WASHINGTON, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- A plurality of U.S. respondents to a UPI-Zogby International poll support the Palestinian right of return.
Thousands of Palestinians fled or were forced from their land as a result of the U.N. creation of Israel and resulting fighting in the area in 1948. Generations of Palestinians have lived in tent cities in neighboring countries since then.
The "right of return" of those Palestinians and their descendents has been a key sticking point in talks between Israelis and Palestinians.
Some 44.5 percent of those asked said the Palestinians should be allowed to return to live in Israel or be compensated for land that was lost. Another 29.5 percent said they shouldn't and 15.4 percent of respondents chose neither option.
Among Jewish respondents, which made up a relatively small part of the sample, 42.9 percent said there should be no "right of return" and 27.5 percent said there should. Roman Catholic respondents were the most willing to accept the "right of return" with 45.5 percent support.
The Zogby interactive poll, conducted Dec. 4-6, had 6,296 respondents, giving the data a margin of error of 1.3 percentage points.
