'World gov'ts mustn't take sides on ME'
Jul. 1, 2008
JPost.com Staff , THE JERUSALEM POST
A new WorldPublicOpinion poll of 18 countries found that in 14 of them a majority of people say their government should not take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
According to the results of the poll released Tuesday, just three countries favor taking the Palestinian side (Egypt, Iran and Turkey). No country favors taking Israel's side, including the United States, where 71 percent favor taking neither side.
Most of those polled gave low marks to Israel, the Palestinians, the United States and the Arab countries when asked how well they were doing in their efforts to resolve the conflict.
A majority said they believed the United Nations should play a greater role in the Middle East conflict and most of those surveyed said the UN should offer to send peacekeepers to the region not only to enforce an eventual agreement but also to guarantee the security of both Israel and its Arab neighbors.
"People around the world are not cheering for either side and want their governments to take an even-handed approach," said Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion.org. "All of the key actors are seen as failing to do their part to break the impasse and most want the UN Security Council to step in and offer peacekeeping forces and even security guarantees to help resolve the conflict."
The poll of 18,792 respondents was a collaborative research project involving research centers from around the world and managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes (PIPA) at the University of Maryland.
Interviews were conducted in 18 countries, including most of the largest nations ¬China, India, the United States, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Russia - as well as Mexico, Peru, Great Britain, France, Spain, Azerbaijan, Ukraine, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Thailand and South Korea. The Palestinian Territories were also polled. The nations included represent 59 % of the world population. Not all questions were asked in all nations.
On average, 58% of those polled said they believed their country should not take either side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Only 20% said their country should favor the Palestinians and just 7% said the Israelis.
A significant majority of about 70 % or more preferred a neutral stance in eight countries, including the United States (71%), as well as Mexico (88%), South Korea (82%), Great Britain (79%), France (79%), Peru (76%), China (74%), and Ukraine (69%).
Those surveyed gave low marks to international players when asked to evaluate
how well they were "doing their part in the effort to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."
Israel received the worst ratings. In thirteen out of the fifteen countries asked this question, a majority said the Israelis were "not doing very well" or "not doing well at all." On average, 54 % said Israel was not playing a positive role while just 22 % say it was. Those giving Israel poor grades included three out of five Americans (59%). Only in India did more people view Israel's role positively (35%) than negatively (25%). The Chinese were divided.
Nevertheless, Palestinians did not fare much better than the Israelis. In 10 out of 15
countries, most said the Palestinians were not doing their part in the effort to resolve their conflict with Israel. On average, 47 % view the Palestinians' role negatively while 28 % view it positively.
Americans constituted the largest majority with this negative view (75%), followed by South Koreans (74%) and the French (66%). Those viewing the Palestinian role most favorably were, unsurprisingly, the Palestinians themselves (75%), followed by Egyptians (63%), Indonesians (49%) and Nigerians (46%).
Twelve of the countries polled said the United States was not doing its part very well. On average, 59 % viewed the US role negatively while only 20 % viewed it positively. In the United States itself, only 44 % said their country was playing a positive role while 46 % say it is not.
Evaluations of the Arab countries showed negative results in 11 out of the 15 countries. On average, 48 % said they were not playing a constructive role while just 23 % say they were. A majority of the Palestinians (57%) also rated efforts by their Arab neighbors negatively.
The study also showed that people around the world believe the UN Security Council should take a robust role in resolving the conflict. In 16 of 17 countries asked about this issue, a majority said that if Israel and the Palestinians reach an agreement, the UN Security Council should send peacekeepers to enforce it. On average, 67 % favored this idea while just 20 % opposed it.
Those polled in most UN Security Council member states expressed support for sending UN peacekeepers to enforce an eventual Israeli-Palestinian agreement, including majorities in China (81%), France (74%), Great Britain (67%), the United States (61%), and a significant minority of Russians (47%). Those in predominantly Muslim countries in the Middle East also said they supported this proposal, including Turks (65%), Egyptians (64%), and Palestinians (63%).
Most of those polled said they would support an even higher level of UN commitment: that if Israel and the Palestinians reach a peace agreement, the UN Security Council should offer security guarantees to both Israel and its Arab neighbors. Eleven of the 16 countries polled said the Security Council should make a commitment to protect Israel if it is attacked by its Arab neighbors, while 13 of the 16 thought it should do the same for Arab countries in case of an Israeli attack. On average, 45 % said they favored providing such guarantees to Israel and 55% said they favored providing them to Arab countries.
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Comment: Until the world is willing to stand on one side or the other, these countries continue to be part of the problem. I am not naive, I understand this has to do with politics, money and energy. Unless the West is willing and has courage to stand up for what it values, our enemies will consider to interpret us as weak, paper tigers and lacking the courage to stand up for its beliefs. This in turn offers support for our enemies' belief that over time they will defeat us via attrition and erosion of our willingness to fight for our own culture. There will be NO possibility of ME change until we demonstrate resolve and toughness. /span>
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