By Ryan Jones
Oct 12, 2005
The results of a new opinion poll suggest the majority of Palestinian Arabs oppose disarming the ?militant? groups operating among them, but want the terrorists to take greater precautions to ensure Israeli Jews are the only victims of their weapons.
A full 60 percent of the 1,200 respondents told researchers from Birzeit University they oppose any efforts by the Palestinian Authority to disarm groups such as Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the Al Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
On the contrary, previous polls have shown the vast majority of ?Palestinians? believe those weapons in the hands of those terror groups is what led to the ?liberation? of Gaza. They would like to see that feat repeated in Judea and Samaria.
But the ?Palestinian? public would also like to make sure they do not fall victim to those arms, whether through extortion and intimidation or explosive ?work accidents.?
As such, 82 percent of those surveyed supported calls to end the ?armed chaos,? 71.5 percent opposed armed terrorist parades, and 92.6 percent viewed the storage of terrorist weapons in civilian areas as unacceptable.
Last month an accidental detonation of explosives at a massive Hamas rally in Gaza killed at least 16 people.