A majority of respondents to an opinion poll conducted by al-Quds Open University believe that the 1994 Oslo Accord will not help establish a sovereign Palestinian state.

A majority of 74.1 percent of the respondents believe Oslo created “political normalization” between Israel and the Palestinian Authority, but the Palestinians gained nothing in return.

Similarly, 77.4 percent of the respondents say the agreement will not enable the Palestinians to establish a sovereign state.

Furthermore, 83.3 percent of the respondents believe that settlement construction increased “unprecedentedly” in the Palestinian territory as a result of the Oslo Accord.

Meanwhile, 83.1 percent say that the agreement enabled the Israeli side to continue to strengthen the Jewish presence in Jerusalem and gradually change the city to a pure Jewish property.

The plight of Palestinian refugees, who were forcibly displaced, was also negatively affected by the Oslo Accord, according to a majority of 78.3 percent of the respondents who believe the agreement marginalized and undermined the refugees’ plight.

Consequently, 55 percent of the respondents believe the best choice the Palestinian leadership can do is to amend the Oslo agreement so as to make it closer to recognition of Palestinian rights.

(Ma’an – www.maannews.net)