Survey of Jewish Americans and Arab Americans
THINKING ABOUT MIDDLE
EAST PEACE PROCESS ISSUES:
In the Geneva Accords, Palestinian refugees would
be entitled to compensation for their refugee status and loss of property,
as well as a guaranteed right to settle in the new Palestinian state
or third countries. In addition, the Geneva Accords would allow Israel
to make a sovereign decision about how many refugees, if any, would
be allowed to live inside its borders. Do you support or oppose such
a formula for addressing the refugee issue? (January 2004)
| |
Jewish Americans |
| Support |
60.3 |
| Oppose |
25.9 |
| Not sure |
13.7 |
Overall, do you strongly support, somewhat support,
or not support the Geneva Accords, or are you not familiar enough with
the initiative to make a judgment? (January 2004)
| |
Jewish Americans % |
Arab Americans % |
| Strongly support/Somewhat support |
43.2 |
42.2 |
| Did not support |
8.9 |
4.9 |
| Not familiar enough to make a judgement |
44.4 |
50.5 |
The Geneva Accords are an unofficial agreement that
calls for: an end of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict; the establishment
of a demilitarized Palestinian state along side the State of Israel;
a joint commitment to security and fighting terrorism; the evacuation
of most Israeli settlements; the establishment of a border roughly along
the 1967 Green Line; providing a resolution for Palestinian refugees
consistent with Israel retaining its sovereignty over its immigration
policy; split sovereignty over Jerusalem holy sites; and establishing
Jerusalem as the shared capital of both states. Having heard this description,
are you now more or less likely to support the Geneva Accords? (January
2004)
| |
Jewish Americans % |
Arab Americans % |
| More likely to support |
50.2% |
73.5% |
| Less likely to support |
22.4 |
7.9 |
| No difference |
16.7 |
12.6 |
| Not sure |
10.7 |
6 |
Do you support or oppose requiring Israelis and
Palestinians to cooperate on security matters and to commit themselves
to fighting terrorism and violence in the context of an Israeli-Palestinian
peace treaty? (January 2004)
| |
Jewish Americans |
| Support |
86.4 |
| Oppose |
8.6 |
| Not sure |
5 |
Do you support or not support the use of outside,
international monitors to determine if the terms of an Israeli-Palestinian
peace agreement are kept by both sides? (January 2004)
| |
Jewish Americans |
| Support |
69.7% |
| Not Support |
24.6% |
| Not sure |
5.6% |
Should the Israelis and Palestinians reach a peace
agreement, would you support or not support the use of U.S. peacekeeping
forces to ensure that the terms of the agreement are met? (January
2004)
| |
Jewish Americans |
Arab Americans |
| Support |
61.8 |
68.4 |
| Oppose |
30.1 |
26.7 |
| Not Sure |
8.1 |
4.9 |
Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat
disagree, or strongly disagree that Palestinians have a right to live
in a secure and independent state of their own?
| |
Jewish Americans % (July 2003) |
Jewish Americans % (October 2002) |
Arab Americans % (July 2003) |
Arab Americans % (October 2002) |
| Strongly agree |
49.0 |
-- |
84.8 |
-- |
| Somewhat agree |
33.0 |
-- |
7.9 |
-- |
| Strongly/somewhat agree |
-- |
85.5 |
-- |
95.6 |
| Somewhat disagree |
5.9 |
-- |
.5 |
-- |
| Strongly disagree |
9.3 |
-- |
2.2 |
-- |
| Strongly/somewhat disagree |
-- |
8.4 |
-- |
2.0 |
| Not Sure |
2.9 |
6.1 |
4.7 |
2.4 |
Do you strongly agree, somewhat agree, somewhat
disagree, or strongly disagree that Israelis have a right to live in
a secure and independent state of their own?
| |
Jewish Americans % (July 2003) |
Jewish Americans % (October 2002) |
Arab Americans % (July 2003) |
Arab Americans (October 2002) |
| Strongly agree |
95.3 |
-- |
79.1 |
-- |
| Somewhat agree |
4.2 |
-- |
16.1 |
-- |
| Strongly/somewhat agree |
-- |
96.6 |
-- |
95.4 |
| Somewhat disagree |
.2 |
-- |
.4 |
-- |
| Strongly disagree |
.2 |
-- |
1.4 |
-- |
| Strongly/somewhat disagree |
-- |
1.0 |
-- |
3.7 |
| Not sure |
.1 |
2.4 |
3.0 |
0.9 |
Do you support or oppose the recognition of the
right of the Jewish people to statehood and the recognition of the right
of the Palestinian people to statehood? (January 12-15, 2004)
| Support |
85.4% |
| Oppose |
7.7% |
| Not sure |
6.9% |
Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat
oppose, or strongly oppose the road map to peace between the Israelis
and the Palestinians as laid out by the Bush Administration? (July
2003)
| |
Jewish Americans % |
Arab Americans % |
| Strongly support |
23.0 |
45.7 |
| Somewhat support |
48.0 |
28.1 |
| Somewhat oppose |
7.1 |
5.2 |
| Strongly oppose |
9.3 |
5.8 |
| Not sure |
12.6 |
15.3 |
What needs to be done first in order to ensure
the success of the peace planA: The Israelis need to start dismantling
the settlements and outposts in the West Bank and Gaza and freeze settlement
expansion, B: the Palestinians need to declare a ceasefire and stop
the suicide bombings, or both Israel and the Palestinians need to take
the above steps at the same time? (July 2003)
| |
Jewish Americans % |
Arab Americans % |
| Dislantle settlements/freeze expansion |
2.8 |
18.4 |
| Ceasefire/stop bombings |
37.4 |
4.9 |
| Both |
56.7 |
73.2 |
| Neither - nothing will work |
1.8 |
1.4 |
| Not sure |
1.3 |
2.1 |
Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat
oppose, or strongly oppose a freeze on all Israeli settlement expansion
in the West Bank and Gaza? (July 2003)
| |
Jewish Americans % (January 2004) |
Jewish Americans % (July 2003) |
Arab-Americans % (July 2003) |
| Strongly support |
-- |
45.7 |
70.9 |
| Somewhat support |
-- |
24.9 |
9.3 |
| Support |
62.7 |
-- |
-- |
| Somewhat oppose |
-- |
8.5 |
4.0 |
| Strongly oppose |
-- |
12.3 |
6.0 |
| Oppose |
27.5 |
-- |
-- |
| Not sure |
9.8 |
8.6 |
9.7 |
Do you strongly support, somewhat support, somewhat
oppose, or strongly oppose Israel ending its occupation of the West
Bank and Gaza? (July 2003)
| |
Jewish Americans % |
Arab Americans % |
| Strongly support |
26.8 |
73.2 |
| Somewhat support |
31.7 |
10.4 |
| Somewhat oppose |
12.7 |
2.0 |
| Strongly oppose |
16.4 |
5.5 |
| Not sure |
12.3 |
9.0 |
Would you support or not support a peace agreement
between Israelis and Palestinians that included the establishment of
an independent, secure Palestinian state alongside an independent, secure
Israeli state, the evacuation of most settlements from the West Bank
and Gaza, the establishment of a border roughly along the June 4, 1967
border, a Palestinian right of return only to inside a new Palestinian
state, and establishing Jerusalem as the shared capital of both countries?
| |
Jewish Americans (January 2004) |
Jewish Americans % (July 2003) |
Jewish Americans % (October 2002) |
Arab Americans % (July 2003) |
Arab Americans (October 2002) |
| Support |
46.9 |
59.2 |
51.7 |
85.2 |
78.9 |
| Not support |
39.4 |
31.0 |
30.3 |
6.1 |
10.9 |
| Not Sure |
13.7 |
9.9 |
18.0 |
8.7 |
10.2 |
If the U.S. is NOT significantly involved in the
Israeli-Palestinian peace process, do you agree or disagree that it
will be possible for Israelis and Palestinians to reach a peace agreement
and implement it on their own? (January 2004)
| |
Jewish Americans % |
| Agree |
31.6 |
| Disagree |
63 |
| Not sure |
5.3 |
Should the Israelis and Palestinians reach a peace
agreement, would you support or not support the use of U.S. funds to
ensure that the terms of the agreement are met? (January 2004)
| |
Jewish Americans % |
Arab Americans % |
| Support |
83.9 |
76.4 |
| Not support |
11.7 |
18.1 |
| Not sure |
4.3 |
5.6 |
THE U.S. AND THE
MIDDLE EAST:
Would you be more likely or less likely to support
a political candidate who says that the U.S. must be actively engaged
in trying to bring peace between Israelis and Palestinians? (January
2004)
| |
Jewish Americans |
Arab Americans |
| More likely to support |
71.6 |
72.9 |
| Less likely to support |
8.5 |
10.6 |
| Not sure |
3.1 |
1.9 |
Do you think the U.S. needs to be evenhanded in
trying to broker an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict? (January
2004)
| |
Jewish Americans |
Arab Americans |
| Yes, the U.S. needs to be evenhanded |
67.8 |
85.1 |
| No, the U.S. does not need to be evenhanded |
23.9 |
8.4 |
| Not sure |
8.4 |
6.4 |
How confident are you in the Bush Administrations
commitment to achieve a two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian
conflict? (July 2003)
| |
Jewish Americans |
Arab Americans |
| Very confident |
9.8 |
12.2 |
| Somewhat confident |
45.8 |
37.6 |
| Not confident |
41.3 |
44.9 |
| Not sure |
3.1 |
5.3 |
Generally speaking, how would you rate President
George W. Bushs handling of the Arab/Israeli conflict in the Middle
East?
| |
Jewish Americans (January 2004) |
Jewish Americans (July 2003) |
Jewish-Americans (October 2002) |
Arab Americans (January 2004) |
Arab Americans (July 2003) |
Arab Americans (October 2002) |
| Excellent |
4.2 |
5.0 |
5.5 |
8.9 |
12.1 |
7.8 |
| Good |
17.7 |
24.0 |
23.0 |
13.5 |
26.8 |
18.6 |
| Fair |
37.9 |
44.8 |
37.7 |
20.7 |
26.9 |
22.3 |
| Poor |
38.1 |
24.1 |
31.3 |
54.6 |
29.5 |
46.4 |
| Not sure |
2.2 |
2.1 |
2.5 |
2.3 |
4.6 |
4.8 |
Sources: Americans
for Peace Now, Arab
American Institute |