Thursday, August 5, 2010

Iran winning regional public opinion over nuclear issue

According to the Brookings Institution:

On Thursday, August 5, Shibley Telhami, Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland and nonresident senior fellow at the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at Brookings, released the 2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll, which is produced each year in conjunction with Zogby International.

This year’s poll surveyed 3,976 people in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon, and the United Arab Emirates, during the period of June 29–July 20, 2010.

Among the key poll findings are:

• A substantial change toward a negative assessment of President Obama, both as president of the United States and of Obama personally.

• A larger majority of the Arab public asserts Iran has a right to its nuclear program.

• A majority of the Arab public now see a potentially nuclear-armed Iran as being better for the Middle East.




A complete report on the poll findings is available here.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is no surprise to anyone who travels in the region and beyond. Most rational people, whether it be Arabs, Muslims, Europeans, Asians, Latins or Africans support Iran's principled stand and quest for technological progress. US and Zionist propaganda simply does not work anymore and there are independent internet and media outlets in the world and people travel freely in the region.

In most of the Arab and Muslim street of over 2 BILLION people, the vast MAJORITY is very pro-Iran, even in US supported puppet dictatorships like Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia, the majority is supportive of Iran and its independent policies and a bulwark against Zionist hegemony and terror.

The simple fact is that despite numerous US efforts to stoke anti-Iran sentiment and bogeyman card has failed in the region and speaks volumes about Iran's successful outreach to the Arab and Muslim masses.

Brookings could have saved itself a lot of money and bother just by monitoring the Zionist-free world news media, specially Iranian and Arab outlets like Al-Manar, Al-Alam, Press TV and even Gulf News to accurately guage the strength of Iranian support in the region.

Iran's transparent and soft power approach is well respected from Indonesia, India to Morocco. Actually, amongst the Maghreb Arabs of Algeria, Morocco and Libya support for Iran runs well in excess of 90% or more in all public polls. The same situation in Sudan, Pakistan, Bangladesh Afghanistan, Turkey and all over the ex-Soviet stans. The depth of respect for Iran in Syria and Lebanon is obvious to all.

The US needs to move beyond AIPAC/Zionist lobby to see the truth. Threats, bullying and pathetic destabilization attempts against Iran are simply not going to work, mutual respect and dialogue surely will.

Anonymous said...

This poll is so slanted it's ridiculous. Try polling someone who isn't muslim or a terrorist and you get a totally different outcome.

Anonymous said...

@anon August 6, 2010 12:01 AM
This poll is so slanted it's ridiculous. Try polling someone who isn't muslim or a terrorist and you get a totally different outcome.. You mean me, I am no Muslim nor a terrorist and I support Iran's right for nuclear technology!

Anonymous said...

@August 6, 2010 12:01 AM

Actually, yours is the most hillarious, ignorant and ridiculous comment I have read so far. If you had paid attention, the Brookings Poll is directed at Middle-Eastern nations which also happen to be MUSLIM. So the results are not surprising to any educated or rational person. Just for your educational purposes, 2 BILLION plus Muslims are neither "terrorists" nor as ignorant as the Zionist fanned Islamophobes. Perhaps, it may be good idea investing in some freshman geography, demography and history books for dummies.

Anonymous said...

This is an accurate assessment by ex-CIA officers who know full well that the Zionist entity of 5 million imported savages would not last more than a month in a full-scale war of attrition agianst 76 million Iranians. Killing unarmed Palestinian children is one thing, fighting a motivated, well-armed and tenacious foe like Iran is totally another matter.

A group of ex-CIA officials have warned Washington against Tel Aviv's efforts to "mousetrap" the US on Iran, a mistake that would "destroy" Israel.

In a memo to the US President Barack Obama, a group of former CIA intelligence officers at the Veteran Intelligence Professionals for Sanity warned that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is ready to go unilateral on Iran.

"Blindsiding has long been an arrow in Israel's quiver," the group said on Thursday.

To prevent such a 'disaster', the former officials wrote, the White House should "move quickly to pre-empt an Israeli attack by publicly condemning such a move before it happens."

If Obama fails to do so "Israel's leaders would calculate that once the battle is joined, it will be politically untenable for you to give anything less than unstinting support to Israel," the memo continues.

Plans for a military attack against Iran have gained momentum in Tel Aviv over the past few months.

On November 7, Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon warned Iran that Tel Aviv's persistent threats of military action were not just a bluff.

Tel Aviv has also ordered a long list of US-made military equipment, including systems needed by the Israeli Air Force, certain types of missiles and advanced electronic war equipment.

The ex-CIA officials however have suggested that Tel Aviv's impatience may cost them dearly.

"Wider war could eventually result in destruction of the state of Israel," the group said.

Formed in January 2003 "to speak out on the use of intelligence to justify the war," the veterans are widely known for their opposition to the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

"We now believe that we may also be right on (and right on the cusp of) another impending catastrophe of even wider scope - Iran - on which another President, you, are not getting good advice from your closed circle of advisers," the memo concludes.

Anonymous said...

Anon 12:01,

I really don't see your point. The poll is reflective of Arab people in the Middle East and North Africa. Polling these people isn't silly.

What's remarkable is how different the results are than what we here in the US have been being spoon fed by the US media and our government PR. We've been consistently told that the Arabs are fearful of Iran's nuclear program and are supportive of anti-Iran efforts in the region. This poll completely contradicts that narrative. As such, it is yet another demonstration of the fact that "the international community" is not anti-Iran, as our media and government PR tries so hard in telling us so.

Anonymous said...

I believe this poll is reflective of general opinion in the ME contrary to the FOX/Zionist drivel about "Arabs being apprehensive of Iranian nuclear program".

Many Arab news agencies like Al-Jazeera have posted similar findings of pro-Iran sentiment in the region, including Saudi Arabia. The comments on Al-Jazeera Magazine just confirm this poll along with the recent PEW poll of 57 Muslim nations.

Just as a footnote to the ill-informed comment by anon 12.01 AM, you may not realize but mostly Muslims do live in the Middle-East and I am certain that this poll excluded the "terrorists" who mostly reside in occupied Palestine under the guise of Zionistic cult.

Anonymous said...

I believe this poll more than fox,cnn polls.

It is just natural,Iran has the support of the arab people.

Anonymous said...

Zogby poll also confirms the same findings. Iran is the most popular nation amongst Muslims and Arabs who view Iran as a natural leader.
The United States and Israel were listed as the region's worst enemies, while only 10 percent perceived Iran as any threat.

This year's poll, which is conducted by the US University of Maryland in conjunction with Zogby International, surveyed 3,976 people in Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Morocco, Jordan, Lebanon and the United Arab Emirates from June 29-July 20, 2010.

According to an annual poll conducted by the Maryland University, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is among the most popular world leaders in the Arab world. Over 90% of the respondents in the region had a positive view of Iran and high regards for its President. Most Arabs viewed Iran's nuclear program favorably and supported a nuclear Iran as a stabilizing factor in the region.

The poll also reflects growing disillusionment of participants with American policies in the Middle East, as nearly 70% voted against US President Barack Obama and his pro-Israel policies and wars.

Anonymous said...

Iran Had the public opinion on its side all along, now the western press cant manipulate the reports anymore, so they correct themselves and keep face that way.

Never believe the western press on Iran.

Dariush London