Media Palispins a Poll
July 18, 2011 12:14 by Simon Plosker
An important press conference took place in Jerusalem last week, with the release of a poll of Palestinian attitudes commissioned by The Israel Project. The findings presented a very mixed bag, some positive and others extremely disturbing.
There were some positives to be taken from the poll such as a majority of Palestinians favoring direct negotiations over violence and a drop in support for Hamas.
However, the poll results also point to a clear problem in how Palestinians perceive the concept of peace with Israel and back up concerns that continuing Palestinian incitement and the failure to recognize Israel’s legitimacy are major obstacles to peace and potentially at the heart of the conflict.
As the Jerusalem Post reports:
Only one in three Palestinians (34 percent) accepts two states for two peoples as the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, according to an intensive, face-to-face survey in Arabic of 1,010 Palestinian adults in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip completed this week by American pollster Stanley Greenberg. …
- Respondents were asked about US President Barack Obama’s statement that “there should be two states: Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people and Israel as the homeland for the Jewish people.” Just 34% said they accepted that concept, while 61% rejected it.
- Sixty-six percent said the Palestinians’ real goal should be to start with a two-state solution but then move to it all being one Palestinian state.
- Asked about the fate of Jerusalem, 92% said it should be the capital of Palestine, 1% said the capital of Israel, 3% the capital of both, and 4% a neutral international city.
- Seventy-two percent backed denying the thousands of years of Jewish history in Jerusalem, 62% supported kidnapping IDF soldiers and holding them hostage, and 53% were in favor or teaching songs about hating Jews in Palestinian schools.
- When given a quote from the Hamas Charter about the need for battalions from the Arab and Islamic world to defeat the Jews, 80% agreed. Seventy-three percent agreed with a quote from the charter (and a hadith, or tradition ascribed to the prophet Muhammad) about the need to kill Jews hiding behind stones and trees.
But how did some of the media cover (or not cover) the poll?
Worst offender was Karl Vick from Time Magazine. Let’s remember that Vick won the 2010 Dishonest Reporter Award for his article “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace“. This was his conclusion based upon anecdotal street interviews with a few unrepresentative Israelis. But what happened when Vick was presented with statistical evidence that it may be Palestinians and not Israelis who have issues with peace?
Palestinians are trudging down the same long road as Israelis. Yes, they want peace. No, they don’t think the other side will play ball. So for now their priority is private life: Getting food on the table and keeping the kids safe.
So let’s try to clear up Vick’s fuzzy logic. When a few random Israelis prioritized private issues over diplomacy, they aren’t interested in peace according to Vick’s previous artice. But in his latest offering, when Palestinians say the same thing, they are presented as pro-peace despite rejecting a two-state solution and expounding Jew hatred.
And is Vick now renouncing his “Why Israel Doesn’t Care About Peace” article by presenting both Israelis and Palestinians as wanting the same things? We invite Vick to publicly repudiate that article if this really is the case.
While Vick at least mentioned some of the negative poll results without drawing the obvious conclusions, AFP failed to cover any of the negatives whatsoever. Could it be that AFP is so one-sidedly pro-Palestinian that anything that disturbs its conceptual framework is conveniently ignored?
Meanwhile, The Guardian, another media outlet that displays a consistent pro-Palestinian bias buried the poll coverage in an article examining the Palestinian drive towards a statehood declaration. The poll warranted a single paragraph that said nothing of the wider findings:
A recent opinion survey carried out in Gaza and the West Bank by the respected US pollster Stanley Greenberg found that at the top of the priority list for Palestinians were jobs, healthcare, water shortages and education. Mass protests against Israel, and even pursuing peace negotiations, came way down. Asked to choose, two-thirds favoured diplomatic engagement with Israel over violence.
One of the major failings of reporting on the Middle East is the tendency to miss out vital context. Inconvenient truths that reveal intractable mindsets or rejectionism on the Palestinian side are swept under the carpet in order to conform to the accepted framework – that Israel and not the Palestinians are the major obstacle to peace.
Commentary Magazine took the same poll results and came to just this sort of conclusion:
Here’s a poll you will not see covered in your daily paper, because it throws the real cause of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict into uncomfortably stark relief. …
All these findings contradict the accepted wisdom that the root of the problem is Israel’s “occupation” of the West Bank and Gaza, so if Israel would just raze the settlements, peace would break out tomorrow. Withdrawing from the West Bank and Gaza won’t help if Palestinians don’t accept the existence of a Jewish state in any borders and see the two-state solution as a mere stepping-stone toward the ultimate goal of Israel’s eradication – exactly as prescribed by the PLO’s famous Phased Plan of 1974, which called for establishing a “Palestinian national authority” in any territory available and then using it as a base for “completing the liberation of all Palestinian territory.” It seems for most Palestinians, almost 20 years of peace talks haven’t changed this ultimate goal one whit.
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antony
2:44 pm
Jul 18, 2011
do you have a link to the original poll?
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Stephan
9:07 pm
Jul 18, 2011
In fact, I can not fund the poll on The Israel Project! That is not of the high-standard HonestReporting asks from others!
Instead, the top Press Release of the The Israel Project states: “Israeli Leaders, Public, Split on Legislation to Investigate Anti-Israel Groups”. This assumes Anti-Israel attitudes of these groups and is pure and unfettered demagogy, which your webpage acts against. Assuming that “organizations that seek academic, economic and cultural boycotts of Israel” is slander. http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=689705&ct=10916575
It is NOT against ISRAEL, it is FOR a viable future of Israel by opposing the continuing settlement expansion. Never mind the extremists in the Arab world – Israel might wipe itself out by it’s politics in the West-Bank / Judea & Samaria. I am Zionist, but fully against the expansion of settlements and advocate academic, economic and cultural boycotts of settlements. Sue me!
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Steve Mann
1:23 pm
Jul 20, 2011
You say- “Never mind the extremists in the Arab world”-
But this is the whole crux of the matter- because most of the Arab Muslim world and the other Muslim countries are extreme when it comes to Israel and having any other group in the ME except Islam.
Your attitude is that to give up Judea and Samaria as a Palestinian state will bring the peace so long needed.
Take Gaza as an example- Even when they had the opportunity to start for a peaceful beginning, the people voted for an extreme government.
Then look at Egypt- peace for all those years and now there is a great chance that peace treaty will be broken.
Israel has already given to much- The Muslims so far have reacted with rockets, kidnapping, bombing of civilians down to the slitting of the throats of babies.
And you say-”Never mind the extremists in the Arab world”
,
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Marjie
9:10 pm
Jul 18, 2011
http://www.theisraelproject.org/site/apps/nlnet/content2.aspx?c=hsJPK0PIJpH&b=689705&ct=8886389
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Stephan
9:10 pm
Jul 21, 2011
Thanks!
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David Winter
4:36 pm
Jul 18, 2011
It is clear from recent revelations concerning the morality of the British Press employees that few of them are really concerned with accuracy or un-biased reporting! How true the old saying that ‘what goes around comes around’. Maybe scripture more accurately states that “…be sure your sins will find you out”.
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Malcolm D. Powell
4:55 pm
Jul 18, 2011
None of the media, TV or Newspapers or internet are interested in the true reason for the enmity towards the State of Israel: That its very existence is a blasphemy against the Quaran and the Hadiths! The State of Israel must not exist in Islam.
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Gary Katz
6:09 pm
Jul 18, 2011
This poll appears consistent with previous ones. The Palestinians live in a sick society that extolls terrorism. How can they be expected to run a country? Israel would just have to conquer the territory all over again.
The problem won’t be resolved until the Arabs get rid of their teachers, political leaders and clerics who spoon feed this hatred to them and, especially, their children. Trying to put peace first, hoping that will change attitudes, is a definite cart-before-the-horse approach.
Well-loved. Agree or Disagree:
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Dr Michael Wodlinger
6:11 pm
Jul 18, 2011
I would like to read the data. Would you please provide a link to the poll data
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Nathan Zafran
6:47 pm
Jul 18, 2011
The big lies continue unimpeded, the sick hostility, venom and hatred reign supreme and the “free” world (not free from the fear of Arabs and Muslims) continues its relentless and well orchestrated campaign against Israel and the Jews. The real truths are never debated.
1) The Arabs conquered Jerusalem six years after Mohammed’s death so it’s unlikely
he took a flight from Mount Moriah to heaven on his flaming chariot with his magnificent
horse.
2) El Aksa mosque was built on the site of the Jewish temple sixty years after their
prophet’s death and over thirteen centuries after the destruction of Israel’s temple. Thus
all denial of Jewish history and Holy Arab El Quds is a fable. The holy city isn’t quoted
in the Koran even once.
3) More recently, who can point out the elements that constitute nationhood with regards to
Palestine? Was there ever an administration or government? Is there documentation, a
history, a currency? Was there ever an indigenous Palestinian entity? Of course not! In
fact the majority moved into this territory during the last century and a half, from
neighbouring countries, from Bosnia and Pakistan, from the Caucasians, Sudan and
Yemen. So all this talk of a Palestinian nation is a bunch of lies. In fact the Arab states
saw this land as part of themselves but with the Jews dominating they suddenly
demandeda state and a nation. And worlwide antisemitism supports these false claims.
We should not expect honest and unbiassed reporting in the future since it’s not expedient to back Israel and condemn the Arabs and Muslims. Besides it’s also dangerous to do so.
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Jack A Serber
6:54 pm
Jul 18, 2011
Why should the Palestinians be any different from other Muslims?
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Media Palispins a Poll « THE BLACK KETTLE
6:55 pm
Jul 18, 2011
[...] MORE [...]
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Tony
7:16 pm
Jul 18, 2011
The Poll can be seen on the Jerusalem Post page if you click on the word “POLL” in this article you will see the Poll.
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NuYorker
7:56 pm
Jul 18, 2011
Palestinians are expected by the rest of the Muslim world to be actively harassing, attacking, and killing Jews in Israel. That is their identity, their Islamic purpose. All strategies lead them toward those goals. Their rewards for fulfilling these objectives include; money from Muslim countries, UN recognition of “their struggle” (with support), and the potential of taking over the Temple Mount (having complete control of an Islamic pilgrimage site), and then being able to dispossess the Jews of their wealth, land, etc. This is a conflict of civilizations and a struggle for religious, ethnic, and political supremacy. They will never view the slaughter of innocent Jewish children, women, and civilians as criminal, it is, in their belief, part of the legitimate aspirations of the Islamic Empire. The solution is to quarantine Islam into any area of the world (they already have plenty of territory), put up extensive barriers, and allow them to either implode, or discover a side of Islam that can peacefully co-exist, and then demonstrate that it really works for a century or two in their quarantined existence. Those that truly want democracy, free market economics or socialism, and religious/ethnic pluralism could join a new version of Islam, yet to be discovered, or become Benei Noach. I think it’s getting harder and harder to justify allowing Islam to continue their Infidelophobia.
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HEJ
8:18 pm
Jul 18, 2011
Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Poorly-rated. Agree or Disagree:
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Bitter_Peace
8:33 pm
Jul 18, 2011
Oh, so there used to be a palestinian state and Israel stole it? How awful. Except there has never been a palestine. Just arabs that lived on a british mandate…
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unsospiro
8:40 pm
Jul 18, 2011
The Palestinians are concerned with getting food on the table and keeping the kids safe?
There’s plenty of food on their tables without their having to work for it, thanks to heavy6 funding and humanitarian aid from multiple sources, including the US, the UNRWA, and Israel. If you have doubts, be assured that the Palestinians have just earned the title of 8th country with the most over-weight people.
And keeping the kids safe? Hardly! From toddler stage and up, the parents train their children for battle, dress them in war headgear, wrap them in weaponry, and teach them how to die – to be suicide bombers. You call that caring for their children?
These barbarians understand only torture and death, to the “infidels,” and to their own women, children, homosexuals, apostates, etc. They are probably the most bloodthirsty people on the face of the earth, considering the blood they’ve shed over the centuries, and to this day.
Those who are waging this campaign against Israel and the Jewish people are those who have fallen from grace, wallowing in hatred, totalitarianism, and inhumanity.
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Bonnie Prince Charlie
10:49 am
Jul 29, 2011
And you’re last paragraph applies as much to to Jew-hating and Israel-hating Jews as it does to others!!! I’ve tried to understand them and where they’re coming from, but I really can’t get a grip on their mindset. From mixing and talking with them, I’ve discovered that that vast majority are ignorant of the history of Israel and being in many cases well-intentioned, have bought into the lie that Israel is the casue of all the problems in the Middle-East.
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Only one in three Palestinians (34 percent) accepts two states for two peoples as the solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict | Vlad Tepes
11:39 pm
Jul 18, 2011
[...] is an excerpt from an interesting article on a poll conducted in the Palestinian territories [...]
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Angela Wine
11:39 pm
Jul 18, 2011
Go to the youtube below and see the true facts.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmMmJ46O-3Q&feature=player_embedded
You guys that believe the Jews have no right to live in Palestine, look
at the above youtube and see when Palestine was created in 1920
And who was meant to get Palestine by International Law.?====the Jews
You may not like this but its an historical fact Its not an historical fact that this land of Palestine
belongs to the Arabs in the West Bank and Gaza. That is your imagination working
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Gary Katz
4:54 pm
Jul 19, 2011
True, although I don’t think it’s their imagination as much as it is Muslim propaganda. You know, the same phenomenon that labels terrorists “freedom fighters,” suicide bombers “martyrs,” and operations such as Cast Lead “genocide.”
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Brent Pudsey
7:49 pm
Jul 19, 2011
It is a shame that these results are not more publlicy known. It is a disgrace to the media that they are so one sided and never focus on the Palestinians opposition to statehood and the nation of Israel.
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Chana
9:09 pm
Jul 21, 2011
So how do we get the message out? How and why are the Palestinian and the Muslim propoganda machine so prominent? Who are these media spinners and what is in it for them to spew this kind of hatred? I asm not denying that this is what is happening but I am asking for concrete ways to stop the constant onslaught of lies. What can we creatively do to get them to see the facts the way they are instead of the way that they are being misrepresented?
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Armand Kidouchim
10:14 pm
Jul 21, 2011
Dear Chana,
There is only one way to get the message out and make a stand against the forces of darkness, and that is to pass the info to as many well intentioned people as you can.
You will be amazed by the power of word to mouth.
The silent majority is aware of the Leftists Activism and its despicable BIAS with all things related to ISRAEL and the JEWS.
The left is doing the devils work, what a sad day for intelligence, they cannot see that they are supporting the very forces that would represent their demise.
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Rich Elliott
10:39 pm
Jul 19, 2011
There is a time for realpolitik and it may be now on the 2 state issue. No amount of “fact-based” information is making a dent in the Palestinian community. Trying to reach out to this audience as if they had not made up their minds is a fool’s errand.
Fundamentally the two state issue is like dividing Siamese twins. The Israeli view is to arrange a division so that both twins survive. The Palestinian view, in the street at least, is a division where only one twin survives. That would be the Palestinian twin. No amount of communication can penetrate that mindset.
So how does Israel communicate its position? Simply by stating with repetition what Israel has accomplished in terms of R&D, agronomy, agriculture, etc. Each of these could be a series of vignettes about Israeli accomplishments. Each would end with a paragraph concluding something like this: These are Israel’s achievements. What are the corresponding achievements in the same time period? If Israel can accomplish these things, perhaps it can help Palestinians expedite their progress by working in a collaborative fashion. Does Israel have a partner or an adversary?
While the above thought is not fully developed, it points to Israel’s role as pioneer and potential partner. Yet it also brings the picture into stark focus.
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Gary Katz
11:51 pm
Jul 19, 2011
Rich, you make some good points. Which Palestinians would show up? The ones who smashed the greenhouses left to them in Gaza? The ones who take advantage of medical care in Israel by using ambulances to smuggle in terrorists? Plus, will the normal Palestinians who really want economic cooperation be co-opted by the terrorists? Or killed? It’s hard to imagine Gaza normalizing relations and cooperation, ever. Maybe a two-state solution should exclude Gaza until they get rid of Hamas. Then the residents can see the improvement of life on West Bank and decide they’d rather have improved lives than slogans.
Personally, I have a low opinion of Mahmoud Abbas and the PA. I think the main difference between them and Hamas is Hamas tells you they want to kill you; the PA whispers it to their citizens in Arabic, and puts it in their TV shows and textbooks.
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Armand Kidouchim
7:04 am
Jul 21, 2011
As long as ARABS (so called Palestinians) are Muslims,….and as long as ISLAM = Koran,….and as long as the Koran calls non Muslims as ”INFIDELS”…
The Islamic world will continue to be focused on hate / terror and chaos.
There is not a single example of a Muslim country where law and justice prevails and where non muslims are treated with respect and in total safety.
Islam preaches violence and it is O.K. to lie and make believe by having one speech in arabic and the opposite in english.
In a nut shell,…
Israel has one Option only that would guaranty its safety and defensibility.
Militarily conquer Gaza and the West Bank, move the ”lovely peace loving” Arabs (pseudo Palestinians) to Jordan (the other state of the 2 states solution).
After all Israel absorbed more Jewish refugees than any other state ever did with non jewish refugees.
To hell with the world opinion, it lost all its value and ”deterrence” by being so disgracefully BIASED.
Liberals / Democrats / Progressives / Mainstream media / Unions and Academia will have to face the despicable ”UTOPIA” that animates their ACTIVISM in favor of Peace with ”ISLAM MUSLIMS ARABS”
Let the Muslims accept to debate the accuracy of their History, the humanitarian and humanistic actions of ISLAM since its inception.
Lastly will ISLAM / Muslims REFORM to meet the reality of the 21st. century and correct what failed them worldwide?
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