By 7 to 1, Americans Oppose
U.S. Aid to Palestinian Arabs
NEW YORK – By a margin of 71% to 13%, Americans oppose the creation of a Palestinian Arab state, according to a new national poll of 1,000 Americans by the respected polling firm of John McLaughlin and Associates.
By a margin of five and a half to one, Americans oppose creating a Palestinian Arab state; by a margin of six and a half to one, Americans oppose U.S. aid to the Palestinian Arabs; by a margin of four and a half to one, Americans want Palestinian Arab killers of Americans handed over to the U.S. for prosecution; by a margin of more than three to one, Americans believe that the Palestinian Arabs’ goal is the destruction of Israel; by a margin of two to one, Americans believe that a Palestinian Arab state will be a terrorist state; and by a margin of three to one, Americans say that world leaders should not meet with Palestinian Arab officials such as Abu Mazen, Yasir Arafat’s second in command, who have denied or distorted the Holocaust.
ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said: “This comprehensive survey, done by one of America’s leading pollsters, shows that the vast majority of Americans understand that a Palestinian Arab state would be a terrorist state that seeks Israel’s destruction, and they do not want their tax dollars being used to finance the creation of such a state. President Bush’s support for creating a Palestinian Arab state and giving financial aid to the Palestinian Arabs is clearly at odds with the views of the vast majority of American citizens.”
The poll, carried out on February 11 & 12, 2003, surveyed a scientific sample of 1,000 Americans nationwide. The respondents were 36% Republicans, 37% Democrats, and 21% independents; 53% Protestants, 28% Catholic, and 2% Jews; 76% Caucasians, 11% African-Americans, and 10% Hispanics.
The results:
* 71% of Americans believe that the Palestinian Arabs “should not be given a state,” since the Palestinian Arabs have not fulfilled President Bush’s conditions for creating a state, “such as fighting terrorism, stopping the promotion of hatred in its media, ending the encouragement of murder in its schools, becoming a democracy, and respecting human rights.” Only 13% believe the Palestinian Arabs have fulfilled those conditions and therefore should be given a state.
* 77% of Americans say that “the United States should stop giving the Palestinian Arabs $150-million” in aid each year. Only 12% favor such aid.
* 61% of Americans believe that “the goal of Yasir Arafat’s Palestinian Authority is the eventual destruction of Israel.” Only 19% believe that its goal “is to have a small state living in peace alongside Israel.”
* 51% of Americans believe that a Palestinian Arab state will be a terrorist state; only 25% believe that it will be a civilized democracy.
* 73% of Americans want the U.S. government to demand that the Palestinian Authority “turn over all Palestinian Arabs accused of killing or injuring American citizens.” Only 16% said the U.S. should not make that demand. (More than 100 Americans have been murdered by Palestinian Arab terrorist groups, and their killers are being sheltered by the Palestinian Authority.)
* 64% believe that world leaders should refuse to meet with Arafat’s number two man, Abu Mazen (Mahmoud Abbas), since he has claimed that the Nazis did not murder six million Jews—just as world leaders have refused to meet with others who have denied or distorted the Holocaust. Only 20% believe that world leaders should meet with Mazen.