- CHICAGO, April 19 (UPI) --
A Harris poll finds a plurality of Americans put equal blame on Arabs and
Israelis for the continuing violence in the Middle East, while a poll by
the Pew Research Center for People and the Press finds Europeans critical
of the U.S. approach to the conflict.
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- Both surveys coincided with Secretary of State Colin
Powell's Middle East peacemaking mission.
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- The Harris poll, released Friday, was conducted April
9-15 and queried 1,021 adults. It found Americans intrigued by the recent
Saudi peace proposal with 51 percent backing it, 22 percent opposing it
and 26 percent wary. Asked who is to blame for the violence, 39 percent
place blame equally, with 36 percent saying the Arabs were at fault and
11 percent blaming the Israelis.
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- Ibrahim Hooper, a spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic
Relations, called the polling results refreshing.
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- "It's an interesting result given that if you listen
to many elected officials, the blame would lie exclusively with Palestinians,"
he said. "The American public isn't buying the line being pushed by
the pro-Israeli lobby."
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- "I think it's important to note only 11 percent
of Americans blame the Israelis for the violence while 36 percent put the
blame on the Palestinians," said Shoshana Buchholz-Miller, associate
director for the Midwest office of the Anti-Defamation League. "Americans
are sympathetic to the images of suffering they see on television but they
also understand that the Israelis are defending themselves from the terror
of suicide bombings."
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- The poll found Americans have a negative perception of
both Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian leader Yasser
Arafat, with Sharon earning a 66 percent negative rating and Arafat earning
85 percent. President Bush's positive rating has slipped from 54 percent
to 50 percent in the last month.
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- Americans recognize U.S. policy tilts toward the Israelis,
with 31 percent saying it is too supportive of Israel and 6 percent saying
it is too supportive of Palestinians. Forty-one percent said the balance
is just right.
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- The Pew Center results to be released Saturday find Europeans
now have a better opinion of Bush than they did before Sept. 11 but remain
highly critical of most of his policies, including what they see as a unilateral
approach to international affairs.
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- The poll contrasts the American and European approaches
to solving the Middle East conflict, finding people in France, Germany
and Italy critical of the U.S. approach and the British public split. Seventy-one
percent of those queried in France, 67 percent in Italy, 64 percent in
Germany and 57 percent in Britain said the United States is not doing "as
much as it can" to bring about peace.
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- Buchholz-Miller said she's not surprised by the Pew results.
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- "Those kind of numbers have been cropping up in
similar ways during this conflict," she said. "In terms of European
support for American involvement in the Middle East, I think that the Europeans
have been pleased the Bush administration has gotten as involved as it
has in recent days. I think they look to the administration for leadership."
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- The Europeans also indicated they sympathize more with
the Palestinians than the Israelis. Asked if that can be linked to the
history of anti-Semitism in Europe, Buchholz-Miller said: "Obviously
we've seen a rise of anti-Semitic incidents in France. That's a very disturbing
trend and may play out in the poll numbers that we see today. There are
often very sympathetic media outlets in Europe to the Palestinian cause
and I think that is a factor in shaping European opinion as well."
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- The survey, done in association with the International
Herald Tribune and Council on foreign Relations, queried 4,042 people in
the four European countries and 1,362 Americans. Those polled supported
the U.S.-led war on terrorism and the majority said they do not believe
the United States is overreacting.
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- Copyright © 2002 United Press International
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