EU poll: Israel 'biggest threat' to world peace
DI | 01.11.2003 10:36
Over half of Europeans think Israel poses the "biggest threat to world peace," according to a controversial poll commissioned by the European Commission.
The same survey has the United States beating out Iran, Iraq and North Korea – the trio dubbed the "axis of evil" by President George W. Bush – as well as Afghanistan in a ranking of what countries contribute most to world instability.
EUobserver.com reports the survey, conducted between Oct. 8 and 16 by Taylor Nelson Sofres/EOS Gallup of Europe, consisted of 15 questions regarding "the reconstruction of Iraq, the conflict in the Middle East and World peace."
According to the website, the poll sparked controversy – not over its results, but over the release of its results. Namely, the European Commission was accused of suppressing the results revealing the extent of mistrust of Israel and the U.S. while the Bush administration was stumping for Iraq reconstruction assistance at the international donors conference in Madrid last week.
Secretary of State Colin Powell at the Iternational Donors Conference for the Reconstruction of Iraq in Madrid, Spain, Oct. 23.
More than 77 countries participated in the conference that raised $33 billion in grants and loan, including $20 billion pledged by the U.S. and $812 million pledged from the European Union. Most of the funds will go into a trust to be managed by the World Bank, the United Nations and a committee of Iraqis.
The poll found 59 percent of Europeans believe Israel represents the biggest obstacle to Mideast and world peace.
A Commission spokesperson denied the decision to not publish some of the results until next Monday was politically motivated, explaining that the results withheld were still "unstable."
DI
Comments
Hide the following 3 comments
i think we need a link....
01.11.2003 11:39
Just a spark of hope here I think.
But of course, Israel's certain totally uninspected 200+ nuclear warheads, three nuclear capable submarines, and its highly probable ready-to-go chemical and biological weapons are a barrier to the world exerting pressure.
Except via economic sanctions of course.
Worldwide boycott, I think - don't you ?
abc
Homepage:
http://www.euobserver.com/index.phtml?sid=9&aid=13324
and now it starts......
01.11.2003 21:54
The standard response to any criticism of Israeli policy.
So successful for so long (any other country would have been destroyed by sanctions before now).
Now finally (as the survey shows) wearing thin thank goodness.
The link:
A quote:
"The poll's findings will be released in full this Monday.
A right wing American Jewish thinktank has criticised the poll, calling it ''racist and a flight of fantasy''.
The group accused Europeans of falling foul of what it claims is an anti-Israel campaign orchestrated by ''European leaders and the media''.
The Simon Wiesenthal Centre has called for the European Union to be excluded from the quartet - US, Russia, and the UN - trying to broker a peace agreement between Israel and the Palestinians.
The centre's founder Rabbi Marvin Hier said that the findings of the survey showed that "anti-Semitism is deeply embedded within European society, more than any other period since the end of the Second World War''.
Representatives from the centre will be meeting the Secretary General of the European Union, Javier Solana, later this month to discuss the results of the poll and issues around combating purported anti-Semitism in Europe.
The centre has launched a campaign to mobilise their members to bombard the European Commission with complaints about what they see as racism towards the state of Israel."
A question or two:
Why does the Simon Wiesenthal Centre get to have a personal meeting with the Secretary General of the European Union ? Would he meet me if I asked ? What are the criteria for this privilege ?
abc
EU Poll
04.11.2003 12:12
John T.
e-mail:
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