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Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Do Gazans hate UNRWA this much?

The "Commission on the Rights of Refugees" in Gaza says they polled 2500 random Gazans who live in camps about what they thought of UNRWA.

Their results are fishy.

They say that :

85.8% of those polled are suspicious about how UNRWA teaches their kids about human rights;
87% say that teaching about human rights is like poisoning the kids' minds, and undermines the role of the Resistance;
79% think UNRWA is trying to normalize Arab relations with Israel;
70% demanded that UNRWA stop allowing kids to visit Western nations because it goes against their traditions;
80% think that mixing boys and girls in UNRWA programs cause social and ethical problems.

The complaints are not new, but I have serious doubts about the organization that created this poll. Googling the name in Arabic only finds this poll and nothing else.

It is possible that a conservative Islamic-oriented group asked very leading questions of people as they were leaving mosques (for example) creating both a self-selecting sample and a sample that would invariably answer questions the way the "pollsters" wanted them to.

It is also possible that this organization was created just to garner headlines for a fake poll to pressure UNRWA to change its policies.