• Home
  • Perspectives
  • Articles
  • Columns
  • Platform
  • Poetry
    • Literature
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • My account
  • Support
    • Donation Confirmation
  • Write for us
Sign in
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Privacy Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
Search
70 F
Los Angeles
Sunday, February 28, 2021
  • Contact MMN
  • en English
    af Afrikaanssq Albanianam Amharicar Arabichy Armenianaz Azerbaijanieu Basquebe Belarusianbn Bengalibs Bosnianbg Bulgarianca Catalanceb Cebuanony Chichewazh-CN Chinese (Simplified)zh-TW Chinese (Traditional)co Corsicanhr Croatiancs Czechda Danishnl Dutchen Englisheo Esperantoet Estoniantl Filipinofi Finnishfr Frenchfy Frisiangl Galicianka Georgiande Germanel Greekgu Gujaratiht Haitian Creoleha Hausahaw Hawaiianiw Hebrewhi Hindihmn Hmonghu Hungarianis Icelandicig Igboid Indonesianga Irishit Italianja Japanesejw Javanesekn Kannadakk Kazakhkm Khmerko Koreanku Kurdish (Kurmanji)ky Kyrgyzlo Laola Latinlv Latvianlt Lithuanianlb Luxembourgishmk Macedonianmg Malagasyms Malayml Malayalammt Maltesemi Maorimr Marathimn Mongolianmy Myanmar (Burmese)ne Nepalino Norwegianps Pashtofa Persianpl Polishpt Portuguesepa Punjabiro Romanianru Russiansm Samoangd Scottish Gaelicsr Serbianst Sesothosn Shonasd Sindhisi Sinhalask Slovaksl Slovenianso Somalies Spanishsu Sudanesesw Swahilisv Swedishtg Tajikta Tamilte Teluguth Thaitr Turkishuk Ukrainianur Urduuz Uzbekvi Vietnamesecy Welshxh Xhosayi Yiddishyo Yorubazu Zulu
Sign in
Welcome! Log into your account
Forgot your password? Get help
Privacy Policy
Password recovery
Recover your password
A password will be e-mailed to you.
Media Monitors Network (MMN)
  • Home
  • Perspectives
    • Jerusalem Israel Palestine Dome of The Rock Golden Dome

      The Abraham Accords undermined much-needed peace with Palestinians

      World Map

      Global disturbing disparities

      Globe Algeria Niger Mali Africa

      There is always a price to pay for befriending the Zionists

      Illegal Israeli Settlements

      Antisemitism claims mask a reign of political and cultural terror across…

      The Flower - Pakistan Monument at Night

      Israel in the vanguard of India’s mounting conflict with Pakistan

  • Articles
    • Man studying religious book

      Ishmael and Isaac: An Essay on the Divergent Moral Economies of…

      Mahmoud Abbas

      May Your Home Be Destroyed

      Netanyahu Lighting Hanukah Candles with His Wife and Sons

      Bibi’s Son or: Three Men in a Car

      The Map of Greater Israel

      The Man Who Jumped

      West Bank - Palestine

      Cry, Beloved Country

  • Columns
    • Republican Hypocrisy Is No Reason to Support Neera Tanden

      Republican Hypocrisy Is No Reason to Support Neera Tanden

      Tax Revelations and Corporate Media Won’t Defeat Trump

      Cuomo and Newsom Symbolize the Rot of Corporate Democrats — and…

      Hidden in Plain Sight: The “Unimpeachable” Offenses

      Hidden in Plain Sight: The “Unimpeachable” Offenses

      Progressives Must Fight With -- and In -- the Democratic Party

      Don’t Grade President Biden on a Curve

      Progressives Must Fight With -- and In -- the Democratic Party

      Don’t Let President Biden ‘Make Us the Dupes of Our Hopes’

  • Platform
    • Hanukkah Lights

      Hanukkah is not hypocrisy

      The Washington Post

      “Preemptive war could risk millions of casualties. But….”

      When they shout: "We strongly condemn…"

      68

      Why Iran won’t attack Israel

      Is One Iraqi’s Self-Hatred Newsworthy?

  • Poetry
    • Literature
  • Shop
    • Cart
    • My account
  • Support
    • Donation Confirmation
  • Write for us
Home Perspectives New Poll Shows Damage Done
  • Perspectives

New Poll Shows Damage Done

By
James Zogby
-
December 24, 2001
Facebook
Twitter
Pinterest
WhatsApp
Linkedin
ReddIt
Email
Print
Tumblr
Telegram
Mix
VK
Digg
LINE
Viber
Naver

    James Zogby’s Column

    There is almost no good news in the most recent Zogby International poll on the U.S. public’s attitudes toward some Middle East countries and the continuing Arab-Israeli conflict. 

    The poll surveyed the views of 1004 Americans during the period of October 17 through October 21, 2001.  The poll has a margin of error of +3.2%.

    The results show that there has been a precipitous decline in the support that Americans give to two key U.S. Arab allies: Egypt and Saudi Arabia.  In fact, the ratio of favorable to unfavorable views for both countries is the worst ever recorded in ZI polls.

    When asked their attitude toward Egypt, for example, only 38% of Americans indicate a favorable view, while 34% held a negative view.  Even more troubling are Americans’ attitudes toward Saudi Arabia.  In the December 2001 poll, Saudi Arabia was seen favorably by only 24% of Americans, while a shocking 58% indicated that they had a negative view of the Kingdom. 

    In the same poll, Israel had a favorable rating of 59% and an unfavorable rating of 28%.  The Palestinian Authority was seen favorably by only 10% of the U.S. public, and negatively by 72%.

    To understand the dramatic shift that this represents, it is important to compare the current poll with earlier Zogby International polling on this subject.  Chart I, below, details the changes in U.S. public opinion toward these four countries since 1993.

    Chart I Favorable-Unfavorable attitudes toward countries

    Country                 1993    1996    1998    1999    Jan 01  Oct 01  Dec 01
    Israel                  61-20   62-14   55-22   58-18   —      68-14   59-28
    Egypt                   64-13   51-14   47-21   45-13   62-16   60-15   38-34
    Saudi Arabia            36-41   40-34   39-36   44-33   56-28   49-33   24-58
    Palestinian Auth.       —      —      —      —      —      16-64   10-72

    What Chart I shows is that all of the countries being surveyed now have higher negatives than at any time in the past nine years.  Israel’s negatives, for example, have doubled since October 2001.  And the Palestinian Authority’s positive numbers have dropped while their negatives have risen in the same two-month period.

    The change for Egypt and Saudi Arabia has been even more dramatic.  The Kingdom has completely reversed its rating in the past year.  While in January 2001, Saudi Arabia recorded an all-time high favorability rating of 56% and an all-time low of 28%, its rating is now 24% favorable to 58% negative.  Egypt, which always had the highest ratings of any Arab country and a negative rating which was oftentimes lower than that of Israel now records an almost equal negative and positive rating.

    While we did not ask open questions in this poll,  which would allow respondents to tell us why they held the attitudes that they expressed toward both countries, we did learn something of those attitudes from another question in the poll.

    When we asked whether or not Americans felt that these countries were good or bad allies of the United States, we received the following results, recorded in Chart II.

    Chart II                Good or Bad ally
                                    Israel          Egypt           Saudi Arabia

    -very good ally                 23              5               3
    -generally a good ally          29              23              19
    -pretty good, but a problem     29              32              36
    -not a good ally                        11              21              31

    It may be recalled that in the October 2001 poll when we asked respondents to give us a reason why they held negative views about Egypt and Saudi Arabia, the reasons given were directly related to the propaganda campaign that was being actively waged against both countries.  Among the top responses given were: “their relation to the terrorists”; “don’t know where they stand”; “don’t trust them”; and “their government”.

    Since the October poll numbers already demonstrated the beginning of a decline in U.S. attitudes toward both countries, it may be assumed that the largely unanswered anti-Arab propaganda campaign waged effectively since September 11 has continued to eat away at U.S. attitudes. This may account for the deeper decline in evidence in the December 2001 poll.

    ***

    In another area of investigation, the Arab-Israeli conflict, the December 2001 Zogby International poll shows the U.S. public to be less affected by the events of September 11.  When we asked “who is to blame for the current problems in the conflict: Israel, the Palestinians or both equally”, we find that 61% still say that both parties are equally to blame.  This despite the fact the percentage of those who blame the Palestinians has risen to 24%, while those blaming the Israelis are only 4%. 

    A comparison with earlier years shows how responses to this question have changed, shown in Chart III.

    Chart III               Who is to blame?

                    1997                    1998                    2001

    Israel                                6                       6                       4
    Palestinian Authority         13                      9                       24
    Both                                55                      62                      61

    It appears that the vast majority of Americans still prefer that the U.S. Administration pursue a balanced approach to resolving the conflict.

    When we ask respondents to describe how the Administration pursues Middle East peace, thirty-nine percent say that the Administration favors Israel, two percent say that the Administration favors Palestinians, while 45% say that the Administration steers a middle course and is balanced.

    But when we ask how they feel that the Administration should approach Middle East peace, only 17% say that U.S. policy should favor Israel, two percent say it should favor Palestinians, while a significant 72% say that U.S. policy should be balanced and steer a middle course.  Again, comparing these responses with earlier polls reveals an interesting trend.

    Chart IV        How does the Administration pursue Middle East peace?
                                    1997                    1998            2001

    -lean toward Israel               24                      25              39
    -lean toward Pales. Auth.       3                       4               2
    -steer a middle course          38                      40              45

    Chart V How should the Administration pursue Middle East peace?

                                            1997                    1998            2001
    -lean toward Israel               15                      12              17
    -lean toward Pales. Auth.       3                       2               2
    -steer a middle course          56                      64              72

    In other words, the Bush Administration is perceived by Americans to be more pro-Israel than the previous Clinton Administration-with 39% seeing Bush as pro-Israel, as opposed to only 25% who saw Clinton as favoring Israel.  But only 17% want the Bush Administration to be pro-Israel, while 72% (the largest percentage yet in 5 years of asking this question) would prefer that the Administration “steer a middle course” in the pursuit of peace.

    ***

    What these results show is that a tremendous task confronts those who value the U.S.-Arab relationship and the pursuit of Middle East peace.  The campaign against Saudi Arabia and Egypt has take a dramatic toll on the attitudes of the U.S. public.  The downward slide can be arrested and reversed, but it will require a concerted effort.  It is not the U.S. public that is at fault.  They have, for months now, been fed a steady diet of anti-Arab information.  Those who are seeking to disrupt and discredit the relationship are working overtime.  And the efforts of September 11 have come to be felt and interpreted through the screen of misinformation provided by those who have sought to hurt U.S. ties with Arab countries. 

    Work must be done and it should begin before more damage occurs.

    Dr. James J. Zogby is President of Arab American Institute in Washington, DC.

    • TAGS
    • about
    • account
    • administration
    • affected
    • again
    • against
    • allies
    • allow
    • almost
    • already
    • always
    • American
    • americans
    • among
    • another
    • approach
    • Arab
    • arabia
    • arrested
    • asked
    • asking
    • attitude
    • attitudes
    • authority
    • balanced
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Pinterest
    WhatsApp
    Linkedin
    ReddIt
    Email
    Print
    Tumblr
    Telegram
    Mix
    VK
    Digg
    LINE
    Viber
    Naver
      Previous articleThe urgent mission for the Arab Foreign Ministers is to have the American administration make Israel stop the aggression
      Next articleA question of context
      James Zogby

      Dr. James J. Zogby is President of Arab American Institute in Washington, DC and a regular contributor to Media Monitors Network (MMN).

      RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR

      Jerusalem Israel Palestine Dome of The Rock Golden Dome

      The Abraham Accords undermined much-needed peace with Palestinians

      World Map

      Global disturbing disparities

      Globe Algeria Niger Mali Africa

      There is always a price to pay for befriending the Zionists

      Google Search

      MMN @ Google Play Store MMN @ Amazon Appstore

      MMN @ TwitterMMN @ FacebookMMN Feed

      Newsletter

      EDITOR PICKS

      Republican Hypocrisy Is No Reason to Support Neera Tanden

      Republican Hypocrisy Is No Reason to Support Neera Tanden

      February 25, 2021
      Tax Revelations and Corporate Media Won’t Defeat Trump

      Cuomo and Newsom Symbolize the Rot of Corporate Democrats — and...

      February 16, 2021
      Hidden in Plain Sight: The “Unimpeachable” Offenses

      Hidden in Plain Sight: The “Unimpeachable” Offenses

      February 7, 2021

      POPULAR POSTS

      167

      The Origin of Freemasonry: The Crusaders & Templars

      April 23, 2003

      Sharon to Peres: We Control America

      November 20, 2001
      Qibla - Kaaba

      Direction of Al-Qiblah

      February 23, 2003

      POPULAR CATEGORY

      • Perspectives13742
      • News3116
      • World2782
      • Asia2383
      • Columns1329
      • Articles859
      • Africa280
      • Health273
      • Australasia160
      ABOUT US
      Media Monitors Network (MMN) is a non-profit, non-partial and non-political platform for those serious Media Contributors and Observers who crave to know and like to help to prevail the whole truth about current affairs, any disputed issue or any controversial issue by their voluntary contributions with logic, reason and rationality.
      Contact us: [email protected]
      FOLLOW US
      • About MMN
      • Disclaimer
      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms and Conditions
      • Contact
      Copyright © 2000 - MMN International Inc. All rights reserved.
      Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited.
      All other brands, logos, and product names are registered
      trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
      ResponsiveVoice-NonCommercial licensed under 95x15
      MORE STORIES
      Myanmar: UN rights office condemns escalating violence in deadliest day of protests so far

      Myanmar: UN rights office condemns escalating violence in deadliest day of...

      February 28, 2021
      In its monthly lecture series, OIC highlights importance of innovation in Islamic world

      In its monthly lecture series, OIC highlights importance of innovation in...

      February 28, 2021