WASHINGTON, 17 May — There’s a saying that most Americans are smart enough not to listen to their politicians, when it comes to the Middle East, its seems this may just be true.
A substantial new US poll reveals some attention-getting findings which strongly indicates that the American public wants a more even-handed policy in the Middle East.
Conducted and published by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of Maryland, the poll notes that only one-quarter of Americans know that a majority of countries are more sympathetic to the Palestinians, than the Israelis.
“The importance of the poll is that the American people are making up their own minds, despite what Congress is doing (regarding its pro-Israeli resolutions). The vast majority of Americans want to see an even-handed foreign policy in the Middle East,” said Dr. Shibley Telhami, a Middle East expert at the University of Maryland.
Only four in ten polled know that a majority of countries disapprove of US Middle East policy. Only one in three are aware that more Palestinians than Israelis have died in the recent conflict.
Despite this, a majority of Americans say they blame both sides equally for the failure to reach peace and express equal levels of frustration for each side.
When the respondents were asked whether they blame the Israelis or Palestinians more, or both sides equally, 58 percent said both.
Respondents were also asked how much ‘frustration’ they felt with each side as well as how much ‘sympathy’ they felt. Respondents were quite even-handed. On the frustration scale, 55 percent gave scores that were exactly equal. On the sympathy scales, 49 percent gave scores that were also equal.
Within the remainder, according to PIPA, the gap on frustration was fairly narrow, with 21 percent expressing more frustration with the Palestinians and 14 percent with the Israelis.
When all the scores were combined, the average scores were favorable to Israel, but only by a fairly modest margin. A strong majority thinks that US policy should be even-handed in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Only a small minority believes that this is true of current US policy, while a clear majority feels that the US favors Israel.
One of the most interesting results of the poll showed that if Palestinians do come to a peace agreement with Israel, a majority, 67 percent, favors equalizing the amount of aid that the US gives to each side.
A strong 63 percent said they approved of President Bush’s April demand that “Israel withdraw its troops from the Palestinian towns it recently took over.” Twenty-six disapproved. The level of support is down from the 71 percent approval rating a Gallop poll took in early April, which PIPA suggests may be due to Bush’s lack of success in producing results.
Despite the negative image of Yasser Arafat that has been recorded in numerous polls, an overwhelming majority, 78 percent, approved of meeting with him.
An overwhelming majority, 82 percent, approves of the recent initiative to hold an international peace conference. Seventy-seven percent of those polled said they approved of Bush’s call for a Palestinian state, “provided that it recognizes the right of Israel to exist.”
The majority polled is critical of Israel’s recent military actions in the West Bank and believes that they have increased the probability of further attacks against Israeli civilians. A majority believes that Israeli troops were not only seeking to root out terrorists, but also were seeking to punish the general Palestinian population.
Shibley Telhami, who discussed the results of the poll, said the “problem that faces the US administration is whether Arab-Israeli peace is a priority for American foreign policy.
“What’s remarkable about this poll is that the American public thinks creating a Palestinian state is a priority, and that the vast majority of Americans believe Arab-Israeli peacemaking has become a priority since 9/11,” said Telhami.
