'Palestinians' whine to pollsters over Sunni Arabs preferring their own interests
There's a very detailed poll of 'Palestinian' public opinion out ('Palestinian' public opinion tends to be more measurable than in other places in the Arab Islamic world - they learned from Israel). While I may come back to this poll eventually, I'd like to focus on this part for a minute. Keep in mind that this is 'Palestinian' public opinion and not Sunni Arab or other Arabs or Muslims.
(7) The Arab World, war in Syria, ISIS, and US elections:
78% say the Arab World is too preoccupied with its own concerns, internal
conflicts, and the conflict with Iran and that Palestine is no longer the
Arab’s principal or primary issue or cause. Only 20% think Palestine remains
the Arab’s principle cause.
They finally are starting to understand that the Arab world is tired of them. It's the anti-Semitic Europeans who have been carrying the ball for the 'Palestinians' for many years now. While the Arab world has not made peace with us, there is a de facto detente, and this a result of shared interests and not love. But the bottom line is that the Arab world has abandoned the 'Palestinians' even more so than it did previously.
59% believe that there is an Arab Sunni alliance with Israel against Iran
despite the continued Israeli occupation of Arab land while 30% believe that
the Arabs would not ally themselves with Israel until it ends its occupation
and allows the creation of a Palestinian state.
I'm with the majority. Just from what we know, there is an alliance, and I'd estimate that it's even stronger behind the scenes. The 30% who think that the Arabs wouldn't ally themselves with Israel to save their own necks is simply unrealistic.
In light of the escalating conflict in Syria and the emergence of three main
parties to the conflict, we asked the public for its view on the party it
views as the more preferable or the one it views as the least harmful. The
largest percentage (40%) chose the Free Syrian army, 18% chose Bashar Asad
and his army, and 5% chose the extreme religious opposition, such as ISIS.
23% said they do not like any of the three parties.
The Syrian Free Army will go down in history as one of the biggest (of many) foreign policy mistakes by the Obama administration. The FSA could have become a 'moderate' (in relative terms) group had Obama and Clinton chosen to aid it in 2011-12. They did not. Now, it's nearly as Islamist as ISIS. Why Trump isn't pounding Clinton on this....
An overwhelming majority of 88% believes that ISIS is a radical group that
does not represent true Islam and 8% believe it does represent true Islam.
4% are not sure or do not know. In the Gaza Strip, 16% (compared to 3% in
the West Bank) say ISIS represents true Islam.
79% support and 18% oppose the war waged by Arab and Western countries
against ISIS.
This is actually a pleasant surprise.
We asked the public about the US elections and which presidential candidate,
Hilary Clinton or Donald Trump, it viewed best for the Palestinians. A large
majority (70%) said there is no difference between the two candidates, while
12% said Clinton is better and 7% said Trump is better.
I'd love to see a survey of what US citizens in Israel think of the US elections.... I don't like either of them, and am tempted to 'stay home.'
For those of you who have forgotten Diana Buttu, here's Hillel Neuer making mincemeat out of her, here's Jake Tapper being totally fooled by her, and here's Fox News owning her.
Buttu's tweet above - retweeted by Gershon Baskin - points to the video below. The video talks about Google mapping the Israel trail, a 1000-kilometer trail network meant to be Israel's version of the Appalachian trail.
Let's go to the videotape.
The video has over a million views in the nearly a month since it was posted, and you would think that if the Israel trail included Judea and Samaria someone else would have made that comment before Buttu made it around 1:00 this afternoon Israel time. And you're probably right. Because, you see, Buttu is lying - or at least grossly exaggerating.
The Israel trail's route is mapped here (link in Hebrew) and here. There's a note in the English version that claims that the trail crosses the 'green line,' and a quick look at the map (below - I used the Hebrew one because it's larger) shows that it does for a very short time - west northwest of Jerusalem. My guess is that it's the same place where Highway 1 - the main highway between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv - crosses the green line for a couple of kilometers. It's near Latrun. And you can bet that if there is ever a 'Palestinian state,' they won't be getting it.
That's a far cry from a claim that Google mapped Judea and Samaria as part of Israel. Too bad they didn't. If the 'Palestinians' are going to whine anyway, we may as well give them something real to whine about.
Oh and Gaza? that's the place on the left-most point on the white with the gray outline. The trail is nowhere near there.
Oh my: Now the 'Palestinians' are calling the US the biggest obstacle to peace
Just when you thought you'd heard it all from the arrogant, ungrateful 'Palestinians,' it comes to this: A senior official of the Fatah terror organization is calling the United States 'the greatest obstacle to peace.'
Azzam Al-Ahmad, who heads Fatah’s parliamentary bloc, told Sky News
Arabia on Sunday that Kerry’s recent three-day visit to Israel and the
Palestinian territories had exposed the American administration’s
“biased role” toward the negotiating sides.
“The problem of peace in the Middle East is the American administration
more than Israel,” Ahmad said, adding that Kerry “brings nothing new in
his pocket, not even a small step, especially with regards to the
settlements or an [Israeli] commitment to the two-state solution.”
You don't think Mr. Al-Ahmad is setting things up to deflect blame from the 'Palestinians' when Kerry finally admits the mission failed, do you? The last time the 'Palestinians' were blamed for anything, Bill Clinton was President of the United States and it was 2000-01....
That didn't take long. On Monday, I reported that Defense Minister Ehud Barak had approved the construction of 277 homes in the city of Ariel in the Samaria region (population 20,000+). Of those homes, 100 are meant for Jews who were expelled from their homes in Gaza six years ago who still don't have a permanent place to live.
And by the end of the day on Monday, the Obama administration announced that 277 Jewish homes are 'deeply troubling.'
The United States and the Palestinians on Monday accused Israel of harming attempts to revive the peace process by approving the construction of 277 homes in the West Bank settlement of Ariel.
“We have seen reports of this approval for apartments in the West Bank. We consider it deeply troubling,” US State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told reporters.
“These kinds of actions are counterproductive to the resumption of direct negotiations.
We have raised this issue with the Israeli government.
We will continue to make our position known,” she said.
Actually, 'these kinds of actions' are the only kinds that MIGHT make the 'Palestinians' come to the bargaining table by giving them something to lose if they don't come. And that's precisely why the 'Palestinians' are furious.
Nabil Abu Rudainah, a spokesman for Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, said the approvals were “an Israeli attempt to obstruct and destroy what is left of any effort to revive the peace process.”
It was an act, he said, that justified Palestinian plans to seek statehood unilaterally at the United Nations rather than through a negotiated agreement with Israel.
“Once again, these Israeli settlement measures represent a strong reason calling on us to go to the United Nations and the Security Council to request membership for the state of Palestine and to halt these Israeli measures,” Rudainah told Reuters.
What? No statement from Lady Ugliness? Was she on vacation on Monday?
I am an Orthodox Jew - some would even call me 'ultra-Orthodox.' Born in Boston, I was a corporate and securities attorney in New York City for seven years before making aliya to Israel in 1991 (I don't look it but I really am that old :-). I have been happily married to the same woman for thirty-five years, and we have eight children (bli ayin hara) ranging in age from 13 to 33 years and nine grandchildren. Four of our children are married! Before I started blogging I was a heavy contributor on a number of email lists and ran an email list called the Matzav from 2000-2004. You can contact me at: IsraelMatzav at gmail dot com
