Poll reveals Arab ignorance about U.S (no surprise)

Opinion surveys in the Arab world reveal great dislike, even hatred, for the United States. But the surveys also reveal enormous ignorance of what is actually going on in America, and between the U.S. and the Arab world. For example, most Arabs believe that Jews comprise over ten percent of the U.S. population (it’s actually two percent), control nearly half of Congress (only six percent are Jewish), and most of the American economy (again, it’s under ten percent). Anti-Semitism has long been popular in the Arab world. During World War II, many Arabs openly sided with the Nazis. Not just because Arabs resented British and French colonial influence in the Arab world, but because the Arabs and Nazis had similar attitudes towards Jews. Arabs were also hostile to Christians, as were the Nazis. Note that millions of Arabs were Jewish or Christian, but the hostility from Moslems had been driving them out of Arab areas for generations.

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I think this is a great article it reveals just how ignorant some Arabs are. I knew it was bad, but not this bad.

This is not a surprise, I'm sure if you did the same poll with questions such as what % of Muslims are terrorist and what % of Middle Eastern people are actually Muslim type questions. This is the main reason why we will never co-exist peacefully, we don't have any interest in learning the truth about each other. I'm sure if you put me in the same room with a terrorist on his own and gave us something fun to do we would probably end up getting along pretty well barring any communication barriers.

This is a great find. All we hear about is "American" ignorance, racism, etc, but we never hear about these things from other places. I would not be surprised if most of the world has skewed or out right total ignorance of what America and Americans are really about.

All they know is from biased news and Hollywood. (Which is all bunk)

People that have spent time here, and I mean more than a vacation, know the truth and that’s all that’s important. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why the USA is the immigration capitol of the world...

Originally posted by rstrik
This is not a surprise, I'm sure if you did the same poll with questions such as what % of Muslims are terrorist and what % of Middle Eastern people are actually Muslim type questions. This is the main reason why we will never co-exist peacefully, we don't have any interest in learning the truth about each other. I'm sure if you put me in the same room with a terrorist on his own and gave us something fun to do we would probably end up getting along pretty well barring any communication barriers.

I highly doubt a game of parchesi with a suicide bomber would result in "good times"

you must remember that anyone willing to commit an act of terror is not on the same mental plane as the rest of society.

I do agree that the majority of our population is clueless however, the big difference between the two is that billy joe jim bob in rural missourah might think all middle eastern people are muslims but he probably wouldn't say they should all die because their religion (or beliefs) is (are)wrong in the eyes of his god. he might say they should all die because they are all terrorists but you can bet the farm that on 9/10/01 he wouldn't have even considered the notion that a middle eastern man might need to die because he's a terrorist. prior to 9/11 he probably couldn't even name three middle eastern countries

Originally posted by Crakeur

Originally posted by rstrik
This is not a surprise, I'm sure if you did the same poll with questions such as what % of Muslims are terrorist and what % of Middle Eastern people are actually Muslim type questions. This is the main reason why we will never co-exist peacefully, we don't have any interest in learning the truth about each other. I'm sure if you put me in the same room with a terrorist on his own and gave us something fun to do we would probably end up getting along pretty well barring any communication barriers.

I highly doubt a game of parchesi with a suicide bomber would result in "good times"

you must remember that anyone willing to commit an act of terror is not on the same mental plane as the rest of society.

I do agree that the majority of our population is clueless however, the big difference between the two is that billy joe jim bob in rural missourah might think all middle eastern people are muslims but he probably wouldn't say they should all die because their religion (or beliefs) is (are)wrong in the eyes of his god. he might say they should all die because they are all terrorists but you can bet the farm that on 9/10/01 he wouldn't have even considered the notion that a middle eastern man might need to die because he's a terrorist. prior to 9/11 he probably couldn't even name three middle eastern countries

Of course not Parchesi I was talking about Monopoly. No terrorist in his right mind would want to play Parchesi. I was simply stating that some of these terrrorists might not be the demonic people we seem to portray them as. I'm sure some are but if you go to church with a Klan member you probably would never know it until you see them get arrested for killing somebody. So yes you can be on the same mental plane and commit acts of terror. It was done in the 60's by judges and police and if they weren't mentally compitent they would have never had such positions.

Originally posted by NWguy83
I think this is a great article it reveals just how ignorant some Arabs are. I knew it was bad, but not this bad.

I think it reveals on how poorly the US portrays itself in the Middle East. The disconnect between the US intentions, and it's perceptions (or maybe the perceptions are the intentions). The US definitely has a PR problem. Our foreign policy is really, really, inept. I knew it was bad, but not this bad.

Originally posted by curme
I think it reveals on how poorly the US portrays itself in the Middle East. The disconnect between the US intentions, and it's perceptions (or maybe the perceptions are the intentions). The US definitely has a PR problem. Our foreign policy is really, really, inept. I knew it was bad, but not this bad.

Now this is a great point

This perception - however inaccurate it may or may not be - exists elsewhere, too.

When I lived in England, we saw many TV shows along the lines of "The Crazy Things Americans Do", etc. We got to see the likes of Terminator, Full Metal Jacket and the ilk; we're given a very narrow view of what life in the US (and indeed, Americans) would be like in the real world.

Add to this the perception that it's all about "the one with the most toys wins", and certain foreign policy decisions, and it's not hard to understand why the perception exists.

Originally posted by curme

I think it reveals on how poorly the US portrays itself in the Middle East. The disconnect between the US intentions, and it's perceptions (or maybe the perceptions are the intentions). The US definitely has a PR problem. Our foreign policy is really, really, inept. I knew it was bad, but not this bad.

"portrays itself"

Please, the US isnt portaying itself, biased and agenda driven media portrays the US in these regions.

I bet the average Arab has no idea at all about what the typical American day is like or what we experience. And thats the medias fault.

Originally posted by skippytjc

"portrays itself"

Please, the US isnt portaying itself, biased and agenda driven media portrays the US in these regions.

You gotta admit, skippy, that when the US itself exports TV shows that encourage a certain perception, then the US has to accept some blame for that perception taking ahold...

Originally posted by curme

Originally posted by NWguy83
I think this is a great article it reveals just how ignorant some Arabs are. I knew it was bad, but not this bad.

I think it reveals on how poorly the US portrays itself in the Middle East. The disconnect between the US intentions, and it's perceptions (or maybe the perceptions are the intentions). The US definitely has a PR problem. Our foreign policy is really, really, inept. I knew it was bad, but not this bad.

This is a great point, but I'm curious as to whether the US administration really cares. It has the (supposed) "moral" upper-hand, financial and military superiority and the will to act unilaterally. A good image abroad is a non-essential item as far as I can see.

When has the US acted Unilaterally? I guess the Balkans we did. Uni means one and I can't remember a time we were one force attacking since the Kosovo conflict.

ani attempt to show that America is not an enemy of Islam has failed. we have made advertisings using Muslim Americans to explain that America does not hate Islam but ani thing that is related to supporting America the world wide Muslim population views it propaganda and control by Jews and so on and so on. so it dont matter how much we try to help change our image its already gone. they may like our movies and games and stuff but thats it.

Originally posted by skippytjc

Originally posted by curme

I think it reveals on how poorly the US portrays itself in the Middle East. The disconnect between the US intentions, and it's perceptions (or maybe the perceptions are the intentions). The US definitely has a PR problem. Our foreign policy is really, really, inept. I knew it was bad, but not this bad.

"portrays itself"

Please, the US isnt portaying itself, biased and agenda driven media portrays the US in these regions.

I bet the average Arab has no idea at all about what the typical American day is like or what we experience. And thats the medias fault.

No, it is NOT the media's fault! It is a terrible fact of life that large chunks of the Muslim world is second and in some areas almost third world. They don't have the massive access to the internet that we in the West do. They don't have the access to the educational facilities that we do and they sure as hell don't have the basic freedoms that we do. They have a stereotypical view of the world, right? So does everyone else, it just depends on how much that view is bent out of shape, depending on how much information you have.
Local media will always have access to local information, but will struggle to put together information about foreign affairs. This is a global problem people. I'm a journalist - I have a degree in history, a love of geology, politics and geography and was nicknamed 'The Elephant's Child' by my family because I have a raging curiousity. I love reading about people's lives in far away places and I'm lucky in that I live in Britain, where the National newspapers have large foreign news sections. I've got it lucky here.
But when I was the States in 1990, and then in 1995, I was horrified by the lack of world news that was out there in the papers and the TV. It was almost all local and national. And there was no demand for international, or so it seemed to me. I've got cable here in London and I can access Fox and Global CNN. The latter has gone downhill a lot and the former made me ill the last time I looked as it was all one-way and one-eyed. There was no historical context, there was no "well Bob, things are screwed up in Arabville because of the effects of the whatever". It was all short segments and snapshots. That's not news, that's popcorn for the brain. Shoddy popcorn come to that.
I was at a terrorism seminar in Monte Carlo a fortnight ago and there was a terrorism expert speaking. He said that after 9/11 people were asking two questions - "why do they hate us" and "why can't they be more like us", without realising that the second question answered the first.
And I'd like to add something else. Perception of the US is very bad, and to a large extent it's because of the way that the US Army and Marines are fighting this war. There is a lack of leadership in that winning hearts and minds seems to be off the agenda. Boasting of a body count - and in fighting a domestic insurgency it can be very hard to work out who is a terrist and who is an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire - is NOT the right way to win over the locals. The fact that it seems to be taking 250,000 bullets to kill each 'terrorist' does not help either. (This was a headline in the Independent on Sunday, this weekend. Or was it the Observor? Depressed the hell out of me anyway.) It spreads the perception that the US Armed Foreces are trigger happy.
You can't blame the media. You need good news to spread, and at the moment the good is buried in the bad.

I wonder what kind of Results would a Poll among the US Population about Arabs reveal (if you ask me, even the title is a little ignorant, calling all terrorists Arabs). I am sure that this door opens both ways. This article shows also another thing: just how Ignorant some Westerns are...

This is pitiful.

It doesn't surprise me at all. But then again it also doesn't surprise me at all the amount of Americans who think a good half of Muslims are terrorists.

Basically everyone needs to understand a concept here:

There is an epidemic that continues to spread that needs to be removed from society.

The people infected by it believe that America is Jewland and that the evil scheming skullcap wearing Jew is controlling the whole government, and all money, and doing nothing all day but figuring out how to kill the rest of the world's population and take their cash and homes.

The people infected by it believe that the entire Middle Eastern region is populated by a bunch of wandering turban wearing Arabs who do nothing all day besides plot how to murder Americans and Jews.

By now I'm sure you figured out the epidemic I'm talking about is "Ignorance". Polls like this are a symptom of ignorance. It shows me that people don't even care anymore. People everywhere are allowing ignorance to win. They don't even care to learn about the people they so quickly assume are their enemies. They believe what they are fed, and have zero interest in learning otherwise.

This is not just in the middle east. Yeah their views about America are pretty darn warped, but you know what... our views of the middle east are warped as well. Of course a poll would show something like that, a poll of Americans about Arabs would say similar stupidity.

I don't know which is more tragic, the fact that polls show such results, or the fact that it doesn't surprise us to see that.

Until people collectively decide to try and understand others and work together to completely annihilate the epidemic of ignorance, this will not change.

Here's hoping this changes.

Originally posted by Darkmind

Originally posted by skippytjc

Originally posted by curme

I think it reveals on how poorly the US portrays itself in the Middle East. The disconnect between the US intentions, and it's perceptions (or maybe the perceptions are the intentions). The US definitely has a PR problem. Our foreign policy is really, really, inept. I knew it was bad, but not this bad.

"portrays itself"

Please, the US isnt portaying itself, biased and agenda driven media portrays the US in these regions.

I bet the average Arab has no idea at all about what the typical American day is like or what we experience. And thats the medias fault.

No, it is NOT the media's fault! It is a terrible fact of life that large chunks of the Muslim world is second and in some areas almost third world. They don't have the massive access to the internet that we in the West do. They don't have the access to the educational facilities that we do and they sure as hell don't have the basic freedoms that we do. They have a stereotypical view of the world, right? So does everyone else, it just depends on how much that view is bent out of shape, depending on how much information you have.
Local media will always have access to local information, but will struggle to put together information about foreign affairs. This is a global problem people. I'm a journalist - I have a degree in history, a love of geology, politics and geography and was nicknamed 'The Elephant's Child' by my family because I have a raging curiousity. I love reading about people's lives in far away places and I'm lucky in that I live in Britain, where the National newspapers have large foreign news sections. I've got it lucky here.
But when I was the States in 1990, and then in 1995, I was horrified by the lack of world news that was out there in the papers and the TV. It was almost all local and national. And there was no demand for international, or so it seemed to me. I've got cable here in London and I can access Fox and Global CNN. The latter has gone downhill a lot and the former made me ill the last time I looked as it was all one-way and one-eyed. There was no historical context, there was no "well Bob, things are screwed up in Arabville because of the effects of the whatever". It was all short segments and snapshots. That's not news, that's popcorn for the brain. Shoddy popcorn come to that.
I was at a terrorism seminar in Monte Carlo a fortnight ago and there was a terrorism expert speaking. He said that after 9/11 people were asking two questions - "why do they hate us" and "why can't they be more like us", without realising that the second question answered the first.
And I'd like to add something else. Perception of the US is very bad, and to a large extent it's because of the way that the US Army and Marines are fighting this war. There is a lack of leadership in that winning hearts and minds seems to be off the agenda. Boasting of a body count - and in fighting a domestic insurgency it can be very hard to work out who is a terrist and who is an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire - is NOT the right way to win over the locals. The fact that it seems to be taking 250,000 bullets to kill each 'terrorist' does not help either. (This was a headline in the Independent on Sunday, this weekend. Or was it the Observor? Depressed the hell out of me anyway.) It spreads the perception that the US Armed Foreces are trigger happy.
You can't blame the media. You need good news to spread, and at the moment the good is buried in the bad.

Good news? Good news? Good news died on 9-11. Now all the news does, except for the local outlets, is spread fear. I mean they have been spewing out for years , even before 9-11, that we could be hit with a chemical or bio-chem weapon. Well guess what, IT HASN'T HAPPENED YET!

With the U.S. on the offensive having invaded two muslim countries over spurious reasons with violence now spiraling out of control in those areas, exactly what are muslims supposed to think about the USA? Certainly it can't be very positive. What is real and what isn't about the motives of the USA is likely to not be given too deep a thought as a result.

I bet the average Arab has no idea at all about what the typical American day is like or what we experience.

I'd bet the inverse is true as well.

How many of us really have any idea what day-to-day life is like for ordinary people in Saudi Arabia, or even Jordan?

Originally posted by rstrik
This is not a surprise, I'm sure if you did the same poll with questions such as what % of Muslims are terrorist and what % of Middle Eastern people are actually Muslim type questions.

Depends on what county you are in. If you are in Saudi Arabia, then 100% are Muslim. What? Did you think they have a choice? The Suad family has everyone in their little control system. (A.K.A. Islam) Anyone not abiding by their rules gets beat with a cane in the street. No suprise that they would all believe the same thing. That's the information that they are spoon fed their entire life.

On a personal level the people there are relly nice and friendly and they don't all buy into Islam 100%. They just have to show that face in public.

[edit on 27-9-2005 by dbates]

Originally posted by curme
I think it reveals on how poorly the US portrays itself in the Middle East. The disconnect between the US intentions, and it's perceptions (or maybe the perceptions are the intentions). The US definitely has a PR problem. Our foreign policy is really, really, inept. I knew it was bad, but not this bad.

If this is the case, then exactly how badly has the Arab world portrayed it's self to the western world, what with their people openly cheering when the WTC falls and the lack of Arab/Muslim denoucement of terrorism?

Hell, even their leaders say things like this:

Those who stay in America should be open to society without melting, keeping Mosques open so anyone can come and learn about Islam. If you choose to live here, you have a responsibility to deliver the message of Islam ... Islam isn't in America to be equal to any other faiths, but to become dominant. The Koran, the Muslim book of scripture, should be the highest authority in America, and Islam the only accepted religion on Earth.

- Omar Ahmad, Co Founder of CAIR (thanks for that quote Skippy)

Could you imagine what would happen if westerners came to Arab countries with such a stated goal? They would all be beheaded.