ATTITUDE TO ME CONFLICT AROUND THE WORLD

INTERESTING STATISTICS RE WORLD’S ATTITUDE TO M.E. CONFLICT.

About the 2007 Pew Global Attitudes Survey
http://pewglobal.org/reports/pdf/256.pdf

Results for the survey are based on telephone and face-to-face interviews
conducted under the direction of Princeton Survey Research Associates
International. All surveys are based on national samples except in Bolivia,
Brazil, China, India, Ivory Coast, Pakistan, South Africa, and Venezuela
wherethe samples were disproportionately or exclusively urban.

THE QUESTIONS.

1. Where do their sympathies lie: more with the Israelis or the Palestinians?
2. Should a way be found for the State of Israel to exist so that the rights or needs of the Palestinians can be taken care of? OR;
3. these rights cannot be taken care of if Israel continues to exist.
4. Can a way be found for both to coexist?
5. Who is mostly responsible for the fact that the Palestinians don’t have a State of their own: Israel or the Palestinians?


ANSWERS:

1. From the seven Latin American countries, most were evenly divided but less than 50% in each had any opinion at all.
All the Moslem countries in the ME, Asia and Africa were naturally for the Palestinians. But the more surprising perhaps, are the Europeans. Apart from Germany, Slovakia and the Czech Republic, the rest were more for the Palestinians, although there were a few who were almost equally divided. Overall, 14 were more for Israel, 21 for the Palestinians and 10 were equally divided.
2. Here, 26 vs. 8 believed in this first part of the question.
3. The 8 were all Moslem States.
4. Here 11 were definitely for co-existence, 6 Moslem States said NO, but for Lebanon (even,- overall), but they divided into Shia (no), Sunni (yes, 57%-43% no), Christians (yes).
5. For this, 2/3rds had fewer than 50% with an opinion at all. Out of 37 countries, only 9 were putting the blame on the Palestinians; 7were evenly divided and 18 were blaming Israel. Among the latter were 10 Moslem countries. The 11 pro-Israel ones were: USA, Bolivia, Brazil, Venezuela, Czech Republic, India, Japan, S. Korea, Bulgaria and Israel of course.

MY CONCLUSION:(MM)

On the whole, co-existence does seem to be the preferred option , even among some of the Sunni Moslems from Lebanon. Therefore, outside the Islamic world, the world does want Israel to continue to exist. But how it should exist seems to be outside their ability to understand. If it is to remain a Jewish State, then it is difficult for Christian Europeans to accept it as such. They probably prefer a “secular, democratic “ model.
Up to a point, this is what Israel is,- but to that needs to be added the fact that it must remain a “Jewish democratic State with both secular and traditional values.”
I would prefer that there be no religious “laws”, only traditional principles applied to the secular laws, after adapting tradition to the rights and freedoms of the individual as it applies to and in a modern democracy.