But do Palestinians really think that?

What the polls say.

Last week I reviewed Tuvia’s Tenenbom’s book Catch the Jew. In it, he relives his adventures in Israel, especially his conversations with individuals from all walks of life: Israelis, Europeans, Members of the Knesset (MKs), Jewish fundamentalist con men, humorless lefty journalists, lascivious monks, Tel Aviv prostitutes, feral cats—and Palestinians. He found the Palestinians to be warm people with a rich culture. But when it came to Israel, they were absolutely out of their minds. In their view, everything bad in the world is Israel’s fault, regardless of logic. Anything bad about Israel they believe without question, no matter how absurd.

Ultimately, though, Tuvia’s stories are just that. Stories. Subject to exaggeration, selective editing, and spin. I wondered how widespread the attitudes Tuvia describes are. In order to put some science behind it, I researched some polls that take the pulse of the Palestinian street.

The most prominent such poll is from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research (PCPSR) in Ramallah. Its latest survey—Number 63—was conducted in March of this year. To quote some of the major findings:

On the two-state solution, the public is divided: 47% support and 51% oppose it… A minority of 32% supports a one-state solution in which Jews and Arabs enjoy equal rights; 67% oppose the one-state solution... The percentage of those who are worried that they would be hurt by Israel or that their land would be confiscated or homes demolished stands at 71%; 29% are not worried. Furthermore, a majority of 52% believes that Israel’s long term aspiration is to annex the lands occupied in 1967 and expel their population and 32% believe that Israel wants to annex the West Bank while denying the Palestinians their rights. 14% believe that Israel’s long term aspiration is to insure its security and withdraw from all or most of the territories occupied in 1967. 50% believe that Israel intends to destroy al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock and replace them with a Jewish temple; 17% believe that it intends to divide the plateau on which the two mosques sit so that Jews would have a synagogue alongside the Muslim holy places. In the absence of peace negotiations, 77% support joining more international organizations, 67% support non-violent popular resistance, 51% support a return to an armed intifada, and 49% support the dissolution of the Palestinian Authority.

The PCPSR poll is typical. Other polls on Palestinian attitudes toward Israel may be found in the Jewish Virtual Library and show similar results.

By and large, the PCPSR polls bears out the attitudes Tuvia encountered in his one-on-one conversations, especially with regard to distrust regarding Israel’s intentions. The desire to rebuild the ancient Jewish sanctuary on the Temple Mount is held by only a lunatic fringe of Israeli Jews (albeit a loud lunatic fringe). The Israeli government goes to great lengths to prevent Jews from so much as moving their lips in prayer on the Temple Mount, much less take a wrecking ball to sacred historical landmarks. (See also the case of Yehuda Glick, who, according to the Jewish Press, "has been banned repeatedly from the site for having prayed at the Mount, a move police say has sparked unrest.") That 50% of Palestinians believe Israel intends to raze al-Aqsa and the Dome of the Rock shows levels of paranoia bordering on the clinical. (Brace yourself for more controversy on this issue: a few days ago, Netanyahu reversed the ban on MKs visiting the Temple Mount. So now they can visit. But they still can't move their lips in prayer.)

The poll stops short of asking Palestinians if they believe Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state, or whether they think the Jews should be driven into the sea. But given that a slight majority opposes a two-state solution and supports an armed intifada "in the absence of peace negotiations", and a large majority opposes a single state where Jews and Arabs enjoy equal rights, I think you can read between the lines. If they don't believe the Jews and Arabs should have separate states, and they don't believe the Jews and Arabs should share a state, there aren't very many other possibilities.

The poll results are quite disheartening. In light of them, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say prospects for peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians anytime soon are dim indeed.

Michael Isenberg writes about the Muslim world, medieval and modern. His forthcoming novel, The Thread of Reason, is a murder mystery that takes place in Baghdad in the year 1092 and depicts the battle for the Muslim soul between those who embrace science and tolerance, and those who throw in their lot with mysticism and persecution.

Photo credits: EPA/ABED AL HASHLAMOUN