The year 2020 was burdened with crises and problems for the Palestinians, both internally and externally, from the repeated daily rounds of escalation with the Israeli occupation to the continuing faltering achievement of national unity, and the acceleration of steps to achieve the “Deal of the Century” aimed at liquidating the Palestinian cause, starting with the transfer of the American embassy to Jerusalem and recognition of it as the capital of the occupation The end of the financial support provided to UNRWA, the closure of the Palestine Liberation Organization’s office in Washington and the cessation of financial support provided to it, leading to the start of the wave of official normalization with the regimes of some Arab countries.

Considering the reflections of these developments and with the arrival of Democrat Joe Biden to power in the United States, the Palestinian scene appears blurry, and the question always remains: Where is the Palestinian issue heading? And is it still the main issue for the Arabs?

According to the “Arab Index” poll issued on October 6, 2020 by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies in Doha, Qatar, 78% of Arab citizens consider that the Palestinian cause is the issue of all Arabs and not the issue of the Palestinians alone. 88% of them refuse to have their countries recognize the occupation state or normalize relations with it.

The Arab Index 2019/2020 included the opinions of about 28,000 people in 13 Arab countries: Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Sudan, and Mauritania.

How do Arab citizens view the Palestinian Issue?

• Over three quarters of the Arab public agree that the Palestinian cause concerns all Arabs, and not the Palestinians alone.
• It should be noted that 89% of Saudis agreed that the Palestinian issue is the issue for all Arabs and not simply an issue for Palestinians themselves. Gulf public opinion had the highest percentage of respondents considering the Palestinian cause to be an issue for all Arabs, followed by Arab Maghreb public opinion.

• An overwhelming majority (88%) of Arabs disapprove of recognition of Israel by their home countries, with only 6% accepting formal diplomatic recognition. In fact, one half of those who accepted formal diplomatic relations with Israel and their governments made such a move conditional on the formation of an independent Palestinian state. When asked to elaborate on the reasons for their positions, respondents who were opposed to diplomatic ties between their countries and Israel focused on several factors, such as Israeli racism towards the Palestinians and its colonialist, expansionist policies.
• The highest rate of refusal to recognize Israel was among respondents in Algeria at 99%, followed by those in Lebanon at 94%, and Tunisia and Jordan at 93% each.
• Refusal to recognize Israel is proportionally the highest in the Gulf region; nearly 90% of Qatar and Kuwait respondents reject their country’s recognition of Israel, and 65% of Saudis expressed their rejection, as contrasted with 6% who agreed to recognition, while 29% refused to express their opinion.
• Only 13% of the Sudanese agreed that their country should recognize Israel, compared to 79% of them who rejected such a step.

 

 

 

Reasons given for opposing diplomatic recognition of Israel by region.

	Mashreq	Maghreb	Gulf	Nile Valley	Average
Colonialist occupying power in Palestine	43.4	36.1	26.0	21.0	33.7
Expansionist state set on controlling more Arab territory	10.4	9.4	8.0	9.5	9.4
A terrorist state/supports terrorism	9.6	4.3	6.5	11.5	7.6
Israeli dispossession of the Palestinians; continued oppression of the Palestinians	5.1	8.4	6.5	7.4	6.8
Religious reasons to oppose Israel	3.6	10.5	6.0	6.3	6.7
(Israel) is racist towards Arabs	5.7	5.7	6.3	6.0	5.9
Recognizing Israel negates the Palestinian people	3.7	5.8	4.5	5.8	4.8
Israel is an enemy of my people/the Arabs in general	4.1	3.6	3.4	6.2	4.1
Israel threatens regional security	3.5	3.4	2.9	4.9	3.6
Israel violates agreements and treaties	1.5	1.5	1.3	2.6	1.6
Israel does not exist	1.1	1.4	6.4	0.1	2.3
No reasons given	0.7	3.1	2.7	0.8	1.9
Total of those opposed to recognizing Israel	92.1	93.2	80.4	82.3	88.2
Approve of the recognition of Israel	6.1	2.6	6.3