LONDON — A new poll has found that Palestinians trust
insurgency groups more than the Palestinian Authority.
Results of the survey of 1,500 Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza showed the
highest level of trust for such insurgency groups as Fatah, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
The poll, conducted in July 2005, reported a much lower level of confidence
in PA security agencies, Middle East Newsline reported.
The survey was conducted by the Geneva-based
Graduate Institute for Development Studies and the Geneva Centre for the
Democratic Control of Armed Forces.
"The survey results show that after the Civil Defense, non-statutory
armed groups such as the Al Aqsa and Al Qassem Brigades are the most trusted
organizations amongst Palestinian security organizations in the occupied
Palestinian territories," the report said.
The report did not show overwhelming support for any Palestinian
militia. The highest level of confidence was in Hamas's military wing, with
32 percent of those surveyed expressing a high level of support. Fatah's Al
Aqsa Martyrs Brigade received a 27 percent rating.
The PA Preventive Security Apparatus, with 5,500
employees, was said to have received the lowest level of support.
"Organizations controlled by the Palestinian National Authority, such as
the Preventive Security, General Intelligence, National Security and Civil
Police scored significantly lower trust levels," the report said.
"Preventive Security is the least trusted of all organizations, with 23
percent of respondents having no trust in it at all.
Entitled "Palestinian Public Perceptions of Security Sector Governance,"
the report outlined PA security forces. The largest force was that of civil
police with 18,500 officers. This was followed by the National Security
Forces with 11,000 members; General Intelligence, 4,200 members;
Presidential Security, 2,500 members; Naval police, 900 members; military
intelligence, 400 officers; and military liasion, 100 staffers.
The PA was also said to have more than 6,000 officers from so-called
non-official agencies. The report cited 5,000 members of Joint Force Gaza,
1,250 members of special forces, and 100 special security officers.
The total of official and unofficial PA security staffers listed by the
report was about 50,000. The United States said the PA employs more than
58,000 officers, and Israel said the number reaches 70,000 with the addition
of undeclared units.
The report said Hamas's military wing contained between 1,000 and 1,500
members. Al Aqsa was said to have between 500 to 700 operatives, followed by
"several hundred" members of the Islamic Jihad.
The report warned that donor nations must address both Palestinian
security and development. The authors suggested that the PA would be unable
to improve security in the short-term.
"In the Palestinian context, international development assistance and
humanitarian aid should increasingly be judged on its capability to respond
to the challenges posed by poor security sector governance," the report
said. "A failure to address this fundamental problem risks to reduce the
impact of aid and fuel frustrations that, in the long run, may be difficult
to control."
