No country chose to stand by Israel.

71% of US wants neutrality in conflict

By STEPHANIE RUBENSTEIN, JPOST

Most people in 14 of 18 countries polled recently want their governments to refrain from choosing sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including in the United States (71 percent).

WorldPublicOpinion. org, managed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, polled 18,792 people with a margin of error range of 2% to 4% for the survey released on Tuesday.

Questionnaires were distributed from January to May, and the responses represent 59% of the world population.

Overall, 58% of respondents said they wanted their respective country to take a neutral stance on the conflict, 20% favored the Palestinians and 7% the Israelis.

Egyptians, Iranians and Turks supported the Palestinians, while Indians were divided on the issue. No country chose to stand by Israel.

“[The results] signify that people have a high level of concern for the current situation,” said Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion. org. “They want the conflict to be addressed.”

As for Israel’s and Arab countries’ effectiveness in handling the situation, both were seen as not taking constructive roles.

Instead of having individual countries play a role in the conflict, most publics said that prefer the United Nations to mediate between the sides.

Most respondents said the UN should send an envoy to keep the peace between Israelis and Palestinians, to stabilize the region and help advance a peace agreement.

“It is rather striking that so few countries are taking sides in this conflict,” Kull said. “They are taking an even-handed approach and they are looking for a way to be supportive. These [proposed UN] security guarantees are rather substantial and could potentially have significant
costs. That really reflects [the respondents] level of concern and the desire to see a resolution.”

July 3, 2008 | 8 Comments »
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8 Comments / 8 Comments

  1. Are we the ONLY COUNTRY in the world where every week or month somebody whips out a poll or survey telling us that nobody likes us and our existence is in question because of bad world PR?

    Comment by yamit82 — July 4, 2008 @ 10:48 am

    We (United States) do it to ourselves too.. not to the existential extent that Israel does it though.

  2. “A People that Dwells Alone”?

    “[ayin ]Am levadad yishkon,” a verbatim quote from Balaam’s prophecy (Numbers 23:9), is one of the sources for the construction of the Israelite and Jewish national identity, connoting uniqueness, exclusivity, and chosenness. The slightly veiled phrases “[ayin ]over(et) lifnei hama[hdotu ]aneh” and “hanshei [hdotu ]alutz kovshim” add allusions to the foundational myth of the conquest of Canaan. In fact, they invoke the story of the tribes Gad and Reuben (Numbers 32), whose role as vanguard, crossing the Jordan before the rest of the Israelites (actually, “before the Lord,” as the biblical text insists), no doubt stands behind the modern Zionist use of the biblical term [hdotu ]alutz (vanguard) as “pioneer.”

  3. Are we the ONLY COUNTRY in the world where every week or month somebody whips out a poll or survey telling us that nobody likes us and our existence is in question because of bad world PR?

  4. Egyptians, Iranians and Turks supported the Palestinians, while Indians were divided on the issue. No country chose to stand by Israel

    I tend to agree with Yamit’s “bullshit poll”, anybody who polls Egyptians, Iranians and Turks is performing a poll that’s a “no-brainer” the answers from these people is a foregone conclusion as would be the same poll in Israel.

    The suggestion that the UN should mediate means the end of the Jewish Homeland as we know it. If and when that happens I suggest that all of us living in Israel should renew our foreign passports and the Jewish refugees from arab countries should apply to UNRWA for assistance.

  5. I don’t believe the world has to be concerned for Israel. Israel has to be concerned for Israel.

  6. Bullshit poll, who orderd it? who paid for it?

    I agree, at least about the results of U.S. respondents. Every other poll I’ve ever seen shows Americans overwhelmingly support Israel.

    “[The results] signify that people have a high level of concern for the current situation,” said Steven Kull, director of WorldPublicOpinion. org. “They want the conflict to be addressed.”

    This statement contradicts the poll results showing neutrality on the issue.

  7. No, actually it is most likely accurate:

    1Ki 18:21 Elijah went before the people and said, “How long will you waver q between two opinions? If the LORD r is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him.” But the people said nothing.

    Mt 6:24 “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money.

    People who refuse to take a Biblical position, based on Torah Law for Israel’s borders are usually either worshiping another god or serving MONEY. Israeli blood has been traded for money and other gods – the primary destruction of democracy for all nations.

  8. Bullshit poll, who orderd it? who paid for it? What were the key questions? what countries were polled? certainly not Israel; but Palestinians yes? This is a poll with an agenda and it should be viewed as such. How many people from ea country were polled, too much unknowables. Forget it it isn’t worth a discussion except that in this case neutrality is defacto in favor of our enemies.

    Even if valid I still would not be surprised by the results.