43% af Amerikanere anser Israel som en trussel
mod verdensfreden: Meningsmåling
Thursday, December 18 2003 @ 05:32 PM EST
 |
| "36% believe Sharon’s aim
is to squeeze Palestinians into the smallest territory
possible.." |
"The survey showed that 43 per cent of Americans
see Israel as a threat to world peace, the Anti-Defamation League reported on
its website .."
OCCUPIED JERUSALEM - Almost half of the Americans believe that Israel is a
threat to world peace, while many more expect their country to be attacked by
"terrorists" because of its support to Israel, a new poll by a
Jewish group unveiled Wednesday, December 17.
The survey showed that 43 per cent of Americans see Israel as a threat to
world peace, the Anti-Defamation League reported on its website.
The poll did not gauge opinion on controversial areas of policy, such as
Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories or the
construction of a separation barrier in the West Bank, both criticized by
world governments.
"We try to keep our poll consistent with (past years' questions). This
month the fence may be an issue. Next month something else may be an
issue," IDL chairman Abraham Foxman was quoted by Haaretz as saying.
But the barrage of criticism over the settlements and the barrier, which U.S.
President George W. Bush described as a "problem", could have turned
up the percentage of respondents saying Israel as the great threat much
higher.
The nationwide poll of 1,200 American adults was conducted December 1- 4,
2003, by The Marttila Communications Group.
Squeezing Palestinians
About 73 per cent of the polled said the U.S. was more likely to be attacked
by "terrorists" because of its support of Israel.
However, a majority of 62% believe that the U.S. should nevertheless continue
supporting Israel.
The poll showed about 40 per cent of Americans primarily sympathized with
Israel in the Middle East conflict, compared to just 15 per cent that
sympathized with Palestinians, numbers Foxman said have remained consistent
since 1991.
Asked, "In the dispute between Israel and the Palestinians which side do
you sympathize with more?" 40% said Israel, 15% said the Palestinians,
11% said both and 24% said neither.
On their view of Israeli Premier Ariel Sharon, 42% said the Israelis and their
leader are genuinely interested in reaching a long term peace agreement while
36% stressed the real goal of Sharon and Israel is to squeeze the Palestinians
into the smallest territory possible.
The similar question about Palestinians and their President Yasser Arafat
showed that 25% felt they were genuinely interested in reaching peace, while
57% said the real goal of Arafat and the Palestinian leadership is to destroy
Israel.
U.S. Threat
Surprisingly, about 37 per cent of those polled believe the U.S. itself was
the greatest threat, a result some observers attributed to the invasion and
occupation of Iraq, threats to invade neighboring Syria and adamant support
for Israel.
Questions about the Iraq war revealed similar conflicts.
While 52% think the invasion was worth fighting, the other 48% asserted it
made America less secure by exacerbating anti-American sentiment.
The poll was conducted December 1- 4, eight months after U.S. occupation
forces rolled into Baghdad and a few weeks after Israel refused a conditional
truce with Palestinian resistance factions.
The poll, which has a margin of error was 4 percentage, was presented during a
national security conference in the Israeli resort city of Herzliya.
The poll was reminiscent of an October survey revealing that 59 percent of
Europeans see Israel as the biggest threat to world peace, ahead of North
Korea, Iran and the U.S.
Source: IslamOnline.net + News Agencies