Forget Iran, the Arabs still hate the Jews
Six weeks ago, I blogged a post by Michael Totten that claimed that Arabs fear Iran more than Israel. Gregg Carlstrom, who has spent some time in Egypt, claims that Totten is misreading the poll results and that the Joooos remain public enemy number one in the Arab world. It's true that Arabs are concerned about Iran's nuclear program -- and Arab governments want the U.S. to take an aggressive line with Iran. But there's little evidence that Arab publics think Iran is the new public enemy #1.Read the whole thing.
Totten bases his argument on this proposition -- which is also repeated by a Financial Times article about the polling data he cites:According to a new study of public opinion by the folks who host the Doha Debates in Qatar, a clear majority in 18 Arab countries now thinks Iran poses a greater threat to security in the Middle East than Israel.Just one problem: If you look at the actual polling data (pdf), it says no such thing. Respondents are worried about Iran: A plurality thinks Iran is more likely to use nuclear weapons against an Arab country than against Israel, and 68 percent think Iran wants to build nuclear weapons to "dominate the region."
Is Carlstrom right? Maybe. Of course, no one really knows how truthful poll results are from an Arab world that is filled with repressive regimes. But in any event, no one in Israel was ever counting on any Arab support for a strike against Iran (in the best case scenario, they won't condemn us too aggressively) and no one in the US should count on that support either. Iran has to be taken care of regardless of the desires of the Arab states.
posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 11:42 AM
3 Comments:
We don't hate Jews.. we hate Israel yes, and it is our first enemy, no state has a nuclear bomb except Israel in the region, no state threatened the high dam except Israel, no state sent us carcenogen seeds, drugs, prostitutes except Israel... it is not a cute pussy cat sitting on the couch, it threatens us all the time, why should we love it? since it was imposed on us in the region our countries are deteriorating, the US is supporting alll dictatorships to protect Israel's security, it was and it is still a catastrophe for us.. and that is how we feel about it, you can support all dictators and agents to protect you, you can burn babies, but you cannot change our hearts
Does it make a difference if Arabs hate/fear Iran more than they hate the Jews? Are we cheering because of a few percentage points? Perhaps the takeaway is that many/most Arabs fear Iran and most hate Jews.
Iran should not hate Israel! Why should it?
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