Israel and the US are seen as more threatening than Iran | Arab opinion poll

That's right, but does it really come as a surprise to anyone? Recently a poll was taken across the Middle East (Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Sudan, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco and Mauritania), that asked, face to face, 16,173 Arab people a range of questions, from how they feel about the separation of church & state, the Arab Spring, democracy, & more. Some of you may be surprised to hear most support democracy.

Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies publishes the preliminary findings of the Arab Opinion Index report

english.dohainstitute.org...

The Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) recently published the Arab Opinion Index report for 2011. The Arab Opinion Index project is currently the largest of its kind. It covers 12 countries, representing 85 percent of the population of the Arab world. The Index compiles the findings of 16,173 face-to-face interviews with subjects who were drawn from a random, representative sampling of the populations of their countries of origin. An estimated 35,000 human work-hours were spent completing the surveys which will contribute to the final, detailed statistical report

On a related note, the ACRPS will soon begin preparations for a further survey of public opinion in 2012 and plans to release the results at the end of this year or the beginning of 2013.

Some of the more important highlights of the survey that are included in the preliminary report are:

Answers show that a clear majority of Arabs support a democratic form of government, believing in the importance of a transfer of power.

Most respondents describe themselves as religious, while rejecting clerical influence in politics.

71 percent of respondents expressed faith in their countries’ armies; 47 percent trust their governments (the executive arms of), and 36 percent showed trust in their countries’ legislative bodies before the revolutions.

83 percent of respondents say that corruption is widespread in their countries.

Only 19 percent of respondents believe that their countries’ legal systems treat all citizens equitably.

73 percent of respondents believe that Israel and the US are the two countries presenting the largest threat to the security of the Arab world, with 51 percent believing that Israel is the most threatening, 22 percent believe the US is the most threatening, and 5 percent reporting a belief that Iran is the single country most threatening to the security of their countries. The results on this question vary from one Arab country to another.

84 percent believe the Palestinian cause to be a cause for all Arabs, and not solely a Palestinian issue.

67 percent of respondents believe that present levels of intra-Arab cooperation are not satisfactory.

Roughly three-quarters support lifting travel and trade restrictions between Arab countries, the establishment of joint Arab military forces, and a unified monetary system. This highlights the similar belief, uncovered by this survey and shared by a clear majority of the respondents, which holds that citizens of all Arab states belong to a unitary Arab nation.

Most respondents supported the Egyptian and the Tunisian revolutions.

Most respondents attributed the revolutions to corruption, dictatorship and the lack of justice and equality.

84 percent of respondents are opposed to their countries’ diplomatic recognition of Israel, with only 21 percent of respondents expressing support for the peace agreements signed with the Israelis by Jordan, Egypt, and Palestine.

55 percent support having the Middle East declared a nuclear-weapons-free zone, compared to 29 percent who would oppose such a move. The majority of the 55 percent believe that Israel’s possession of nuclear weapons justifies possession of such weapons by other countries in the region.

Related article,

Gauging Arab public opinion

www.aljazeera.com...

While people seem generally split on the question of separation of state and religion, a majority supports the non-interference of religious authorities in politics.

And by a 15-1 ratio, Israel and the US are seen as more threatening than Iran. However, this ratio is lower among those living in proximity to Iran.

Opinions differ on certain issues from country to country and region to region, but there's clearly a trans-national, trans-border public consensus when it comes to questions of identity and national priorities.

Well yes, if you ask the middle east then that's hardly a surprise..

You conduct that poll in the west, you'll get different results.. not really a surprise .. that kind of bias is baked in.. both sides use propaganda effectively.

Originally posted by miniatus
Well yes, if you ask the middle east then that's hardly a surprise..

You conduct that poll in the west, you'll get different results.. not really a surprise .. that kind of bias is baked in.. both sides use propaganda effectively.

Luckily more and more people in the west is starting to think the same.

reply to post by miniatus


Biased? A poll taken across the Middle East is biased? But you do raise a good point, if the same poll were taken across the US in the same manner I do wonder what the results would be. At first guess anyone will draw conclusion that all the Americans polled would be "biased" towards the Middle East, or would they? If we had a time machine and went back 10 years my bet is all the Americans would appear "biased" towards Muslims, Arabs, and the Middle East, but today is a different time and many opinions have changed over the years here in America. Although, I would expect a lot of American "biased" answers only because the MSM/US Gov't are so good in promoting their BS.

Originally posted by juleol

Originally posted by miniatus
Well yes, if you ask the middle east then that's hardly a surprise..

You conduct that poll in the west, you'll get different results.. not really a surprise .. that kind of bias is baked in.. both sides use propaganda effectively.

Luckily more and more people in the west is starting to think the same.

I don't think anyone would suggest ( in the west ) that the US is more threatening than Iran .. a lot of people think Iran is this peaceful place but that's hardly true at all .. they like to say Iran isn't invading or attacking other countries but that's not even true. they openly admit funding / arming groups to attack their enemies for them .. They've funded/armed groups to attack Iraq, Syria, Israel and others.. They also have openly expressed their desire to wipe Israel off the map .. their nuclear aspirations are pretty obvious.

If they wanted nuclear energy for peaceful purposes they could have had it without building their own centrifuges .. Russia offered to provide them nuclear fuel .. they opted to take the route to build their own.. why? well it will allow them to refine uranium to any level they need.. including uranium that could one day be used in a nuclear weapon .

Don't be fooled.. Iran isn't this peace loving country that they try to pretend to be .

reply to post by miniatus


Really, you don't understand how the Arab people see the west as more of a threat than Iran? Really? Like, for reals? US occupation of ME lands, no fly zones, drone strikes, wars, etc.

Originally posted by Swills
reply to post by miniatus

 

Biased? A poll taken across the Middle East is biased? But you do raise a good point, if the same poll were taken across the US in the same manner I do wonder what the results would be. At first guess anyone will draw conclusion that all the Americans polled would be "biased" towards the Middle East, or would they? If we had a time machine and went back 10 years my bet is all the Americans would appear "biased" towards Muslims, Arabs, and the Middle East, but today is a different time and many opinions have changed over the years here in America. Although, I would expect a lot of American "biased" answers only because the MSM/US Gov't are so good in promoting their BS.

edit on 8-3-2012 by Swills because: (no reason given)

Yes Bias .. absolutely bias.. and why wouldn't it be? . News tends to report things the way they want to .. they omit things, they twist things.. Our media hides things that might make our military look bad in the eyes of our people which would lessen support for the wars.. of course.. The news in the middle east would do similar things to make the US look worse than it actually is .. Iran is also quite good at propaganda .. so yeah definitely bias.. it's not at all a surprise to me that the polls would be that way.. but as they pointed out.. those in the middle east living nearer Iran had different opinions. that's quite telling..

Originally posted by Swills
reply to post by miniatus

 

Really, you don't understand how the Arab people see the west as more of a threat than Iran? Really? Like, for reals?

What are you talking about? .. of course I understand .. I'm just saying I'm not surprised.

reply to post by miniatus


Biased? Really? Who were they supposed to ask? Non Arab people not living in the Middle East?

Originally posted by Swills
reply to post by miniatus

 

Biased? Really? Who were they supposed to ask? Non Arab people not living in the Middle East?

What are you on about? seriously ... of course not. I'm simply saying that the results aren't a surprise.. I'm sure they knew the results would be like that before even conducting it .. get me? .. I'm SIMPLY saying it's not a surprise.

reply to post by miniatus


What am I talking about? What are you talking about? No matter what the headlines say, the fact is US intelligence agencies (plural) all report Iran abandoned it nuke program years ago and says there is no hard evidence they have restarted said program. Furthermore, its easy to say Iran arms and supports terrorists but I see you left out who else supports and trains terrorists, like the USA and more recently Israel.

Originally posted by miniatus

I don't think anyone would suggest ( in the west ) that the US is more threatening than Iran ..

I would.

a lot of people think Iran is this peaceful place but that's hardly true at all .. they like to say Iran isn't invading or attacking other countries but that's not even true. they openly admit funding / arming groups to attack their enemies for them .. They've funded/armed groups to attack Iraq, Syria, Israel and others.. They also have openly expressed their desire to wipe Israel off the map .. their nuclear aspirations are pretty obvious.

Tell me, who openly admits to funding opposition groups? USA does.
who actually has been at war in the past 10 years. USA maybe?
USA wiped Iraq and Libya (as we knew them) off the map. 3/3.

South Ossetian war 2008, America's proxy, Georgia. this is a two way street.

Don't be fooled.. Iran isn't this peace loving country that they try to pretend to be .

Change Iran with USA and it works both ways. Neither USA or Iran are morally ambiguous, both have their faults, but to say that the USA is the golden angel child with no heart to dismantle their enemies with the same tactics and more, you're sadly mistaken.

Originally posted by miniatus

Originally posted by Swills
reply to post by miniatus

 

Biased? Really? Who were they supposed to ask? Non Arab people not living in the Middle East?

What are you on about?

seriously ... of course not. I'm simply saying that the results aren't a surprise.. I'm sure they knew the results would be like that before even conducting it .. get me? .. I'm SIMPLY saying it's not a surprise.

biased

Show prejudice for or against (someone or something) unfairly: "the tests were biased against women"; "a biased view of the world".

Thats the definition of biased. This poll was not biased. You assume it is.

Originally posted by Swills
reply to post by miniatus

 

What am I talking about? What are you talking about? No matter what the headlines say, the fact is US intelligence agencies (plural) all report Iran abandoned it nuke program years ago and says there is no hard evidence they have restarted said program. Furthermore, its easy to say Iran arms and supports terrorists but I see you left out who else supports and trains terrorists, like the USA and more recently Israel.

Iran abandoned it's nuke program? .. do you mean it's nuclear weapons program? because their nuclear program otherwise is alive and well.. They make no secret about that..

You're being combative.. my point was simply that of course the poll is going to go that way .. And I never said the US didn't do the same ... what kind of argument is that? =) I'm simply telling you that Iran does it as well .. they've spoke about it openly at their rallies.. The point of me bringing that up is that people tend to like to argue that Iran doesn't attack or invade other countries.. that they are peace loving.. and that's just flat out not true.. They are attacking and invading by proxy through groups they arm and pay to do their bidding for them..

The US of course does it .. so do many countries, especially in the middle east.. the point was merely to say that Iran is also guilty of aggression against it's neighbors. conduct a poll asking if anyone in the middle east wants Iran to be a nuclear power.. nobody does. Iran is a dangerous neighbor..

I'm bowing out of the thread now .. S&F

Originally posted by Swills

Thats the definition of biased. This poll was not biased. You assume it is.

Silly to assume it's not .. quite silly indeed.. It would be like conducting a poll in Israel asking if Hitler was more threatening than Kony .. gee, I wonder what the results would be.. now conduct that poll in Uganda .. get real

Anyway - nice chat..

Originally posted by miniatus
I don't think anyone would suggest ( in the west ) that the US is more threatening than Iran ..

I think that the US is a bigger threat to the world than Iran and I'm in the west.

Do you know why? Because I have seen US ships with their guns pointing to my country's parliament.

reply to post by miniatus


Alive and well? Says who? Israel? Like I said, US intelligence reports no such thing. Israel does because recently the IAEA reported Iran's nuclear enrichment has reached about 20%, so Israel is ready to bring the rain, but 20% enrichment isn't even close to what weaponize nuclear enrichment needs to be, which is around 90%.

Am I being combative or are we having an internet dialogue? Combative me would have called you a moron by now (founded or unfounded), which I have not nor will I.

Originally posted by miniatus

Originally posted by Swills

Thats the definition of biased. This poll was not biased. You assume it is.

Silly to assume it's not .. quite silly indeed.. It would be like conducting a poll in Israel asking if Hitler was more threatening than Kony .. gee, I wonder what the results would be.. now conduct that poll in Uganda .. get real

Anyway - nice chat..

Silly you say? I would say you have trust issues.

Originally posted by miniatus

I don't think anyone would suggest ( in the west ) that the US is more threatening than Iran

I think the USA poses a greater threat to the world's inhabitants than Iran. Especially the American military complex and the fact that they give nukes to Israel.

If you had taken the same poll in the US back in the eighties, everyone would have been terrified of....dun dun DUUUN...the Russians! Aaaaak! And we were helping the valiant Afghans in their struggle against the Evil Empire. And, what do you know, it turned out to be all BS.

But THIS TIME ITS DIFFERENT. Those arabs that were our valiant allies now want to kill us all! Cuz they hates our freedoms! Yup. But don't worry, just pay your taxes and Big Brother will protect you from all those bad guys. They will let you know who to be afraid of next.

reply to post by Swills


Im amazed at the Executive Summary conclusions. While the view towards Israel and the US is not surprising, the views Arabs hold towards their own governments, politics, religion mixed with politics, economic decisions of their government, are all shockers to me.

It paints a very bleak picture for the current systems in place in Arab countries, while paints a very optomisitic view of Arab people and their hopes for the future.

the link below is the executive summary. Is a secured PDF file, so when you click you will get the option box to download the file. If you dont want to use the link below, use the op link for the main website, scroll to the bottom, where you will find the executive summary link / pdf.

Executive Summary

I would imagine if Arabs get the setup they want as outlined in the report, their view of the US and Israel will change ever so slowly.