• Asian Journal for Public Opinion Research
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.7-25
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• 2013

For the Palestinians, what is the impact of the Arab Spring? The revolution not only dislodged Mubarak from the presidency, but also changed Egyptian policy regarding Palestinians in Gaza. New Egyptian diplomacy has encouraged Hamas and Fatah, which had been in dispute, to seek reconciliation and has loosened the border control on humanitarian grounds. We focus on Palestinian voting attitudes in the wake of the Arab Spring. Despite the vast quantity of literature written about Palestinian politics since the first decade of the millennium, we know little about the determinants of Palestinian attitudes toward the divided governments in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip. The Fatah government, in the West Bank, increased in popularity after submitting a request for UN recognition of Palestinian statehood. In Gaza, the Hamas government lost popularity because of mismanagement but won support through the success of its prisoner swap deal with Israel. However, evaluation of the ruling party does not depend only on one-time events. This research attempts to measure the impact of policy change in Gaza after the Arab Spring. We provide an account of our research on Palestinian attitudes toward the divided governments based on two sets of the original survey data conducted in May 2009 and June 2012. The paper sheds light on Palestinian attitudes and makes clear the effects of "democratization" in the Middle East and the effects of regional context factors on the occupied Palestinians.

• International Area Studies Review
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.25-47
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• 2011

The paper will investigate the chances of progress in the peace process in Middle East. Robert Hazo's 1993 article mainly argued the Palestinians and Syrian problems. He saw that these two problems are one of the key issue that current Middle East problem which involves Israel. The key tenants of his argument will be dissected to assess whether this view holds true in the light of developments in the Middle East in the intervening years. The Arab-Israeli struggle remains one of the most intractable in history. In 1993 Robert Hazo concluded that 'the conflict is a terminal struggle'. This paper investigates his analysis in light of progress or lack of in the intervening period and against the contemporary strategic environment. It uses information presented in academic, government, newspaper and world wide web articles to conclude that Hazo's assessment remains valid. While the various talks since 1993 combined with the potential benefits the United States, Israel and Syria could gain from a settlement proffer hope, the issue of 'right of return, borders and Jerusalem are unlikely to be bridged in the near future.