国际英语新闻：Palestinians differ on resuming direct peace talks with Israel: poll

RAMALLAH, Sept. 23 (Xinhua) -- A latest poll found that just over half of the Palestinians support resuming the direct peace talks with Israel while a large number of people thought the negotiations may not change the current situation.

The poll, conducted by Jerusalem Media and Communications Center (JMCC) on Sept. 11 to 15, said that 54 percent of the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank supported the U.S. -brokered negotiations which started on Sept. 2.

People in favor of the talks said the talks which restarted after a halt of nearly 20 months serve the interests of the Palestinians. Meanwhile, 46 percent of the surveyed were against them.

However, over half of the surveyed thought the negotiations are unlikely to make a big change on the current situation, according to the poll.

And 53 percent of the surveyed said negotiations are "the most effective strategy" for the Palestinians to establish a statehood, while 26 percent said armed resistance is the best solution.

The Palestinian National Authority (PNA) accepted the U.S. invitation to resume the talks, bypassing a principle that Israel must promise to stop any kind of Jewish settlement before restarting the negotiations.

The survey showed that 59 percent of the people thought external pressure on the Palestinian leadership forced it to accept the U.S. invitation, while 34 percent believed that the Palestinians restarted the negotiations because they thought the peace process would succeed.