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Why Do They Hate Us?
In every country but Iran, the “Palestinian issue” was viewed as “the most” or “a very important” issue facing the Arab world today. The range on this was from two in three in Saudi Arabia up to four in five in Lebanon and Egypt. In France and Venezuela, at least seven in ten called the Palestinian issue the “most” or “very” important issue facing the Arab World.
Those polled in every country except Iran would overwhelmingly react more favorably toward the U.S. if it “were to apply pressure to ensure the creation of an independent Palestinian state.” This included 69% in Egypt, 79% in Saudi Arabia, 87% in Kuwait (91% of Kuwaiti nationals), 59% in Lebanon, 67% in U.A.E. (76% of Emirati nationals), 73% in Pakistan, 70% in France, 61% in Venezuela, and 66% in Indonesia.
If the United States is looking for support in the war against terrorism, it will find it hard to come by in the Arab street. There is no majority support in any of the Arab countries, and no support at all in Iran. The only majority support comes from Pakistan (59%), France (68% favorable, 24% unfavorable), and Venezuela (71% support, 21% unfavorable). March 2003 Polling: The Damage is Done The first poll in 2003 was done from March 1-14, days before the bombing of Baghdad began. It included Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Morocco, and the United Arab Emirates. The rhetoric of war had led the news agenda in both the U.S. and the Arab world for months. It was easy to see how this and the subsequent war could negatively affect Arab and Muslim views of the U.S. Our polling showed that a substantial number in most countries felt that the principal motive for the U.S. going to war was imperialism. The numbers were greater in Morocco (75%), Lebanon (47%), Jordan (46%), Saudi Arabia (35%), and Egypt (28%) than in war-friendly U.A.E. (12%). The overall average of 42% was striking. One of the main stated motives for going to war was to bring more democracy to the Iraqi people. Only 5% of our sample agreed that the war would do that. Huge majorities in each country emphatically rejected that reason. In every instance where we have comparative data from 2002, the numbers of those favorable toward America declined — even in Lebanon, from 72% to 57%, and in the U.A.E., from 68% to 64%. Declines were particularly steep in Saudi Arabia (53% to 24%) and Egypt (50% to 27%). July 2003 Polling: Saudi Arabia Since the March 2003 multi-country polling, we have only been able to poll in Saudi Arabia, and similar questions were included in the following update. Polling in other countries is being planned now. Saudi Arabia has been in the news quite a bit since September 11, 2001. While it has never enjoyed an overwhelmingly popular image in the U.S., the fact that 15 of the 19 9/11 terrorists were Saudis has caused speculation about the possible role of Saudi officials in the attacks. The draft report of the special committee set up to investigate the efficacy of U.S. intelligence agencies in anticipating the attacks left 28 pages blank as “highly classified,” an unstated number of which are said to be about the Saudi role. All of this has caused even more speculation about Saudi involvement, even though the Saudi government has requested the U.S. to declassify the sections, and even though it permitted the citizen reputedly named in the report to be questioned by U.S. investigators. At one time, the Saudis had recorded a positive favorable rating in the U.S. of 45%, but the ratings are much more negative today. However it cuts both ways. As we see below, in every category tested in our July 2003 poll, Saudi attitudes toward the United States declined. [Seven bar charts—not exhibited with this text—are available in the PDF version of this Link issue that can be downloaded. The titles of the seven charts are: Overall Impression of Saudis of American Science and Technology, Overall Saudi Impression of American Freedom and Democracy, Overall Saudi Impression of the American People, Overall Saudi Impression of American Movies and Television, Overall Saudi Impression of American Education, Overall Saudi Impression of U.S. Government Policy toward the Palestinians, and Overall Saudi Impression of U.S. Government Policy toward Iraq.—Editor]
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