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Support for Arabs plummets in America, opinion poll finds
Ha'aretz ^ | Dec. 26, 2001 | Nitzan Horowitz

Posted on 12/26/2001 9:21:53 AM PST by Alouette

Levels of support among Americans for moderate Arab states and Washington's Arab allies have dropped to an all-time low, according to new survey by Zogby International. Arab American groups have called the results "shocking," saying that the figures show a dramatic shift in Americans' attitude toward the Arab world.

Only 10 percent of Americans view the Palestinian Authority favorably, compared to a huge 72 percent that are totally unsympathetic toward the PA, according to a recent comprehensive poll in the U.S. on Washington's attitude toward the Middle East and the Israeli-Arab conflict.

The lowest ever level of support was recorded for Egpyt and Saudi Arabia. Only 24 percent of those asked saw Saudi Arabia in a positive light, while 58 percent held negative views about the kingdom.

Israel, in complete contrast, prompted the opposite response, with 59 percent of Americans expressing positive opinions on Israel, compared to 28 percent who held negative views.

A closer look at the Zogby poll on the Middle East shows that there has been little change in U.S. attitude toward Israel since the start of the Oslo peace process: 61 percent support in 1993 compared to 59 percent today. Following the September 11 attacks, the October poll recorded a 68 percent support rate for Israel, which has since declined, returning to its 60 percent average. The percentage of those who view Israel negatively, however, has risen since October from 14 percent to the current 28 percent.

American public opinion toward the Arab world has undergone a complete turnabout: In 1993, some 64 percent of respondents expressed a favorable opinion of Egypt, compared to just 38 percent today. The months of October and November saw the sharpest drop. Saudia Arabia has never won many hearts and minds in the U.S., but support has plummeted from 56 percent at the start of 2001 to just 24 percent currently.

The respondents were given a list of countries and asked which they considered to be good or bad allies of the U.S. Some 52 percent responded that Israel was a very good or generally good ally of Washington, with just 28 percent giving the same answer for Egypt and 22 percent for Saudia Arabia.

In October, respondents explained their negative attitude to the Arab states because of their "relations with terrorists," that "one can't know what their position is," and because "they can't be trusted."

There has not however been a significant change in the American public's attitude toward the Israeli-Arab conflict since the September attacks, with 61 percent of respondents saying that the Israelis and Palestinians were equally to blame. There was however a slight fall in the percentage of those who see Israel as solely responsible for the conflict, dropping from 6 percent three years ago to just 4 percent currently. The number of respondents who believe the Palestinians are to blame rose more sharply from 9 percent in 1998, to 24 percent today.

The Arab lobby in Washington is blaming the "anti-Arab propaganda campaign" that has been waged since the September 11 attacks for the shift in attitude.

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute and brother of the editor of the survey, John Zogby, said that "what the results show is that a tremendous task confronts those who value the relationship and the pursuit of Middle East peace ... The downward slide can be arrested and reversed, but it will require a concerted effort."

Zogby blamed a "steady diet of anti-Arab information" for the swing in public opinion, saying that "those who are seeking to disrupt and discredit the relationship are working overtime."

"Work must be done and it should begin before more damage occurs," he stressed.


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: michaeldobbs
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To: The Documentary Lady
The JDL has been universally condemned by ALL Jewish groups. How many people in the muslim community have condemned Al Quaeda and sucide bombings in Israel? Very few. Yet others may say something like it was wrong but then justify why it took place. All Jewish groups and leaders say (and seirously mean) that anything the JDL did in this matter (if these allegations are true--I am not fully convinced that it wasnt entrapment and a setup) is WRONG!!!
181 posted on 12/26/2001 5:18:12 PM PST by College Repub
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To: Alouette
The non-Islamics are finally seeing that the actions of the many far out way the excuses of the few.
182 posted on 12/26/2001 5:20:39 PM PST by hsszionist
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To: harpseal
As one person put it on another site: "One shot - One towel". Sitting in the rocks someplace miles away, I bet he repeats that often.
183 posted on 12/26/2001 9:43:39 PM PST by PatrioticAmerican
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To: Alouette
bump
184 posted on 12/26/2001 11:05:26 PM PST by d4now
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To: The Documentary Lady
Even though hitting the abuse button would have been appropriate on numerous occasions,

Name five. Since the "occasions" have been "numerous", five instances to back up your accusations shouldn't be too much trouble, right?

I just let their hate ramble on.

Yes, where we can all just feel your "love". Accusing others of "hate" while haughtily being above "pushing the abuse button" doesn't do any of us any good. Push the button if someone is disobeying the rules.

Dealing from hate hardly advances American interests.

I have never seen a post from you which outlines American interests. Yes, you use the generic term as if you and only you know what those interests are, and only you (and others who share your anti-Israel views) are somehow "patriots", while those who disagree with you are not. Implying that others are not concerned with American interests because they care about the lives of others who don't happen to be Americans doesn't sound much like love to me.

We need clear thinking and real information.

I don't recall seeing evidence of "clear thinking" from you. Perhaps it's just my perception, but dealing in misinformation also seems to be something you're fond of. I have a news flash for you: You do not have the monopoly on what are or what are not "American interests" and just because an article or position happens to be anti-Israel doesn't automatically make it "clear information".

And, BTW, I believe the poster you're agreeing with happens to be a self-confessed leftist.

185 posted on 12/26/2001 11:37:13 PM PST by BenF
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To: Lent
To draw an analogy between the JDL and Bin Laden and his bunch is intellectually dishonest.

BULL!

The analogy is perfectly reasonable, provided that we note the relevant difference between "us" and "them": Hate driven, potentially violent religious fanatics are marginalized in the West and are a tiny minority, whereas in the Islamic (and particularly in the Arabic) World they are a loud and significant minority, often with large influence on mainstream society and on politics.

But, with that noted, terrorists are terrorists are terrorists. These guys are (to all present appearance) terrorists. Your defense of them is beyond me. They will get their defense in court. They should and will, if indicted (have they been?), have a fair trial with the same presumption of innocence accorded any accused and indicted person. We should encourage their lawyers to provide them a zealous defense, but we should likewise encourage a zealous prosecution.

The men may even turn out to be proven innocent, but that does not necessarily entail that they are not potential terrorists who should be denounced (rather than defended) by Americans and Jews. Specifically it may turn out that the FBI stepped over the line and committed entrapment (that is, impermissibly encouraged the commission of a crime that the defendants would not have been inclined to carry out in the absence of such influence). But the FBI apparently does have tapes with these guys actively involved in the discussion of plans for bombing mosques and such. If these guys even discussed such plans and intentions then they should be denounced, even if not guilty in the legal/criminal sense.

Or do you disagree? IOW is the contemplation of terrorist acts O.K. if it's "your guys" doing it?

186 posted on 12/27/2001 12:13:54 AM PST by Stultis
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To: Michael2001
No, I would have to say that it's the British Commonwealth (she is from Australia) fantasy of Oriental Araby. You know, the "Lawrence of Arabia"/"The Sheik"/"Schezerade" type of movie/British historical fiction rose-colored vision of the noble Arabs.

Also, she was raised a 1950-Catholic convent girl in Australia and they were still in the "The Jews killed Christ" mode of teaching at the time. It took a long time to get that out of her system.

At least, that's the only reasons that I can come up with ... she, herself, doesn't seem to really be able to explain it, except for those points I've already mentioned.

187 posted on 12/27/2001 2:43:50 AM PST by BlueLancer
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To: Catspaw
You should learn the difference between wit and derision; you are overdue for a quantity of the latter.

1. Palestine or TransJordan was split between Israel and Jordan.
2. The "Palestinians" grew restless and were evicted from Jordan.
3. They want to forget they wanted to "secede" from the Jordanian King.
4. The Jordanian King gave up their land.
5. "Convince" the Jordanian King to take back the land and allow the Palestinians a period of years to learn how to behave themselves as a semi-autonomous state.
6. Or just let the PLA assume Statehood and let them prove themselves or not.
7. The status quo is stupid.

188 posted on 12/27/2001 3:47:24 AM PST by harrowup
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To: harrowup
Who? What folks? What are you talking about?
189 posted on 12/27/2001 5:24:36 AM PST by Michael2001
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To: janeliberty
Once you have read the Qur'an, it puts a lot of things in perspective doesn't it? From Chechnya and Serbia, from the Crusades to the situation in Israel today; the root cause of all this stuff is the Qur'an and it's preaching of hatred against Infidels.
190 posted on 12/27/2001 5:28:26 AM PST by Michael2001
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To: Michael2001
You slyly suggested some folks may be here under false pretense; you did not wish to make any observations public at this time...I gave you the names of some prime suspects; I'm not bashful.
191 posted on 12/27/2001 6:52:02 AM PST by harrowup
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To: Grampa Dave
Ditto all of that!
192 posted on 12/27/2001 7:26:50 AM PST by pgkdan
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To: Stultis
BULL!

I've reduced the type size as you can see.  I was very impressed by the big font.

The analogy is perfectly reasonable, provided that we note the relevant difference between "us" and "them": Hate driven, potentially violent religious fanatics are marginalized in the West and are a tiny minority, whereas in the Islamic (and particularly in the Arabic) World they are a loud and significant minority, often with large influence on mainstream society and on politics.

No it's not and no amount of yelling and screaming on your part will make the analogy stick. The objectives of both are different. Most of the JDL work has been done by confrontation and agressive tactics directed to interests which would otherwise have no relevance to you but would to Jews (they certainly have a big relevance to me as a Christian and knowing the history of these matters). I gave two examples. The fact that you don't get worked up about neo-nazi movements operating in North America may be more a reflection of  your own apathy but it  hardly makes the analogy reasonable.

But, with that noted, terrorists are terrorists are terrorists. These guys are (to all present appearance) terrorists. Your defense of them is beyond me. They will get their defense in court. They should and will, if indicted (have they been?), have a fair trial with the same presumption of innocence accorded any accused and indicted person. We should encourage their lawyers to provide them a zealous defense, but we should likewise encourage a zealous prosecution.

No. "Terrorists are terrorists are terrorists" - Repeat it as many times as you want. My defense of them? Didn't I straighten you out last time or is it you don't know how to reason beyond your nose? I invoked the presumption of innocence for them. You invoked immediate presumption of guilt notrwithstanding your vacuous mouthing of important principles of presumptive innocence and fair process. I take the principles seriously enough, you don't.

The men may even turn out to be proven innocent, but that does not necessarily entail that they are not potential terrorists who should be denounced (rather than defended) by Americans and Jews.

I'm sorry. Innocence by a jury of their peers means what?

But the FBI apparently does have tapes with these guys actively involved in the discussion of plans for bombing mosques and such. If these guys even discussed such plans and intentions then they should be denounced, even if not guilty in the legal/criminal sense

Do me a favour? Go back to the post I made to DL and read very carefully what I stated about these guys if it turns out the allegations are true. Then come back and apologize to me for your big font and yelling.




 

193 posted on 12/27/2001 8:26:17 AM PST by Lent
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To: Lent
The fact that you don't get worked up about neo-nazi movements operating in North America

Oh, so you fancy yourself a psychic, do you? Your "powers" have failed you here, I'm afraid. Neo-Nazis, Christian Identity types, and so on are of much greater concern to me than the aging JDL'ers because they are more numerous. Your only problem is that I am not a selective relativist. I condemn ALL terrorists, and ALL those that would support terrorism. I advocate denouncing and marginalizing ALL hate-driven fanatic nutcases, regardless of their supposed "cause". (Where their cause may be valid or valuable, their ideas and actions are invariably counter-productive wrt it.)

194 posted on 12/27/2001 8:50:40 AM PST by Stultis
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To: Stultis
Oh, so you fancy yourself a psychic, do you? Your "powers" have failed you here, I'm afraid. Neo-Nazis, Christian Identity types, and so on are of much greater concern to me than the aging JDL'ers because they are more numerous. Your only problem is that I am not a selective relativist. I condemn ALL terrorists, and ALL those that would support terrorism. I advocate denouncing and marginalizing ALL hate-driven fanatic nutcases, regardless of their supposed "cause". (Where their cause may be valid or valuable, their ideas and actions are invariably counter-productive wrt it.)

I can read you because you appear to have no concern whatsoever of the main agenda of the JDL when it was actually doing something about neo-nazi movements in the U.S. You don't condemn all terrorists, you pick on an organization which doesn't attack Western interests because they're Jewish and get your rockers off condemning them in some kind of half-witted self-righteous diatribe. Again, my little task for you is to quote my original post up there as to what I had to say about these two characters if convicted. If you can't do that then buzz-off.

195 posted on 12/27/2001 9:01:00 AM PST by Lent
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To: Lent
I'm not talking about whether Irv and his buddy are criminally guilty. That is for a court and jury to decide (if a grand jury decides there is enough evidence to bring a case).

What I'm talking about is that they are hate-driven nutjobs who only discredit their cause. You don't need any FBI survellance tapes to determine that. Their own words, their website, etc are sufficient. I have to wonder why you won't denounce these angry old men regardless of and apart from whether they are guilty of this particular charge or not.

196 posted on 12/27/2001 9:42:19 AM PST by Stultis
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To: Stultis
Let's look at the following terrorist activities of the JDL and anti-Western activities (http://www.jdl.org/):
(1) By Dr. Jonathon Epstein

                                         JDL Midwest Regional Director

                  Since the Jewish Defense League called for an area-wide boycott against
                  businesses that are connected to the Islamic Center (pictured below) in
                  Parma, Ohio, there has been a great deal of debate and concern in the
                  Northeast Ohio community about exactly what it is I have asked for, as
                  well as the specific reasons for the decision.

                  For that reason I would like to attempt to clarify the specifics of JDL's
                  position. I would like this to be completely clear. We have not asked for
                  a boycott of ALL Arab or Islamic businesses. We have specifically asked
                  that all Clevelanders, regardless of their race, religion or ethnicity, avoid
                  doing business with those who choose to be associated with this
                  particular Islamic Center.

This is not racial profiling, it is a targeted boycott. Our reasons for doing
                  so stem directly from the Center's unanimous decision to retain Fawaz
                  Damra (pictured right) as their imam, or community spiritual leader.
                  Fawaz Damra, and a number of the board members of the Islamic Center
                  are known to be associated with Islamic Terrorists
                  groups. The reasons for this assertion is extensive.
                  Before coming to Cleveland Damra was imam at a
                  mosque in Brooklyn, New York. Members of this
                  mosque, located on Atlantic Avenue, were directly
                  involved with the first attack on the World Trade
                  Center in 1993, for which Damra was considered an
                  "unindicted co-conspirator." The same group of
                  terrorists, under the leadership of Sheik Abdul
                  Rahman, were directly responsible for the
                  assassination of JDL founder and former Knesset
                  (Israeli parliament) member Rabbi Meir Kahane, as
                  well as being implicated in the assassination of
                  Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

                  On a video tape recently released by the United States Immigration and
                  Naturalization Service, Damra calls for Jihad against "Israel, America,
                  Europe, and NATO" and goes on to say that the only way for this to be
                  accomplished is through terrorism. On the same tape he is seen rasing
                  money for a Palestinian terrorist organization called the Islamic Jihad
                  Movement of Palestine.(continued:read here for the rest of their "terrorist" activities:http://www.jdl.org/action/action/boycott_mosque.html)

(2) Armchair Activist: Unmasking Frauds: Uncovering
                                        Anti-Israel "Jewish" Sites
 

                                            Posted October 10, 2001

                                           Updated October 13, 2001

                  As a service to the Jewish community, JDL is posting the URL's of
                  so-called "Jewish" organizations/ websites that are antithetical to
                  Jewish/Zionist beliefs. These traitorous entities are Jewish in name only;
                  many of them have ties to the Arabist lobby. At present time, all links
                  are functional. If you have an addition to this list, please send it to us.
http://www.jdl.org/action/armchair/frauds.html

(3)              Bin Laden Has Won (http://www.jdl.org/)
                   Learn why columnist Joseph Farah believes that
                   George Bush's declaration of support for a so-called
                   "Palestinian state" is tantamount to a complete victory
                   for the forces of Islamic terror. . .(http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=24766 - oh my goodness, a link to the Christian Arab Joseph Farah in his piece in WND!!! Shocking advocating of terrorism)

(4)Tape Shows Local Imam Supported Terrorhttp://www.clevelandjewishnews.com/archives/index.inn?loc=detail&doc=/2001/September/26-191-aimam0928.txt - Oh no! Providing education on local Islamic groups and individuals  involved in terrorism  or supporting same)

(5) Helping the Children
                   We are asking that visitors to this site make
                   a contribution to a fund that has been set up
                   to benefit the six children who were orphaned
                   as a result of the Arab massacre of Binyamin
                   and Talia Kahane. . (http://www.jdl.org/israel/benjamin_kahane.html - Oh my goodness, the JDL is asking for funds to help the victims of Arab terror!!! Shame on them.)

Etc. etc.,

 

197 posted on 12/27/2001 9:48:32 AM PST by Lent
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To: Stultis
I have to wonder why you won't denounce these angry old men regardless of and apart from whether they are guilty of this particular charge or not.

Quote my words or find something else to provide disinformation on.

198 posted on 12/27/2001 9:49:49 AM PST by Lent
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To: Alouette
bump
199 posted on 12/15/1990 1:42:54 AM PST by wooly_mammoth
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To: Alouette
take a look at some of these post before you pidgeon hole me
200 posted on 12/15/1990 1:42:57 AM PST by wooly_mammoth
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