Vital Perspective

New Quinnipiac Survey Shows Israel's Image Improving Rapidly in the U.S.

Via Zionism & Israel News: The periodic Quinnipiac survey poll has surprising results regarding the image of Israel in the U.S. The poll asks for people's opinion about how friendly or unfriendly particular countries are toward the U.S. While Americans showed progressively warmer feelings for many countries, support for Israel increased more than support for any other country since March 2006, reaching 68%. Israel is third, behind Britain and Canada. Among Republicans, Israel scored 73.4%, among Democrats 64.4%, among men, 73.1%, among women 63%.

The table below shows the scores of some different countries in surveys taken since last March.

	Nov. 30	Aug. 28	Jun. 12	Mar. 13
Canada	73.4	71.7	71.4	70.9
Britain	78.9	78.3	76	76.4
Israel	68.2	65.9	62.9	61.8
Palestinians	23.8	22.8	25	24.6

Compared with March 13, support for Israel improved among all groups, as shown in the table below:

Perceive Israel as friendly to the U.S.

	Total	Men	Women	White Protestant	White Catholic	White Evangelical	GOP	Dem
March	61.8	65.3	58.4	64.4	62.1	64.0	69.6	56.3
November	68.2	73.1	63.0	69.7	66.8	70.4	73.4	64.4

Contrary to stereotypes regarding "Christian Zionism," support for Israel among white Evangelical Protestants and "born again" denominations was only slightly greater than it was among all Protestants, including mainline Protestants, and it was lowest among Catholics.

Support for Palestinians was low across all groups and deteriorated slightly since March, except among women and white Catholics. As might be expected, women and Democrats, who gave Israel relatively lower scores, tended to give Palestinian government slightly higher scores, as shown in the table below. It is noteworthy that among Catholics and Democrats, both Israel and the Palestinians were perceived as friendlier in November than in March.

Perceive Palestinian Government as friendly to the U.S.

	Total	Men	Women	White Protestant	White Catholic	White Evangelical	GOP	Dem
March	24.6	23.1	26.0	24.4	25.5	24.2	24.5	25.5
November	23.8	23.2	24.4	22.5	26.2	22.0	21.2	25.6

 

Israel made steady gains, either despite or because of the war in Lebanon while support for Palestinians has not improved. Reasons for the improvement in support for Israel probably include the disengagement from Gaza, the rise of Hamas and the war in Lebanon, all of which may tend to support the perception that the conflict is not about "the occupation," but rather about the desire of Palestinian and Muslim extremists to destroy Israel. Israel may be seen as an ally in the war against terror and/or the Iraq war. The reasons for the steady gap in perceptions of Israel between men and women are not clear. They are all the more peculiar given the place of women in Palestinian and Muslim society.

According to these results, support for Israel in the U.S. is not due to "the Jewish vote" or "the Israel lobby" "neoconservatives" or "Christian Zionists," but rather reflects a fundamental sentiment that cuts across practically all sectors of the population, like the affinity for Canada and Britain. While this sentiment fluctuates over time, support for Israel was already relatively high last March. Israel ranked third after Britain and Canada last March, and this relative ranking did not change. U.S. political support for Israel is anchored in this sentiment and is not likely to be much affected by by anti-Israel propaganda. The trends also suggest that the radicalization of the Palestinians, coupled with Israeli disengagement from Gaza have materially helped the image of Israel. Similar improvements were noted in Europe as well, however support for Israel in Europe is much lower.

The survey did not provide data on support for Israel as a function of education, income or age, which would have made possible more secure long term conclusions, as well as giving a better understanding of what the influential strata of U.S. society believe.

House Passes Bill Promoting Homeland Security Cooperation with Terror Allies

Last night, the House passed important legislation, H.R. 4942 -- the "Promoting Antiterrorism Through International Cooperation Act" -- which will promote greater homeland security cooperation between the U.S., Israel and other allies in the war on terror.

Specifically, the legislation creates an office within DHS to ensure the U.S. is leveraging the technical anti-terrorism expertise of our leading allies in the global war against terror, such as Israel and Britain. The director of the proposed office of international cooperation will be charged with fostering collaboration between U.S. public and private homeland security sectors and similar foreign entities through grants, cooperative agreements and contracts. In addition to Israel and Britain, the bill names Canada, Australia and Singapore as potential partners for joint projects.

The bill establishes an Office of International Cooperative Programs within the Science and Technology Directorate of the Department of Homeland Security responsible for:

• Developing mechanisms and legal frameworks to support international cooperative activity for homeland security research
• Matching U.S. entities engaged in homeland security research with non-U.S. entities conducting similar research
• Convening periodic international homeland security technology workshops and conferences

The House version includes authorization for $25 million for three successive years, while the Senate version authorizes the Department of Homeland Security to spend the funds it believes are necessary to implement the program. Either way, the legislation requires foreign partners to match U.S. contributions through direct funding or by providing staff, facilities, material or equipment to be used on the joint project.

NATO Countries Sending Thousands More to Battle Taliban in S. Afghanistan

NATO countries are sending thousands more troops to Afghanistan to help battle a surprisingly violent Taliban resurgence in the south -- the alliance's first test in ground combat for "a long, long time," NATO's top commander said yesterday. Gen. James L. Jones said NATO members Romania, Poland, Canada, the United Kingdom and other countries would begin deploying from 2,000 to 2,500 additional troops to Afghanistan beginning next month to bolster the 20,000-strong NATO contingent.

The NATO buildup comes in addition to the approximately 20,000 U.S. troops in Afghanistan -- the highest number of U.S. forces in the country since the Taliban government was toppled in 2001. An escalation of violence has driven casualties for foreign troops and Afghan civilians this year to their highest level since the war began.

NATO called for the fresh forces as it engaged in a major offensive this month that Jones said has killed about 1,000 Taliban fighters who massed against NATO troops near Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, the Taliban's traditional stronghold.

"The Taliban decided to make a test case of this region," which had only a thin presence of U.S. troops until a NATO force of 6,000 took charge July 1, Jones said. "We have disturbed a hornet's nest, and the hornets are swarming," he told reporters at the Pentagon. He called the situation a "moment of truth" for security in lawless southern Afghanistan, where crime and narcotics are also rampant.

The Taliban announced a "tactical retreat" last week as its forces dispersed from the Kandahar region to seek refuge farther west, but they are expected to regroup and continue attacking civilians, Jones said. The fighting caused an exodus of about 20,000 people in the Pashmul area about 30 miles west of Kandahar, and NATO is focusing on providing food, clothing, and shelter for the war refugees.

"Many of the people of Afghanistan are on a fence right now, and they will be for whichever side wins," he said. Despite the deteriorating security, Jones pointed to progress in Afghanistan, citing the fact that 6 million children are attending school, and hundreds of development projects have been undertaken -- including the construction of about 1,800 miles of roads -- in the past four years.

New Poll Shows Naivete in Canada: 31 Percent Blame Israel for 9/11 Attacks

According to a poll by the Montreal-based Association for Canadian Studies (ACS), 38 percent of Quebecers think 9/11 was at least partly the result of Israel’s actions in the Middle East, the highest of any region of Canada. Overall, 31 percent of all Canadians hold the same opinion. When Quebec responses are deducted from the national total, about 27 percent of the rest of Canada think Israel's actions in the Middle East were a "primary cause" of 9/11.

In addition, the great majority of Quebecers, more than three-quarters – well above the Canadian average of 63 percent – believe the 9/11 attacks were also at least in part caused by U.S. foreign policy. An equal proportion of Quebecers and Canadians as a whole, about two-thirds, said a primary cause of 9/11 was a reaction of Islamic fundamentalism against the West.

"I was astonished by the results," said ACS director Jack Jedwab. "I knew there was a lot of naivete out there, but not this much."

Quebecers also think relations between Jews and Christians and between Jews and Muslims in Canada have deteriorated since the war in Lebanon. There was no change in attitudes to Muslims, who are viewed in a positive light by just over half of those polled. Sixty-nine percent of Quebecers have a positive opinion of Jews, down five percent from a similar survey taken July 11 to 16, when the war was just beginning. Jews are most highly regarded by the young, ages 18 to 24 (81 percent), and those whose annual household income is between $40,000 and $60,000 (76 percent). The groups with the least favorable opinion of Jews are between the ages of 55 and 64 (56 percent).

Suicide Bomber Hits Funeral of Provincial Governor; Canadian PM Optimistic

It wasn't enough to just kill Afghan Gov. Abdul Hakim Taniwal on Sunday in a suicide bombing, so terrorists sent a suicide bomber to his funeral and killed six more people. As of now, no group has claimed responsibility and the bomber has not been identified.

More than 1,000 mourners had gathered Monday in the eastern Khost province, the ancestral home of Taniwal, when the attacker slipped undetected though a hundreds-strong security force to blow himself up in front of a vehicle carrying a senior police officer who may have been targeted because he was active in operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda.

The bombing caused carnage and chaos, and police fired into the air to control a charge of panicking mourners who feared there might be a second blast. Hospital officials said five police officers and a 12-year-old boy were killed. At least 35 people were wounded.

NATO announced Monday that an ongoing 10-day anti-Taliban offensive in the south has killed more than 500 -- the most intense military confrontation in nearly five years. Despite the upsurge in violence, Canadian PM Stephen Harper is optimistic. He has 2,300 troops in Afghanistan that are at the forefront of an increasingly hot war with the Taliban. The U.S. has about 20,000 troops in the country; Britain, about 5,500; and Germany, about 2,800. Most of Canada's troops are positioned in the southern Kandahar region, a Taliban stronghold, and its troops have been in near-daily combat.

"The Taliban is on the run," Harper proclaimed in a nationally televised address from Parliament Hill in Ottawa, where he was surrounded by the families of some of Canada's victims of the 9/11 attacks and by the wives of soldiers serving in Afghanistan.

Broadcast News Highlights: Bush on Troops; Murtha on DoD Cover-Up

Broadcast News Highlights for June 26: Last night Jim Lehrer had a short segment on President Bush downplaying news of troop withdrawals, along with an Iraq update. CBS Evening News followed suit, as did NBC Nightly News and Fox News Special Report. Other coverage focused on the 'data bank' exposed in the press and John Murtha's accusation of a Pentagon cover-up over Haditha.

Radical Islamist Planning Canadian Trip to Speak to Youth; Govt May Ban Him

Alykhan Velshi reports at FDD that later this month, Islamist rabble-rouser and sometime theologian Sheik Riyadh ul Haq will visit Toronto to address 2,000 Canadians on issues facing Canadian youth. The event is being organized by the Islamic Organization of Toronto.

Sheik Riyadh ul Haq has been at the forefront of some of the most vicious attacks on Jews and other "unbelievers", as the Toronto Star explains.

Canadian Immigration Minister Monte Solberg has the power to deny this man entry to Canada. All eyes are on Solberg, waiting to see if he's willing to stand up to those who preach hate against others, which incitement is all the more dangerous in the wake of the arrest of 17 Canadians for plotting terror attacks.

CBC Profile of Qayyum Abdul Jamal, Suspected Leader of Canadian Jihadis

At YouTube, a CBC profile on one of the alleged ringleaders of the Canadian jihadis: The National Qayyum Abdul Jamal Profile (Hat tip LGF). In case you missed it, Canadian police arrested 17 people on suspicion of terrorism on Friday in the suburbs of Toronto. They had three times the amount of explosives that was used to blow up the federal building in Oklahoma City. They apparently had some sort of contact with two Americans from Georgia. More on that from Michelle Malkin.

Dispelling the Falsehood of a Humanitarian Crisis in the Palestinian Territories

Geoffrey Aronson has prepared a paper for the Foundation for Middle East Peace thanks to a grant by Canada’s International Development and Research Center (IDRC) on "Financing the Palestinian Authority." Without rebutting each argument, we'd like to just focus on one aspect of the paper. Aronson writes with the assumption that there is a humanitarian crisis in the Palestinian territories and that the financial boycott has caused or at least added to a humanitarian crisis.

Some define a humanitarian crisis as "an event or series of events which represents a critical threat to the health, safety, security or well-being of a community or other large group of people, usually over a wide area." Still others define it as "a health or otherwise natural disaster which mortally threatens a very large number of people." Regardless of which you more closely align with, one fact is undeniable -- government workers not receiving a paycheck may cause a decreased standard of living for some, but is not a humanitarian crisis by any sensible definition.

Professor Arrested in Iran Following Criticism of Ahmadinejad

Iranian officials have confirmed they've arrested former University of Toronto professor Ramin Jahanbegloo. An Iranian judiciary official says charges won't be announced until after he has been interrogated.

Jahanbegloo has criticized the country's leadership in recent weeks and challenged Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's controversial comments about the Holocaust. He holds dual Iran and Canadian citizenship.