JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A majority of Palestinians believe the aim of their 20-month-old uprising should be to eliminate Israel and not just end Israeli occupation in the West Bank and Gaza Strip ( news - web sites), an opinion poll released Tuesday showed.
The survey also showed almost half of all respondents believed Palestinian President Yasser Arafat ( news - web sites) would win elections he has proposed holding early next year and that more than half wanted reforms of his Palestinian Authority ( news - web sites).
The poll by the Palestinian Jerusalem Media and Communication Center (JMCC) highlighted a radicalization of views as 20 months of Israeli-Palestinian violence worsens.
The JMCC interviewed 1,179 people in the West Bank and Gaza in late May and early June. The poll had a three percent margin of error.
Fifty-one percent of people surveyed said the end result of the uprising should be "liberating all of historic Palestine," referring to British-mandate Palestine, part of which was recognized as Israel in 1948.
Israel occupied the West Bank and Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East war and these territories have since been the focus of internationally sponsored peace negotiations for the establishment of a Palestinian state.
Forty-three percent of respondents said the aim of the uprising was to end Israeli occupation and establish a state only in the West Bank and Gaza.
This compared with a poll taken in December in which 48 percent said the uprising's goal was to end the occupation compared with 44 percent who said the aim should be to eliminate Israel, the JMCC said.
BROAD SUPPORT FOR UPRISING
The uprising continued to have broad support. Seventy-nine percent of people surveyed said they back the revolt in some way and 68 percent said they approved of suicide bombings against Israeli civilians, down slightly from 74 percent in December.
Fewer than half the respondents supported Arafat, despite Israeli attempts to isolate him by besieging his headquarters and restricting his movement.
Some 41 percent of people surveyed gave Arafat favorable marks, compared with 29 percent who said he was a bad leader.
Most of the people polled said Israeli raids had reduced their support for the Palestinian Authority and its security forces, and also dented their support for holding peace talks with Israel.
Fifty-nine percent of respondents said the Israeli raids had boosted their approval of the militant Islamic group Hamas, which opposes Israel's existence, and 66 percent said the army operations increased their backing for suicide bombings.
A large majority -- 58 percent -- said they supported domestic reform within the Palestinian Authority, and 42 percent said the best way to accomplish reform was through free democratic elections.
Arafat was expected to win elections by 48 percent of those surveyed.
Overall, 25 percent of Palestinians said they trusted Arafat more than any other politician, followed by 24 percent who said they trust no one and nine percent who put their faith in Hamas' spiritual leader, Sheikh Ahmed Yassin.
===== Kevin Dean Buffalo, NY ICQ: 8616001 AIM: KDean75206 Buffalo Activist Network http://www.buffaloactivist.net http://www.yaysoft.com
__________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! - Official partner of 2002 FIFA World Cup http://fifaworldcup.yahoo.com