Trump Quds move made armed resistance against Israel more popular: Poll

An opinion poll shows that Palestinians now favor “armed struggle” against Israel twice as much as they did before US President Donald Trump recognized Jerusalem al-Quds as Israel’s “capital” back in December.

The joint Israeli and Palestinian survey’s results were released on Thursday, reflecting the opinions of 1,270 Palestinians from across the Gaza Strip, as well as the Israeli-occupied Palestinian territories of East Jerusalem and the West Bank.

The study was conducted soon after Trump announced the decision on December 6. The report’s authors included Khalil Shikaki, from the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research, and Dahlia Scheindlin from the Tami Steinmetz Centre at Tel Aviv University.

According to the poll, 38.4 percent of the respondents picked the “armed” confrontation option, and only 26.2 percent chose “reaching a peace agreement.”

The same poll in June had found that 21 percent of the Palestinians supported the first option, while 45 percent backed the second one.

The entire Jerusalem al-Quds is currently under Israel’s control, while the regime also claims the city’s eastern part, which hosts the third holiest Muslim site.

The city has been designated as “occupied” under international law since the 1967 Arab War, which Palestinians want as the capital of their future state.

Trump’s declaration sparked angry and, on occasions, deadly protests in Palestinian territories and worldwide as well as international calls on Washington to withdraw its announcement.

Later last month, more than 120 countries voted at the UN General Assembly in favor of a resolution calling for the United States to drop the recognition.

Source: Website