Poll on Security, Fayyad, Fatah, and Obama

A Jerusalem Media & Communications Center public opinion poll was conducted during the period June 20-24, 2009 among Palestinians.

June 2009 Poll
Source: Jerusalem Media & Communications Center

The results of the public opinion poll show the following:

• Improvement in the performance of the security services
• Progress by Salam Fayyad
• Increased support for Fatah and decreased support for Hamas
• Optimism following Obama’s Cairo speech

With regards to the performance of the security services, it seems that there is some kind of satisfaction as 48.6% of the respondents in the West Bank said the performance improved compared with 18.9% who said the performance of the security services worsened.

Overall, there was positive assessment of the performance of PM Salam Fayyad. A ratio of 68.1% said his performance is good or average while 27.4% of the respondents said his performance is bad.

On the level of Palestinian support to the Palestinian political forces and factions, Fatah’s popularity rose to 34.9% in June 2009 compared with 26% in the January 2009 poll. On the other hand, Hamas’ popularity suffered a setback for the same period as the support ratio declined from 27.7% in January 2009 to 18.8% in June 2009.

With regards to the speech of Obama to the Muslim societies, 37.9% are more optimistic after the speech while a ratio of 48% said they don’t feel any change.
 

The full text of the poll is available here.