Most Palestinians expect violence if talks with Israel faile

More than half of the Palestinians expected a new wave of violence against Israel if peace talks with Israel fail, according to a recent poll released Wednesday. The poll, conducted by the Ramallah-based Palestinian Center For Public Opinion, showed that 58.8 percent of Palestinians believed that an Intifada (uprising) would break out, while 26 percent denied the possibility of uprising, if the negotiations broke down. However, the survey found an increasing number of Palestinians support the U.S.-brokered negotiation, which resumed in July after about three-year halt. According to the survey, 50.3 percent of the people support the negotiation while 39.8 percent oppose it. It also suggests that the negotiation would gain more popularity if Israel releases more Palestinian prisoners. Palestinian and Israeli negotiators have held seven rounds of talks without announcing a breakthrough. The future of the negotiation looks grim, as 60 percent of the people expect no peace deal with Israel in the coming years. The negotiation aims at creating a Palestinian state alongside Israel after Israel withdraw from territories it occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem and the West Bank. The Palestinians accept a limited, mutual land swap with Israel.