The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies has begun polling for the 2012 round of the Annual Arab Opinion Index in all Arab countries where it was possible to conduct the survey. The aim of the ACRPS is to determine trends in Arab public opinion toward a number of vital issues that affect the Arab public space, such as democracy, citizenship, civic and political participation, and the respondents' self-evaluations of their own economic and social conditions. Other issues respondents were asked about include the performance of state institutions, as well as their perceptions of the prospects and achievements of Arab revolutions presently unfolding. The full report of the 2012 Arab Opinion Index will be released in early-2013.

For this year, respondents were also asked, in addition to the general questions described above, about their attitudes toward the Syrian revolution. Following on from a report published by the ACRPS on Jordanian public perceptions of the Syrian crisis, published during the first week of September, this report contains the results from Lebanon and Palestine, specifically the Occupied Palestinian Territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip, on the Syrian crisis.* Field work in these two countries was carried out in August and July 2012, respectively. Additionally, the report below presents the publics' general view in both Palestine and Lebanon on the best means to resolve the crisis.  

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* The Arabic phrase used in the survey was azma, which translates as "crisis". This was used to achieve a level of objectivity in the survey; to use the expression thawra or revolution would have loaded the wording of the question, jeopardizing the quality of the survey.