mark61
31-01-04, 13:52
Jaha het is lang maar wel leuk. Bevestigt en doorbreekt vooroordelen.
If U.S. President George W. Bush believed that aligning U.S. policies more closely to those of the right-wing Likud government headed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would win him more votes from Jewish Americans, he should think again.
(...)
The two polls, which were aimed mainly at assessing support in both U.S. communities (joods en Arabisch, M61) for the unofficial Geneva Initiative that was signed Dec. 1 by prominent Israeli and Palestinian personalities, found the two groups are not as far apart as one might expect.
About 43 percent of both communities strongly or somewhat supported the Initiative, while 4.9 percent of Arab citizens and 8.9 percent of Jewish respondents said they opposed it. But about one-half of the Arab group and 44.4 percent of the Jewish group said they did not know enough about the plan to make a judgement.
When they were offered key details, however, 50.2 percent of the Jewish group said they were more likely to back the Initiative; 22.4 percent said they were more likely to oppose it, while the rest said their position had not changed or that they were uncertain.
On the Arab side, 73.5 percent said they were more likely to support the Initiative, 7.9 percent said less likely and the rest said the details made no difference or they were unsure.
(...)
Arab-Americans have traditionally voted Democratic, although about one-half voted for Bush in 2000 after he publicly denounced ethnic profiling.
U.S. Jews have traditionally voted overwhelmingly Democratic. Although former president Ronald Reagan received a Republican high of 39 percent in 1980, Republican presidential candidates normally attract about one in five Jewish voters. Bush received 19 percent of the Jewish-American vote in 2000.
Jewish voters make up only about four percent of the electorate, but their numbers can make a major difference in key battleground states, such as Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois, where the Jewish population is disproportionately larger.
Their campaign contributions are also considered very important; by some estimates, donations from Jewish donors account for as much as one-half of all of contributions received by the Democratic National Committee, and the Bush campaign hopes the president's staunch support of Sharon will reduce that funding.
But the Zogby poll suggests that position might not be impressing many Jewish voters. ''If he's counting on his performance and positions on the (Israeli-Palestinian) conflict to bring him Jewish votes, then he's mistaken'', Lewis Roth, APN's communications specialist, told IPS.
(...)
More than 85 percent of Jewish respondents said they supported a Palestinian state, and nearly two-thirds said they supported a freeze on all Israeli settlement expansion in the Occupied Territories. A similar percentage said they believed that no settlement is possible without ''significant'' U.S. involvement.
Jewish respondents also showed strong majority support for other Geneva provisions, including the rights of Palestinian refugees to settle in the new Palestinian state or third countries with compensation; the requirement that the two states cooperate fully on security matters; and the use of outside international monitors to oversee implementation of the 50-page accord.
A plurality of 46.9 percent of Jewish respondents said they supported sharing Jerusalem with the Palestinians as the capital of both countries, while 39.4 percent opposed the idea.
Majorities of greater than 60 percent of both communities said they also supported the deployment of U.S. peacekeepers to monitor any peace accord. (END/2004)
Americans for Peace Now
Arab American Institute
Crisis Web
(1/30/2004) - By Jim Lobe , Inter Press Service
http://www.zogby.com/soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=7405
If U.S. President George W. Bush believed that aligning U.S. policies more closely to those of the right-wing Likud government headed by Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would win him more votes from Jewish Americans, he should think again.
(...)
The two polls, which were aimed mainly at assessing support in both U.S. communities (joods en Arabisch, M61) for the unofficial Geneva Initiative that was signed Dec. 1 by prominent Israeli and Palestinian personalities, found the two groups are not as far apart as one might expect.
About 43 percent of both communities strongly or somewhat supported the Initiative, while 4.9 percent of Arab citizens and 8.9 percent of Jewish respondents said they opposed it. But about one-half of the Arab group and 44.4 percent of the Jewish group said they did not know enough about the plan to make a judgement.
When they were offered key details, however, 50.2 percent of the Jewish group said they were more likely to back the Initiative; 22.4 percent said they were more likely to oppose it, while the rest said their position had not changed or that they were uncertain.
On the Arab side, 73.5 percent said they were more likely to support the Initiative, 7.9 percent said less likely and the rest said the details made no difference or they were unsure.
(...)
Arab-Americans have traditionally voted Democratic, although about one-half voted for Bush in 2000 after he publicly denounced ethnic profiling.
U.S. Jews have traditionally voted overwhelmingly Democratic. Although former president Ronald Reagan received a Republican high of 39 percent in 1980, Republican presidential candidates normally attract about one in five Jewish voters. Bush received 19 percent of the Jewish-American vote in 2000.
Jewish voters make up only about four percent of the electorate, but their numbers can make a major difference in key battleground states, such as Florida, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, New York and Illinois, where the Jewish population is disproportionately larger.
Their campaign contributions are also considered very important; by some estimates, donations from Jewish donors account for as much as one-half of all of contributions received by the Democratic National Committee, and the Bush campaign hopes the president's staunch support of Sharon will reduce that funding.
But the Zogby poll suggests that position might not be impressing many Jewish voters. ''If he's counting on his performance and positions on the (Israeli-Palestinian) conflict to bring him Jewish votes, then he's mistaken'', Lewis Roth, APN's communications specialist, told IPS.
(...)
More than 85 percent of Jewish respondents said they supported a Palestinian state, and nearly two-thirds said they supported a freeze on all Israeli settlement expansion in the Occupied Territories. A similar percentage said they believed that no settlement is possible without ''significant'' U.S. involvement.
Jewish respondents also showed strong majority support for other Geneva provisions, including the rights of Palestinian refugees to settle in the new Palestinian state or third countries with compensation; the requirement that the two states cooperate fully on security matters; and the use of outside international monitors to oversee implementation of the 50-page accord.
A plurality of 46.9 percent of Jewish respondents said they supported sharing Jerusalem with the Palestinians as the capital of both countries, while 39.4 percent opposed the idea.
Majorities of greater than 60 percent of both communities said they also supported the deployment of U.S. peacekeepers to monitor any peace accord. (END/2004)
Americans for Peace Now
Arab American Institute
Crisis Web
(1/30/2004) - By Jim Lobe , Inter Press Service
http://www.zogby.com/soundbites/ReadClips.dbm?ID=7405