Anti-US sentiment in Arab world soars to new heights

In a wide-ranging opinion survey of Lebanon, Egypt, Jordan, Morocco, and Saudi Arabia conducted by a prestigious American polling firm, respondents rejected every premise the US President has laid out as justification for war.

They feel that a US invasion will bring more terrorism, less democracy, less regional peace, and dimmed prospects for settlement of the Palestine crisis.
“The poll results are striking,” said Shibley Telhami, of the Anwar Sadat Professor for Peace and Development at the University of Maryland, who commissioned the poll.

“They are striking not only because of the unprecedented degree of unfavorable opinion of the United States, but also showing the extent to which people in the region fear that war with Iraq will impact their lives negatively,” he said.

US out of step with Arab and Muslim opinion
John Zogby, whose prestigious polling firm, Zogby International, conducted the poll on behalf of the University of Maryland, said: “The poll results are an indication of how American policy-makers have lost touch with the region. While frustration with US policies was broadly predictable, I was startled by the high numbers.”

On the issue of whether war will reduce terrorism, an average of 83% said that war will actually increase the prospect of terrorism, including 97% of Saudis, 87% of Moroccans, 81% of Lebanese, 74% of Egyptians, and 78% of Jordanians.

More than 75% of all those polled feel that war in Iraq will bring worse prospects for Arab-Israeli peace. Again, the Saudis topped the list at 97%, followed by Moroccans (85%), Lebanese (82%), Jordanians (79%), and Egyptians (67%).On the prospect of a new Iraq catalyzing democracy throughout the region, 95% of Saudis, 66% of Moroccans, 60% of Egyptians, 58% of Jordanians, and 74% of Lebanese feel that a war to overthrow Saddam Hussein will bring less regional democracy.

Interestingly, the Saudis consistently showed the highest levels of frustration and anger with US policies.
“As a pollster, when we consistently see figures in the 70 percent plus
range, we are talking about a national and regional consensus,” Zogby said.
Zogby, an Arab-American, runs the Zogby polling group, one of America’s most well-respected polling firms noted for its precision polling in the last two U.S presidential elections.

The poll results also showed that most Arabs in the five states – all majority Muslim countries - question Washington’s motives for war. They believe President Bush's war plans are motivated firstly by oil and secondarily by US support for Israel. Indeed, nearly three-quarters of all respondents feel that all U.S policy in the region is motivated either by oil or Israel, despite Washington’s oft-publicly stated stance that Iraq poses a regional threat.

Other regional polls have indicated a similarly critical outlook toward
potential war with Iraq and America's regional policies. Only Kuwaiti polls show overwhelming public support for war. Kuwaitis, however, express similar frustration with American policies regarding the Israeli occupation of Palestine.

US not “honest broker”

"There is an overwhelming sense that the US is not an honest broker when it comes to Middle East peace," Zogby said, "and that shows itself in every single poll we do."
Interestingly, Zogby notes, in two polls his firm conducted last year, Arabs expressed a more favorable attitude towards the United States in general. This time, in response to the question about how “generally speaking,” they feel about the United States, the responses were overwhelmingly unfavorable: 95% of Saudis, 91% of Moroccans, 80% of Jordanians, 79% of Egyptians, and 59% of Lebanese.

“We noted a significant deterioration from our previous polls,” Zogby said, which included all of the above countries plus the UAE, Kuwait, and Arabs living within Israel.
In response to a question about world leaders they admired most, French President Jacque Chirac topped the list. Former Egyptian President and pan-Arab nationalist Gamal Abdal Nasser was named as the Arab leader from history they most admired.
Zogby has presented his findings at the State Department, where, according to some diplomats present, there was much head-nodding in the room. “The poll confirms what we already know,” one American diplomat said. “The question is: what can we do about it?”

For some years now Washington has sought to bolster America’s image in the Arab/Islamic world through an advertising campaign that promotes American values. The State Department even hired a highly successful New York advertising executive to lead the effort. One of its executives, Charlotte de Beers recently resigned, citing health reasons.
Many veteran American diplomats are sceptical of the de Beers’ “branding of America” through television commercials and other marketing devices, but other diplomats say America’s lack of public diplomacy outreach efforts hampers Washington’s strategy of winning the hearts and minds of the Arab/Islamic world.

The trouble is, say both Zogby and Telhami and a whole host of voices in the Arab world, the issue that frustrates Arabs is not American values, but American policies, and no amount of “branding” can change that.

Afshin Molavi

Al Jazeera