Calgarians pro-Israeli: study: 71 per cent say PLO our enemy
The Calgary Herald
Thu 08 Aug 2002
David Heyman
Calgarians are staunchly pro-Israel, according to a survey sponsored by a newly created local group that backs the Jewish state.
Calgarians pro-Israeli: study: 71 per cent
say PLO our enemy
The Calgary Herald
Thu 08 Aug 2002
David Heyman
Calgarians are staunchly pro-Israel, according to a survey
sponsored by a newly created local group that backs the Jewish state.
Of
432 Calgarians questioned last month, 71 per cent said the war on terrorism
should count the Palestine Liberation Organization (now known as the Palestinian
Authority) as an enemy along with Osama bin Laden and his al-Qaeda network.
Furthermore,
86 per cent said Yasser Arafat should be replaced as Palestinian leader and 65
per cent said Canada should suspend foreign aid to Palestinians.
"The
public no longer believes the PLO to be peacemakers," said Randy Shapiro, a
spokesman for Stand With Israel, a group of about 20 young Calgary
professionals, both Jewish and non-Jewish.
The
poll was conducted by well-known political scientist Faron Ellis, a professor at
Lethbridge Community College and a spokesman for JMCK Inc. It has a margin
of error of five percentage points 19 times out of 20, Ellis said Wednesday.
Shapiro
said his group wanted to know what Calgarians felt about the conflict in the
Middle East and the results show they are "overwhelmingly pro-Israel."
The
survey also found 76 per cent said Canada should take a balanced view of the
situation, siding with neither side. Nineteen per cent said Canada should be
pro-Israeli and four per cent pro-Palestinian.
"They
want Canada to be balanced, but they're no longer fooled by Yasser Arafat,"
Shapiro said.
However,
Nagah Hage, chairman of the Muslim Council of Calgary, said Wednesday a balanced
foreign policy ignores the fact Israel has a powerful army, is occupying
Palestinian land and placing its residents under curfew.
"When
both sides are at par, we should have a balanced approach," Hage said.
If
Canada was invaded by the Americans, Canadians would fight back with any means
necessary and shouldn't be condemned as terrorists, he added.
"They
resort to the only means they can. Put the shoe on the other foot and anyone
would react that way."
As
for whether Arafat should be replaced, Hage noted the poll didn't ask Calgarians
if they thought Israeli PM Ariel Sharon should go, too.
"The
best thing that could happen is if they both left," Hage said.
The
poll also questioned Calgarians on what they thought of Middle East media
coverage. A slight majority -- 55 per cent -- said it has been fair and
balanced, while 36 per cent said it was pro-Israel and nine per cent said it was
pro-Palestinian.
Calgarians'
Views on Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
Media
Coverage Fair
Male
Female Total
Fair
& balanced 52.1 57.7 55.2
Pro-Israel
37.0 34.7 35.7
Pro-Palestinian
10.9 7.5 9.0
Include
PLO in War on Terror
Male
Female Total
Include
PLO 73.3 69.9 71.4
Only
bin Laden 26.7 30.1 28.6
Replace
Arafat
Male
Female Total
Replace
Arafat 86.5 86.4 86.4
Continue
with Arafat 13.5 13.6 13.6
Canada
Voting at UN
Male
Female Total
Correct
to condemn 24.0 17.7 21.6
Wrong
to condemn 76.0 80.3 78.4
Canada
Position on Israel
Male
Female Total
Balanced
71.4 82.4 77.5
Pro-Israel
22.9 15.5 18.8
Pro-Palestinian
5.7 2.1 3.7
Describe
Palestinian Bombers
Male
Female Total
Resistance
fighters 15.6 18.5 17.2
Terrorists
65.6 59.2 62.1
Militants
18.8 22.3 20.7
Israeli
Army Actions
Male
Female Total
Arrest
terrorists 64.9 61.3 62.9
Harassing
Palestinians 35.1 38.8 37.1
Foreign
Aid to Palestinians
Male
Female Total
Increase
aid 7.8 7.5 7.6
Keep
current levels 26.6 28.8 27.8
Suspend
aid 65.6 63.8 64.6
Anti-Jewish
Incidents
Male
Female Total
Heard
of bombings 58.9 60.0 59.5
Had
not heard 41.1 40.0 40.5
Edmonton
bombing
Male
Female Total
Heard
of bombings 22.4 24.3 23.4
Had
not heard 77.6 75.7 76.6