By David Pollock Policy Alert, September 22, 2011

The PA’s demand for a UN declaration that names east Jerusalem as the capital of a new Palestinian state actually goes against the wishes of much of the city’s Palestinian population. A new and credible poll of east Jerusalem Palestinians shows that nearly half would prefer to become citizens of Israel rather than of a new Palestinian state — casting fresh doubts on the official Palestinian claim to the city. Only one-quarter (23 percent) of the city’s nearly 300,000 Palestinian residents said they would “definitely” prefer Palestinian citizenship, despite the recent surge in nationalist activity leading up to this week’s UN debate. Even more remarkably, 42 percent said they would actually move to a different neighborhood if necessary in order to remain …