Majority of Palestinians for declaration of the Palestinian state on September 13

An opinion poll whose results was published on Thursday said that the majority of the Palestinians back the declaration of the Palestinian state unilaterally on September 13, despite the opposition of the US and Israel and the dangers of the eruption of acts of violence.

The opinion poll indicated that 52% of the persons who took part in the poll want the Palestinians President Yasser Arafat to announce the establishment of the Palestinian state, the final date to reach a peace agreement with Israel while 41% oppose this declaration and the others abstained from giving their own opinion.

However, the 129 members of the Palestinian central council will meet on Saturday and Sunday in Gaza to adopt a stand concerning this issue at a time when Arafat seems persistent to ask the council to postpone the declaration of the state.

It was presumed that Arafat will declare the Palestinian state in May 1999 but he postponed that declaration before the international pressure.

Some 55% of the Palestinians expressed their support to the idea of declaring the state unilaterally on a fixed date, even if such an initiative will lead to the eruption of confrontations with Israel, while 39% opposed this scenario.

Meantime, 49 % of the Palestinians backed the declaration of the Palestinian state even if that will lead to the closure of the Palestinian territories which might lead to creating unemployment among the Palestinians working in Israel, and 45% refused this proposal.

The opinion poll was made by Beir Zeit university and included 1256 persons in the West bank and Gaza Strip. Its error margin is estimated at 3%.