Poll: majority of Palestinians believe Israel will destroy Al-Aqsa

A new poll revealed that as many as 86 per cent of the Palestinians believe that Al-Haram Al-Sharif, which includes Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock, is in “great danger” while 77 per cent said that Israel intends to destroy the mosque and replace it with a Jewish structure.

According to the poll, conducted by Palestinian Centre for Policy and Survey Research (PSR) in Ramallah, 21 per cent of respondents believe that Israel intends to divide the compound’s yard into Muslim and Jewish sections and that it will construct a synagogue in the Jewish area.

Half of respondents believed that Israel will succeed in its plans while only six per cent believed that Israel intends to maintain the status quo in the compound and will ban Jews from praying there.

According to the poll released yesterday, the tensions around the mosque escalated after the killing, by an extremist Jewish group, of Palestinian teenager Mohammed Abu Khdeir in July and the increased interest of right-wing Israeli politicians in the Jewish right to perform rituals in the compound.

In October, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced that he does not intend to change the current status quo in the compound, following diplomatic pressure from Jordan.

PSR director, Dr Khalil Shikaki said: “This is the first time our survey focuses on Jerusalem,” noting that the results reflect the high tensions in the city.

The poll found that a majority of Palestinians support Hamas and its strategies compared to those who support Fatah both in Gaza and the West Bank.

Shikaki said that if parliamentary elections were to take place today Hamas would win a majority and former Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh would beat the Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas.

Marwan Barghouti, the Fatah leader who is serving a life sentence, would attain nine per cent more votes than Abbas. However, Haniyeh would beat both candidates with 40 per cent of the vote.

Shikaki said it is Abbas who opposes holding new elections.

According to the poll, 77 per cent of the respondents said they support rocket attacks against Israel as long as its blockade on the Gaza Strip remains. Half of those surveyed opposed disarming the Palestinian resistance in the enclave.