31% of US respondents say 'Israel' is apartheid-like: Brookings
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In a new study by Brookings, following the protests against Benjamin Netanyahu's judicial reforms, the US public opinion shifts strongly on 'Israel'.
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Demonstrators March in a pro-Palestinian protest in Dearborn, Michigan, US, 16 May 2021. (REUTERS)
The American perception of 'Israel' is witnessing a major shift after protests against judicial reforms, a study by Brookings shows.
As the protests in Western countries drew attention to the Netanhayhu's push for judicial reforms in the face of widespread resistance from opposing Israeli camps, Israeli Occupation Forces' aggression against Palestinians in the West Bank and Al-Quds intensified.
The institute aimed to uncover the change in American citizens' sentiments towards the Israeli occupation, posing three questions to 1,203 participants in the US.
The first question reads, "You may have been following recent developments in Israel, the West Bank, and Gaza. In your opinion which of the following is closer to describing the way Israel looks to you."
Participants could select the following options to best describe their thoughts on 'Israel': a vibrant democracy; a flawed democracy; a state with restricted minority rights; or a state with segregation similar to apartheid.
The poll which was conducted between March 27 and April 5 revealed an outstanding shift in US citizens' perception of 'Israel'.
Previously the Occupation was described by many Americans as the Middle East's only democracy. However, more than half of the respondents said selected 'don't know' when answering the question, which according to the researchers points to a "certain level of discomfort among respondents in answering this question."
Shift in popular opinion
This is especially surprising in Republican participants who according to the researchers would be more opinionated on the issue. Almost two-thirds of Republican respondents said that they did not know, while 41% of those who answered said it is a vibrant democracy and 20% said it is a segregated state similar to apartheid.
The change in discourse is more evident among Democrat participants as 44%, said it is “a state with segregation similar to apartheid,” while 34% said it is a “flawed democracy.”
Overall the two previous answers took an equally shared majority of 62% of those who had an opinionated answer.
According to Brookings, the use of the term 'Apartheid' to describe Israel is highly uncommon and even considered taboo, which might be another reason why the majority of the participants did not give their opinion on the matter.
What about US policy in 'Israel'?
The institute conducted a similar study in October in which they asked the second question of their more recent study. The respondents showed results consistent with that of the previous study where 63% of voters said that the US should take a neutral stance on what it deemed as the "Israeli-Palestinian conflict" while the slight decrease, accounted for in the study's margin of error, from 8% to 7% answered lean towards Palestine.
Views on BDS
Respondents were asked about their position on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement (BDS), to better understand the position of those who answer 'don't know'.
39% of respondents said they were unfamiliar with BDS and 26% said 'don't know'.
However, of those that did offer an opinion, 65% of Republicans were opposed to BDS a drastically lower number of Democrats shared the same sentiment at 20%.
Most Democrats said they were unfamiliar with BDS (43%) in contrast to those who did answer as 14% supported the movement while only 6% opposed it.
The study concludes that there is a clear change in US public opinion, pointing specifically to the use of the word "Apartheid" which was previously unconventional. Previous research shows dwindling support among young evangelical Christians, while the current poll shows that support among young Republicans has decreased by 32%
As contradiction within Israeli society uncovers themselves, evident in the protests against the judicial reforms that have shown a clear divide in the political scene, and as the IOF's crimes against the Palestinian people gain more coverage, public opinions in the US are slowly shifting to realize true face of occupation in Palestine.
