qualities required of statehood.

What are the Palestinians thinking? by Maurice Hirsch, Adv., Palestinian Media Watch, March 22 (see also Public Opinion Poll No. 87, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, March 14, 2023)

What Would a Third Intifada Mean for Palestinians? by Jonathan Schanzer, Newsweek, February 23, 2023

How The Palestinians Lost Their Way by Alon Ben-Meir, Eurasia Review, February 17, 2023

Although the 55-year-old Israeli occupation cannot be justified under any circumstances, Palestinian leaders have greatly contributed to its disastrous continuation. Their misguided policies over the years have tragically subjected four generations to a life of misery and hopelessness in pursuit of a delusional goal of destroying Israel.

Identity, Education, and Palestinian Violence by Hussein Aboubakr Mansour, Endowment for Middle East Truth (EMET), February 2, 2023

Abu Mazen’s Myopic Maneuvering by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, October 20, 2022

Mahmoud Abbas’ Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day by Daniel Gordis, Israel from the Inside, August 22, 2022

And how it turned our attention away from the massacre we really should be speaking about this week.

The ‘Two-State Solution’ to Destroy Israel by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, July 4, 2022 (see also Public Opinion Poll No. 84, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, June 28, 2022)

The Hamas wars by Shoshana Bryen, Jewish News Syndicate, April 21, 2022

The Palestinian people are in a wretched situation brought on by their own leadership in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

What are the Palestinians thinking? A new survey exposes the harsh reality by Maurice Hirsch, Palestinian Media Watch, March 29, 2022 (see also Public Opinion Poll No. 83, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, March 22, 2022)

PLO renounces all agreements with Israel by Maurice Hirsch, Palestinian Media Watch, March 6, 2022

What does supporting “Palestinian reconciliation” really mean? by Maurice Hirsch, Adv. and Itamar Marcus, Palestinian Media Watch, February 2, 2022

The Other War by Shoshana Bryen, Newsweek, November 26, 2021

Palestinians want better lives, regardless of rights by Hussain Abdul-Hussain, House of Wisdom, October 28, 2021

Survey shows that Rep. Tlaib, Progressives don’t represent Palestinian opinion

Why Palestinians Cannot Make Peace with Israel by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, October 20, 2021

The Palestinian Authority, which is largely funded by American and European taxpayers’ money, is imprisoning Palestinians for even trying to engage in real estate deals with Jews. The Palestinian public seems generally supportive of the death sentences and extrajudicial killings of suspected “land dealers” and informants. Even Palestinian human rights organizations appear to be extremely careful when they mention such issues.

Mahmoud Abbas’ Message of Hopelessness and Hostility at the UN by Amb. Alan Baker, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Briefs Vol. 21, No. 18, October 6, 2021

The Other Half of the Equation to Sidelining Hamas by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, May 27, 2021

Palestinian Miscalculations Have Led to a New War by Shoshana Bryen, Newsweek, May 12, 2021

Begging for American interference by Shoshana Bryen, Jewish News Syndicate, May 3, 2021

Military pressure is not in the cards. The bottom line is that the Palestinian Authority is corrupt, and that has to be solved internally.

The Return of Palestinian Politics by Jonathan Schanzer, Foreign Policy, April 9, 2021

Elections in May will be the first since 2006—a remarkable but risky gambit.

A Palestinian Reckoning: Time for a New Beginning by Hussein Agha and Ahmad Samih Khalidi, Foreign Affairs, March/April 2021

Palestinian diplomacy has failed massively. It takes exceptional talent to transform an almost complete consensus among Arabs and Muslims on the future of Palestine and Jerusalem into just another matter on a packed Arab agenda.

What Drives the Palestinian Reconciliation and Election Processes? by Brig.-Gen. (res.) Yossi Kuperwasser, The Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief Vol. 21, No. 2, February 14, 2021

Public Opinion Poll No. 78, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR), December 15, 2020

Two thirds demand the resignation of president Abbas amidst a split around the resumption of coordination with Israel with a majority expressing the view that Israel came out the winner and fearing the step could expand Arab normalization deals with Israel and reduce the prospect for reconciliation and the holding of elections; but the majority expresses optimism about the Joe Biden election and support holding dialogue with the new U.S. administration.

The Short-Sighted Palestinian Turn Toward Turkey by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, October 22, 2020

Video: Palestinian Politics 101 (1:00’17”), Sam Bahour for J Street, August 12, 2020

A Nation Divided: Palestinian Views on War and Peace with Israel by David Pollock, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Policy Focus 165, June 2020

Palestinian Majority Rejects Two-State Solution, but Backs Tactical Compromises by David Pollock, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, February 25, 2020

The Palestinian Public’s Pushback to the Peace to Prosperity Plan by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, February 13, 2020

Poll finds Palestinians overwhelmingly reject Trump plan by Joseph Krauss and Mohammed Daraghmeh, AP, February 11, 2020

Palestinians: ‘Foreigners’ in an Arab Country [Iraq] by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, December 24, 2019

It’s Time To Decide How We [the U.S.] Treat The Palestinian Authority by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, December 19, 2019

Why the status quo is the least bad option for Palestinians by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish News Syndicate, November 13, 2019

An Israeli pullout would turn the West Bank into a second Gaza, leading to more Palestinian casualties and a lower quality of life.

The missing billions of the Palestinian Authority: Funding for terror organizations, and funding for institutions that have not functioned for over a decade by Maurice Hirsch, Palestinian Media Watch, November 4, 2019

Public Opinion Poll No. 73, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, September 16, 2019

While support for two-state solution declines, support for armed attacks rises and an overwhelming majority rejects the US “deal of the century” and believes it will not end the occupation.

Younger Palestinians More Moderate on Tactical Issues, But Not on Long-Term Peace with Israel by David Pollock, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, PolicyWatch 3175, September 6, 2019

New Poll: Palestinians Want All of Jerusalem, Prisoners Not as High a Priority as Widely Thought by Benjamin Kerstein, The Algemeiner, August 27, 2019

The price of Palestinian frustrations by Eyal Zisser, Israel Hayom, July 29, 2019

The new reality of rapprochement between Israel and the Arab world is driving the Palestinians mad. One after another, they are losing all their cards for applying pressure against Israel, and see little recourse but to unload their outrage on peace-seeking individuals from the Arab world.

80% of Palestinians believe Arabs have abandoned them, poll shows by Khaled Abu Toameh, The Jerusalem Post, July 4, 2019

How many Major-Generals do the PA security forces need? by Maurice Hirsch, Palestinian Media Watch, June 6, 2019

Video: Terror, Racket, and Corruption (16’57”) by Pierre Rehov, May 2019

Making Sense of Palestinian Logic by Daniel Pipes, National Review Online, May 4, 2019

For a State, Palestinians Would Cede “Right of Return”—and More by David Pollock, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, December 3, 2018

Two surveys conducted by different Palestinian pollsters in October show unexpected popular flexibility on core issues of an eventual peace deal with Israel, despite widespread skepticism among Palestinians about current prospects. These findings suggest that American, Israeli, and Arab policymakers should all pay more attention to what the Palestinian people really want and less attention to what their politicians or partisans say they “should” want. [….] Two-thirds of Gazans say Palestinians should accept that the “right of return” not apply to Israel, but only to the West Bank and Gaza, if that is the price of a Palestinian state.

The “Separate” Palestinian State by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, November 12, 2018

Have Palestinians given up on resistance? by Adnan Abu Amer, Al-Monitor, October 26, 2018

Palestinians: Spitting in the Well by Bassam Tawil, Gatestone Institute, September 7, 2018

Introducing: The Next Palestinian Leader by Jonah Naghi, Israel Policy Exchange, August 14, 2018

Your One-Stop Guide to the Palestinian Funding Issue by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, July 5, 2018

It’s Time to Sideline the PA, But Not In the Way You Think by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, June 28, 2018

The Real Palestinian Catastrophe by Elliott Abrams, The Weekly Standard, May 18, 2018

The catastrophic mishandling of Palestinian affairs by generations of leaders from Haj Amin al-Husseini (the pro-Nazi mufti of the British Mandate period) to Yasser Arafat and now to Mahmoud Abbas has been the true Palestinian Nakba.

The Palestinian Authority’s ‘Day of Rage’ Over the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem Smacks of Desperation by Shoshana Bryen, The Daily Caller, May 14, 2018

Results of Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 56, An-Najah National University Center for Opinion Polls and Survey Studies, March 24, 2018

54% of West Bank and Gaza Palestinians reject the creation of a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders as a final solution for the Palestinian cause; 71% reject such a solution if it includes land exchange; 77% reject the creation of a binational state for both Arabs and Jews.

Why Hamas Will Not Disarm by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, March 26, 2018

Actually, Palestinians Are Doing Pretty Well Under Israeli Rule by Jonah Cohen, The Weekly Standard, March 20, 2018

If you look at the data, life keeps improving in the Palestinian territories.

In the Aftermath of an Assassination Attempt Against the Palestinian Prime Minister, Conspiracy Theories Abound by Jonathan Schanzer, Tablet, March 16, 2018

Palestinians becoming more extreme in their positions – poll by Khaled Abu Toameh, The Times of Israel, February 25, 2018 (see also video: Khaled Abu Toameh (22’57”), David Horowitz’s Restoration Weekend 2017)

Percentage of West Bank and Gaza residents who support ‘armed resistance’ rises to 35% — 5% more than last year

Interview with Avi Issacharoff on Palestinian Reconciliation, Near East Report, November 16, 2017

Palestinian Reconciliation Theater by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, October 19, 2017

Palestinian Reconciliation: To What End? by Shoshana Bryen, American Thinker, October 16, 2017

How Do Palestinians Define “Terrorism”? by Jonathan Schanzer and Grant Rumley, The Wall Street Journal, September 12, 2017

How Israel Won the War and Defeated the Palestinian Dream by Gregg Carlstrom, Newsweek, August 29, 2017

Far from achieving a two-state solution, they [Fatah and Hamas] have created a three-state reality: two dilapidated statelets dominated by a strong, prosperous Israel.

Palestinians have spent decades battling Israel. Now they’re battling each other. by Shira Rubin, Vox, Aug 22, 2017

A Palestinian civil war is making independence seem further away than ever before.

A day in Area ‘A’ by Aviva Klompas, The Times of Israel, August 6, 2017

The End of This Road: The Decline of the Palestinian National Movement by Hussein Agha and Ahmad Samih Khalidi, The New Yorker, August 6, 2017

Poll: Majority of Palestinians Support Payments to Terrorists, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), July 12, 2017

Straight talk and Palestinian ‘intent’ by Shoshana Bryen, American Thinker, June 17, 2017

The surprising opinions of Palestinians: They’re not as hostile to President Trump’s posture as Americans probably assume by David Pollock, New York Daily News, June 7, 2017

Building an Economically Viable Palestinian State by Jonah Naghi, Israel Policy Forum, Matzav Blog, June 5, 2017

There Won’t Be Peace While the Power Is Out by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, May 22, 2017

The Inside Out and Outside In of Palestinian Politics by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Matzav Blog, May 4, 2017

Hamas is using internal moves to strengthen its external position, and Abbas is using external moves to strengthen his internal position.

The Signal and the Noise in the Barghouti Op-Ed by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Matzav Blog, April 20, 2017

Do Palestinians Want a Two-State Solution? by Daniel Polisar, Mosaic, April 3, 2017

Western statesmen and politicians have long asserted that the two-state solution commands majority support on the ground. Most Palestinians say otherwise.

The Perplexing Problem of Propping Up The PA by Michael J. Koplow, Israel Policy Forum, Koplow Column, March 2, 2017

The Fragile State of the Palestinian Authority by Jonathan Schanzer and Grant Rumley, Wall Street Journal Europe, September 8, 2016

Conversations with the Palestinians of 1967: Has Anything Changed? by Menahem Milson, Mosaic, August 29, 2016

Just after the Six-Day War, an Israeli professor met and took notes on his discussions with Palestinian intellectuals. They reveal as much about now as about then.

Deja Vu and the Coming Palestinian Elections by Elliott Abrams, The Council on Foreign Relations, August 29, 2016

The Fraying Palestinian Political Entity in the West Bank by Pinhas Inbari, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, August 3, 2016

The 11^th Encyclopædia Britannica [1910-1911] on Who Is a Palestinian by Daniel Pipes, July 31, 2016

The End of Palestinian Nationalism by Liel Leibovitz, Tablet, July 5, 2016

Why Palestinians Reject Peace by Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary, June 14, 2016

Palestinians: The “Battle for Succession” by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, May 16, 2016

Who Will Succeed Mahmoud Abbas and Does It Really Matter?

After Abbas, Le Déluge in the Palestinian Authority by Grant Rumley and Jonathan Schanzer, inFocus Quarterly, Spring 2016

The PA’s billion dollar fraud by Itamar Marcus, Palestinian Media Watch, PMW Special Report, April 27, 2016

Whitewashing Palestine to Eliminate Israel: The Case of the One-State Advocates by Joseph S. Spoerl, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, April 12, 2016

Why the Palestinians Are Calling to Overthrow Abbas by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, April 6, 2016

The Palestinians’ Homemade Misery by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, April 7, 2016

Presidents for Life, No Elections by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, April 1, 2016

Palestinians: We Want Our Own Knesset by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, March 1, 2016

Poll: Support for third intifada waning among Palestinians, The Times of Israel, February 7, 2016

Palestinians need new leadership by Diana Buttu, Gulf News, February 2, 2016

Where Providing Water Is a Crime by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, January 29, 2016

Palestinians: Is Abbas Losing Control? by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, January 26, 2016

Fatah official: Palestine alongside Israel is just ‘a phase’, Times of Israel, January 22, 2016,

Tawfik Tirawi says he’ll gladly accept state on 1967 borders as a step towards a nation stretching from the Jordan River to the sea

Why the West Bank refugee camps refuse to join the Third Intifada by Avi Issacharoff, The Times of Israel, January 15, 2016

In Jenin and Balata, they’re waiting for a one-state solution… or for Islamic State

Video: The PA’s ongoing incitement to hatred and violence: An interview with Itamar Marcus on The Rebel (6’38”), Palestinian Media Watch, December 15, 2015

Palestinians’ Biggest Tragedy: Failed Leadership by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, December 11, 2015

Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 58, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, December 14, 2015

Three trends found in the last quarter continue: two thirds of the public demand Abbas resignation; two-thirds support an armed intifada and the current wave of stabbings; and support for the two-state solution continues to decline

Fatah, with Mahmoud Abbas at the Helm, Confirms the Confrontation Strategy toward Israel by Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, December 8, 2015

The Palestinians’ Window of Opportunity Is Closing by Bassam Tawil, Gatestone Institute, December 8, 2015

Compromise for Now, the End of Israel for Later by David Pollock, Mosaic, November 19, 2015

Let’s Stop Pretending Palestinians Want Peace by Jonathan Greenberg, Observer, November 9, 2015

On the 20th anniversary of the assassination of Yitzhak Rabin, U.S. leaders urge peace despite an obvious truth: Palestinians aren’t ready. Everyone keeps doing the same thing they’ve been doing for decades regardless of how dreadful the outcomes have been. Palestinians do not want to make peace with Israelis. That’s not my opinion. It’s theirs. All I did was listen to them.

Luxury Alongside Poverty in the Palestinian Authority by Yael Kaplan, Ryan Hartney, and Andrew Felsenthalm, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, November 11, 2015 (with great photos)

What Do Palestinians Want? by Daniel Polisar, Mosaic, November 2, 2015

A Ray of Light Amid the Terror by Evelyn Gordon, October 17, 2015

Most Palestinians no longer support two-state solution by Ali Sawafta, Reuters, September 21, 2015 (see data at Poll: Palestinians Support Renewed Armed Intifada, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, September 21, 2015)

Does It Really Matter Who the Next Palestinian President Is? by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, September 8, 2015

Long-Term Palestinian Views on Israel: Two States Now, One State Later? by David Pollock, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, September 3, 2015 (see also New Poll Shows Why Palestinians Have No Interest in Peace by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, September 7, 2015)

From a normative perspective, too, Palestinian attitudes are clearly maximalist. In the West Bank, 81 percent say that all of historic Palestine “is Palestinian land and Jews have no rights to the land.” In Gaza, that proportion is even higher: 88 percent.

What Are Palestinians Doing With U.S. Money? by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, August 19, 2015

If Israel disappears, others will too by Mudar Zahran, Israel Hayom, July 9, 2015

The Palestinians’ Real Strategy by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, June 22, 2015

Palestinian poll shows discontent with Hamas, Gaza War by Ian Deitch, AP, June 9, 2015

Who Is Blocking Palestinian Elections? by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, June 4, 2015

After Abbas, An Abyss: The Palestinian Succession Crisis by Ghaith al-Omari and Neri Zilber, Foreign Affairs, May 20, 2015

A Palestinian state requires many things in order to be viable: economic opportunity, territorial contiguity, natural resources, and working institutions. For a people intent on attaining self-determination, it behooves the Palestinians, as well as the international community, to ensure a smooth transition process after Abbas.

The Palestinians No One Talks About by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, April 29, 2015

The plight of Palestinian women by Robert Fulford, National Post, April 10, 2015

What Will Happen If the Palestinians Really End Security Cooperation? by Neri Zilber, TheTower.org, March 6, 2015

Empowering Women, Palestinian-Style by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, February 24, 2015

The Palestinian Victims of the West’s Israel Obsession by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, February 18, 2015

We Palestinians hold the key to a better future by Bassem Eid, The Times of Israel, February 12, 2015

Threat of violence silences Palestinian journalists by Asmaa al-Ghoul, Al-Monitor, February 3, 2015

Why Is Hamas Smiling? by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, January 30, 2015

Islamic State Deepens Grip in Future Palestine by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, January 23, 2015

Are Palestinian Offensives Inviting Israeli Reprisals? by Steven J. Rosen, Middle East Forum, January 7, 2015

Now I understand how and why the Palestinians lost Palestine by Ghazi Hamad, The Times of Israel, January 2, 2015

The Hamas deputy foreign minister has published a scathing broadside, slamming the Palestinian leadership for failing to craft a strategic vision and build national consensus. Here it is translated in full from the original Arabic

Large rise in Palestinian support for armed struggle against Israel by Avi Issacharoff, Times of Israel, October 28, 2014

Poll shows over 42% now back violence, compared to 31% before the summer war; 70% of Palestinians believe Hamas was victorious and most think the conflict achieved Palestinian goals

Abbas’ fortunes turn around after Gaza war by Daoud Kuttab, Al-Monitor, October 16, 2014

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has seen a boost in recent opinion polls as events turn his way, including Sweden’s recognition of Palestine, the Gaza donor conference and the progress of the national unity government.

Mahmoud Abbas Justifies Palestinian Terror in His UN General Assembly Speech by Lt. Col. (ret.) Jonathan D. Halevi, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief Vol. 14, No. 31, September 30, 2014

Palestinian Public Opinion Poll No. 53, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, September 29, 2014

One month after the end of the Gaza War: a drop is found in the level of satisfaction with war achievements, in support for Hamas and Ismail Haniyeh, and in support for an armed intifada; but the public still favors Hamas’ “way” over negotiations, and Hamas and Haniyeh are still more popular than Fatah and Mahmud Abbas

Abbas Questions Unity Deal by Michael Johnson, Jewish Policy Center, September 9, 2014

New Palestinian Poll: Ismail Haniyeh Beats Mahmoud Abbas and Hamas Wins PA Parliamentary Elections by Khalil Shikaki, Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, September 2, 2014

Gaza War ends with a victory for Hamas leading to a great increase in its popularity and the popularity of its approach of armed resistance: for the first time since 2006, Hamas wins parliamentary and presidential elections if they were to take place today while West Bankers support transferring Hamas’ approach to the West Bank

Why Abbas needs Hamas by Shlomi Eldar, Al-Monitor, September 2, 2014

Another Palestinian Mistake at the UN by Daniel Gordis, Bloomberg View, August 27, 2014

Abba Eban, Israel’s legendary representative to the United Nations, once famously remarked that “the Arabs never miss an opportunity to miss an opportunity.” Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas proved Eban’s point Friday, in an incendiary speech to the UN General Assembly in which he accused Israel of “a new war of genocide” against the Palestinian people.

Palestinians: United Against Israel by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, August 5, 2014

Salvaging Abbas by Steven A. Cook, Times of Israel, July 29, 2014

Abbas Now Paying the Price of Martyrdom Culture He Nourished by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, July 25, 2014

The Myth of Palestinian Centrality by Efraim Karsh, Middle East Forum, July 7, 2014

[E]ven though the “Palestine question” has long formed the main common denominator of pan-Arab solidarity and its most effective rallying cry, neither the Arab states nor Palestinian leaders have truly wanted the “liberation of Palestine.” The former have manipulated the “Palestine” cause to their own ends while blocking the Palestinians’ road to statehood, perpetuating the refugee problem, and abusing their guest Palestinian populations. The latter have immersed their hapless constituents in disastrous and wholly unnecessary conflicts, while lining their pockets from the proceeds of this ongoing tragedy.  for nearly a century Palestinian leaders have missed no opportunity to impede the development of Palestinian civil society and the attainment of Palestinian statehood.  Nor have ordinary Arabs evinced any interest in the Palestinian cause. Quite the reverse in fact; from their arrival in the Arab states during the 1948 war the Palestinians were deeply resented and despised by the host societies and this sentiment has changed little over the years.

New Palestinian Intifada—Against Abbas by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, June 23, 2014

Terrorists & Kleptocrats: How Corruption is Eating the Palestinians Alive by Aaron Menenberg, The Tower, June 2014

The cost of PA corruption is monumental. More than anything else, it makes Palestinian political and economic progress all but impossible.

Iran spawns new jihadist group in Gaza by Jonathan Schanzer and Grant Rumley, Long War Journal, June 18, 2014

Fatah-Hamas Unity Puts Lie to U.S. Middle East Peace Efforts by Lawrence J. Haas, US News, June 3, 2014

The Lebanonization of the Palestinians by Jonathan Schanzer, Weekly Standard Blog, June 2, 2014

Palestinian Reconciliation: Devil in the Details? by Matthew Levitt and Neri Zilber, Washington Institute for Middle East Policy, May 28, 2014

What Kind of Palestinian State? by Bassam Tawil, Gatestone Institute, May 15, 2014

Lebanon (and UNRWA) continue treating Pal Syrians like dirt by Elder Of Ziyon, May 6, 2014

The Palestinian Authority’s Alternatives To Continuing Negotiations With Israel by C. Jacob, Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No.1089, May 6, 2014

Fatah depicts unity with Hamas as unity between two terror organizations by Itamar Marcus Nan Jacques Zilberdik, Palestinian Media Watch, April 30, 2014

Will Israel Save Hamas and Fatah Again? by Shoshana Bryen, Gatestone Institute, April 29, 2014

Video: Christy, a Palestinian Christian’s plea to Dr. Saeb Erekat (25’43”), April 25, 2014 (see also original presentation at Uppsala University, 25’08”, here)

Why Israel may need to rethink its assumptions on Palestinian unity by Christa Case Bryant, Christian Science Monitor, April 23, 2014

Can Barghouti Save the Peace Process? by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, April 11, 2014

Palestine’s Plan for when Peace Talks Fail by Jonathan Schanzer and Grant Rumley, The National Interest, March 17, 2014

Fatah Infighting Jeopardizes Kerry’s Peace Process by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, March 4, 2014

Fatah and the “Armed Struggle” against Israel by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, February 7, 2014

The PA’s Self-Inflicted Financial Wounds by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, February 6, 2014

Hamas, Islamic Jihad Gunmen Now in West Bank by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, January 30, 2014

Israeli Arabs: We Do Not Want to Live in Palestinian State by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, January 6, 2014

Palestinians: Is Abbas Being Asked to Sign His Death Warrant? by Ali Salim, Gatestone Institute, December 29, 2013

We Really Need to Talk About [Palestinian] Corruption by Jonathan Schanzer, The Tower, December 9, 2013

Israeli Christians Moving in a New Direction by Joseph Puder, FrontPageMag.com, October 21, 2013

Palestinians: The War between Mahmoud and Mohamed by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, November 1, 2013

Beyond Words: Causes, Consequences, and Cures for Palestinian Authority Hate Speech by David Pollock, Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Policy Focus 124, September 2013

A New Intifada? by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, September 24, 2013

What a Real Peace Process Would Look Like by Evelyn Gordon, Commentary, September 10, 2013

Fatah Wants Egypt To Overthrow Hamas by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, September 6, 2013

Can Palestinians Accept Existence of Jewish State? by Einat Wilf, Al-Monitor, August 15, 2013

Palestinians Being Slaughtered, Displaced by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, August 14, 2013

“The mistreatment of Palestinians at the hands of the Lebanese authorities always reminds one of those university professors and political commentators living in the U.S. who pretend to be “pro-Palestinian.” They focus their attacks on Israel, and ignore the real suffering of the Palestinian people at the hands of Arab countries.”

Ramallah vs. the “Peace Process” by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, August 1, 2013 What the U.S. Does Not Want to Know About Abbas by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, June 29, 2013

The Bane of Palestinian Infighting by Kimberly Marten, New York Times, June 26, 2013

Buying Time? Money, Guns and Politics in the West Bank, International Crisis Group, Middle East Report No. 142, May 29, 2013

Disturbing New Data on Palestinian Support for Suicide Bombing by Adam Levick, The Algemeiner, May 1, 2013 (references data from The World’s Muslims: Religion, Politics and Society, The Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life, April 30, 2013)

The Slow Death of Palestinian Democracy, by Jonathan Schanzer, Foreign Policy, April 19, 2013

Close the Peace Gap by David M. Weinberg, Israel Hayom, March 13, 2013

Abbas Needs an Heir Apparent by Jonathan Schanzer, Los Angeles Times, February 28, 2013

Video: The Humiliation of Palestinian Refugees: Part 1 – Iraq (3’22”), Part 2 – Jordan (2’31”), Part 3 – Lebanon and Syria (2’40”), December 2012

The PA is the First Victim of Its Reckless UN Bid by Evelyn Gordon, Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, January 24, 2013

State of Confusion Over State of Palestine by Jonathan Schanzer, CNN.com, January 15, 2013

The Palestinian Authority’s Inconvenient Truthsby Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, January 3, 2013

Israel’s Arabs: Deprived or Radicalized? by Efraim Karsh, Israel Affairs, January 2013

Converging Toward Hamas by Shoshana Bryen, Gatestone Institute, December 21, 2012

Is Palestine a state? That may depend on the Palestinians by Raphael Ahren, Times of Israel, December 12, 2012

Rethinking Palestine 2012 by Shoshana Bryen, American Thinker, October 4, 2012

Abbas’ Five Non-Options by Tal Becker, The Washington Institute for Near East Policy, Policy Notes No. 13, September 2012: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas faces a choice between negotiating with Israel, dismantling the Palestinian Authority, reconciliation with Hamas, unilateral moves in the U.S., and “non-violent” protest.  All are bad options.

Unpacking the Palestinians’ Renewed UN Bid by Danielle Spiegel Feld, Israel Policy Forum, September 27, 2012

A Palestinian Spring by Jonathan Schanzer, Foreign Policy, September 14, 2012

Why Hasn’t There Been Another Palestinian Intifada? by Alexander H. Joffe and Asaf Romirowsky, Forbes, September 9, 2012

An Intifada in Fatah’s Future by Aymenn Jawad Al-Tamimi, The American Spectator, August 2, 2012

Why Abbas Will Never Make Peace With Israel by Khaled Abu Toameh, Gatestone Institute, July 12, 2012

Palestinian Attitudes Toward Israel by Michael Sharnoff, Foreign Policy Research Center E-Notes, May 2012

Who are the Palestinian-Arabs? by Yoram Ettinger, Ha’Ummah, Vol. 185, March 31, 2012

Will Palestinian Reconciliation Lead to a Hamas Takeover of the PLO? by Jonathan D. Halevi, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Viewpoints No. 587, January-February 2012

The Case for Palestinian Nationalism by Clifford D. May, National Review, December 22, 2011

Video: The Evolving Palestinian Strategy, FDD Washington Forum, December 8, 2011 (panel discussion with Jonathan Schanzer (Foundation for Defense of Democracies), David Makovsky (Washington Institute for Near East Policy) and Professor Nathan Brown (George Washington University).

The revisionist history of Sari Nusseibeh by Efraim Karsh, Jerusalem Post, October 11, 2011

There Is No Palestinian State by Efraim Karsh, The Daily Beast, September 16, 2011

What Do the Arabs of East Jerusalem Really Want? by David Pollock, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief Vol. 11, No. 14, September 7, 2011

The Palestinians’ Imaginary State by Steven J. Rosen, Foreign Policy, August 3, 2011

Palestine Lost: A new generation of Palestinian activists are less interested in forging a state than in winning their rights by Rachel Shabi, Financial Times, July 13, 2011

Fatah-Hamas Reconciliation: Significance and Repercussions by Matti Steinberg, lecture at the Carnegie Endowment, Washington, DC, June 21, 2011 [with video]

How Arab Media View a Declaration of Palestinian Statehood by Linda Menuhin Abdul Aziz, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Briefs Vol. 11, No. 5, June 27, 2011

U.S. Foreign Aid to the Palestinians by Jim Zanotti, Congressional Research Service Report to Congress #RS22967, May 31, 2011

From FY2008 to the present, annual U.S. bilateral assistance to the West Bank and Gaza Strip has averaged over $600 million, including annual averages of over $200 million in direct budgetary assistance and over $100 million in non-lethal security assistance for the PA in the West Bank. Additionally, the United States is the largest single-state donor to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). However, whether UNRWA’s role is beneficial remains a polarizing question, particularly with respect to its presence in Hamas-controlled Gaza.

Circus of the Dancing Bears by Aaron David Miller, Foreign Policy, May 4, 2011

The Hamas-Fatah unity agreement is a dangerous game – and a gift to Israel’s right wing.

The Damaging Deal Between Hamas and Fatah by Elliott Abrams, The Weekly Standard, April 29, 2011

Survey: Majority of Palestinians Believe Israel not Partner for Peace, WAFA Palestine News & Info Agency, April 5, 2011 (see also commentary by Barry Rubin)

• 72% of Palestinians surveyed believe that the Palestinians do not have a partner for peace in Israel.
• 71% believe that Hamas should change its position on the elimination of the state of Israel.
• The majority, 57%, identified themselves as Muslims first, 21% identified as Palestinians first.
• About 40% of the respondents believe that the Islamic caliphate is the best system for Palestinians, 24% chose a system like one of the Arab countries, and 12 % prefer a system like one of the European countries.

A West Bank anachronism by Ahmad Samih Khalidi, Guardian, April 19, 2011: “The PLO goal of statehood has lost its glitter as a new national mood transforms the Palestinian struggle.”

All Set to Be a Failed State by Rick Richman, Commentary, April 13, 2011

Not to put too fine a point on it: if you can’t finish drafting your constitution; if your “president” is in the seventh year of his four-year term; if you have no functioning legislature and cannot hold parliamentary elections; if half your putative state is occupied by terrorists; if your education system is a cesspool of anti-Semitism; if you insist upon dedicating public squares to those who massacred civilians; if your ruling party is corroded by corruption; if you have no free press or independent judiciary; if you cannot implement anything in negotiations that you refuse to conduct in any event; and if you haven’t finished Phase I of the Roadmap . . . well, you might not be ready for a state.

Abbas’s Choice: Peace With Israel or Hamas by Jonathan S. Tobin, Commentary, March 22, 2011

Book Review by Samara Greenberg: “Palestine Betrayed” by Efraim Karsh, National Security Policy Proceedings, Winter 2010

At the heart of Palestine Betrayed, Karsh argues that the Palestinian people were—and still are—betrayed by their very own leaders who promised to act with their best interests in mind but instead acted on personal ambitions. Never relinquishing their dreams of a pan-Arab empire under their homage, each leader refused to establish peaceful relations with the Jews, condemning the Palestinian people to decades of war and statelessness. [….] Palestine Betrayed is an extraordinarily well-documented account of  the events leading up to Israel’s creation.

Let’s stop pretending by Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik, Jerusalem Post, March 14, 2011

Pressures Build Inside Fatah Ahead of Palestinian State Declaration by Dror Bar-Yosef, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Viewpoints No. 582, March-April 2011

Palestinians Bid for Recognition of Statehood and International Condemnation of Israel’s Settlements by L. Barkan, The Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Inquiry & Analysis Series Report No. 667, February 21, 2011

Traveling in the West Bank by Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post blog (Part 1, February 20, 2011) (Part 2, February 21, 2011)

Does the Arab World Truly Want a “Palestine”? A briefing by Efraim Karsh, Middle East Forum, January 25, 2011 [with audio recording of full talk]

The Erekat Retrenchment by Matthew RJ Brodsky, Ynetnews.com, January 26, 2011

What Palestinians Are Saying Online by Jonathan Schanzer, Middle East Quarterly, Winter 2011

Poll: Support for Direct Negotiations in Case Cessation of Settlement Construction, WAFA Palestinian News Agency, October 14, 2010

In a question about how the Palestinians identify themselves, the results reveal  that 61% identify themselves as ‘Muslims first”, 20% as ‘Palestinians first’, and 15% as ‘human being first’, and 3% as ‘Arabs first.’

The Flotilla Farce by Danny Ayalon, Wall Street Journal, July 29, 2010

The Nakba Obsession by Sol Stern, City Journal, Vol. 20, No. 3, Summer 2010

Video: Palestinian Corruption and Humanitarian Aid (2’02”) by FreeMiddleEast, July 24, 2010

The Slow Death of Palestinian Democracy by Mustafa Barghouthi, Foreign Policy, July 21, 2010

Palestinians in the Arab World: Why the Silence? by Khaled Abu Toameh, Hudson New York, July 20, 2010

A little rain on the Palestinian parade by Nathan Brown, Foreign Policy, July 1, 2010

The Palestinians’ Dirty War by Khaled Abu Toameh, Hudson New York, April 13, 2010

Palestinians Try a Less Violent Path to Resistance by Ethan Bronner, New York Times, April 6, 2010

The Fatah fairy tale by Caroline Glick, Jerusalem Post, February 19, 2010

‘Honor Killings’ of Women in Palestinian Society by C. Jacob, Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI), Inquiry & Analysis Series, Report No. 588, February 18, 2010

Palestinians: The New Peace Talks, What Fatah Can Deliver by Khaled Abu Toameh, Hudson New York, February 9, 2010

The Forgotten Palestinian Refugees by Daniel Schwammenthal, Wall Street Journal, December 24, 2009

Bethlehem’s exodus by Benny Avni, New York Post, December 23, 2009

How to Build a Palestinian State by David Ignatius, RealClearWorld, November 19, 2009

State of Terror by Yoram Ettinger, FrontPageMagazine.com, August 26, 2009

Will Fatah Give Up the Armed Struggle at Its Sixth General Congress? by Pinhas Inbari, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, Jerusalem Issue Brief Vol. 9, No. 6, August 4, 2009

Ponder This Over the Weekend, The Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, JINSA Report #895, June 14, 2009

Are There Palestinians to Talk To? by Michael Sharnoff, NewMajority.com, May 28, 2009

Islam Today by Khaled Abu Toameh, Hudson New York, May 18, 2009

Evidence mounts of extrajudicial executions by Gaza’s Hamas rulers, Ma’an News Agency, January 30, 2009

Ignoring the Bloodshed in Gaza by Jonathan Schanzer, The Weekly Standard, January 9, 2009: The world turns a blind eye to the Palestinian civil war

Palestinian Civil War Casts Shadow Over Peace Talks by Jonathan Schanzer, JTA, November 23, 2008

Does Foreign Aid Fuel Palestinian Violence? by Steven Stotsky, Middle East Quarterly, Volume XV, Number 3, Summer 2008, pp. 23-30

Robert Kennedy’s 1948 Reports from Palestine by Lenny Ben-David, Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, June 5, 2008

The Palestinians’ time is running out by Bradley Burston, Haaretz, May 9, 2008

The real Nakba by Shlomo Avineri, Haaretz, May 9, 2008

Defusing the Demographic Time Bomb by Bennett Zimmerman and Michael Wise The Jewish Policy Center, inFocus, Vo. 2 No. 1, Spring 2008

A Tale of Two Peoples by Dennis Prager, FrontPageMagazine.com, March 25, 2008 [Palestinians & Tibetans]

Poll Shows Most Palestinians Favor Violence Over Talks by Ethan Bronner, New York Times, March 19, 2008

A Land without a People for a People without a Land: Exclusive Interview with Diana Muir, Solomonia.com, February 24, 2008 [Original article: Middle Middle East Quarterly, Spring 2008]

The Palestinian Economy in Shambles by Daniel Pipes, Jerusalem Post, December 27, 2007

What about the record? by Diana West, Washington Times, December 21, 2007

Peace impossible without will by Greg Sheridan, The Australian, December 20, 2007

Foreign Aid and Palestinian Violence: An Uncomfortable Correlation by Steven Stotsky, Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America (CAMERA), December 17, 2007 [questions about Palestinian aid]

Gaza’s deadly guardians by Marie Colvin, The Sunday Times, September 30, 2007

Fears in Arab World Following Gaza Coup: Hamas Is Threatening Entire Arab World, MEMRI (The Middle East Media Research Institute) Special Dispatch Series – No. 1629, June 21, 2007

Brothers to the Bitter End, by Fouad Ajami, New York Times, June 19, 2007

To my Arab brothers: The War with Israel is Over — and they won by Youssef M. Ibrahim, Jewish World Review, July 12, 2006

The Year the Arabs Discovered Palestine by Daniel Pipes, Middle East Review, Summer 1989

The idea of an Arab state resting between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea is, rather, a twentieth-century concept. Indeed, its origins can be traced with surprising precision to a single year — 1920.