June 13, 2002	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 1, 1423

AL QUDS, June 12: A majority of Palestinians believe the goal of their intifada, or uprising, should be their own state including all of what is currently Israel, according to a poll published on Wednesday.

The survey published by the Jerusalem Media and Communication Center (JMCC) also found two-thirds of Palestinians saying that Israel’s West Bank military operations had increased their support for suicide bombings.

Fifty-one percent of the Palestinians interviewed said the aim of the 20-month-old intifada should be “liberating all of historic Palestine” from the Mediterranean to the Jordan River — taking in the state of Israel.

Forty-three percent said the goal should be ending the Israelis’ 35-year-old occupation of the West Bank and Gaza and establishing a Palestinian state, while 3.5 percent said the intifada should boost the Palestinians’ negotiating position.

Nearly 66 percent of Palestinians surveyed said the Israeli incursions increased their support for the suicide bombings, while 15 percent said their backing had diminished and 15 percent gave their position as unchanged.

The Israeli army launched a major six-week offensive on the West Bank on March 29 to hunt down Palestinian militants and seize bomb-making equipment. It ended the operation last month but has still carried out hit-and-run raids.

The JMCC, a Palestinian group, conducted the survey in late May and early June among 1,179 Palestinians on the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The margin of error was given as three percent either way.—AFP