Europe's Problem with Ariel Sharon

Suzanne Gershowitz and Emanuele Ottolenghi examine European antipathy towards Israel and its prime minister:

... Many Europeans doubt that Israelis want peace, yet they believe Palestinians do.[1] In November 2003, for example, a European Union-commissioned survey found that an average of 59 percent of Europeans saw Israel as posing a threat to world peace, more than felt the Islamic Republic of Iran, North Korea, Afghanistan, or Pakistan to be dangers.[2] Some 35 percent of Europeans believe that the Israel Defense Forces intentionally target Palestinian civilians. Almost half of Frenchmen and Germans surveyed recently believe the White House should exert more pressure on Israel; less than one fifth want to see more pressure on the Palestinians. (American attitudes are nearly the opposite). In another European poll, 39 percent agreed that "Israel's treatment of Palestinians is similar to South Africa's treatment of blacks during the apartheid regime." Fourteen percent felt Palestinian terrorism to be justified, and even those who did not agree believed Israel's response to terrorism to be "excessive." Almost half felt that Israel was not an "open and democratic society." ...

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Posted by Andrew Jaffee at August 15, 2005 12:20 PM