International poll marks shift in US public opinion towards Palestine and Israeli occupation

Contributed by Adnan

"....College Park, MD—A new WorldPublicOpinion.org poll of 18 countries finds that in 14 of them people mostly say their government should not take sides in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. 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.

The poll of 18,792 respondents was conducted by WorldPublicOpinion.org, 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.......

Comments of Dr. Nabil Kukali on the Results of the International Poll

In his comments on the results of this International Poll, Dr. Nabil Kukali, Director of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, said that "there is a positive shift in the view of the American people towards the balance of the roles of the adverse parties of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, since the US Americans, as seen from the poll findings, do not blame only the Palestinian people for not exerting sufficient efforts to resolve their conflict with Israel, but blame also Israel as well. Three out of five US citizens (59 %) give Israel poor ratings in this respect."

Dr. Kukali added furthermore that:" Publics around the world get now to realize that the United States is not doing its part very well and the US role is negatively viewed while only one fifth of the publics view it positively". "This should give", he said "the US administration an urge to intensify its role in future as to resolve this tragic conflict".

As to the role of the Arab countries in supporting their Palestinian brothers, Dr. Kukali pointed out the fact that, in addition to a clear majority of the Palestinian public, almost half of the publics around the world believes that the Arab countries are not playing a constructive role, and that is a clear indication to the leaders of these countries to exert more efforts".

Regarding the role of the "Quartet", Dr. Kukali said that "the poll findings are talking a clear language, namely pluralities in both countries representing the European Union give their governments negative ratings......."