(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – People in three countries hold little hope in the success of a potential Middle East peace process, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. At least 40 per cent of respondents in Canada, the United States and Britain believe there will never be a solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
(Angus Reid Global Monitor) – People in three countries hold little hope in the success of a potential Middle East peace process, according to a poll by Angus Reid Public Opinion. At least 40 per cent of respondents in Canada, the United States and Britain believe there will never be a solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians.
The former British mandate of Palestine was instituted at the end of World War I, to oversee a territory in the Middle East that formerly belonged to the Ottoman Empire. After the end of World War II and the Nazi holocaust, the Zionist movement succeeded in establishing an internationally recognized homeland. In November 1947, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly passed a resolution calling for the formation of a Jewish state.
In 1948, the British government withdrew from the mandate and the state of Israel was created in roughly 15,000 square kilometres of the mandate’s land, with the remaining areas split under the control of Egypt and Transjordan. Since then, the region has seen constant disagreement between Israel and the Palestinians, represented for decades by the Palestinian Liberation Organization (PLO). Wars broke out in the region in the second half of the 20th Century, involving Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and Egypt.
Around 750,000 Palestinians fled or were forced to leave their territory during the 1948 Arab-Israeli war. The "right of return"—under which Palestinians aim to re-occupy their homes in Israel—has always been a questionable point in peace negotiations. Hundreds of thousands of refugees from the war and their descendants still live in shantytown camps run by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), next to Gaza cities and towns.
During the six-day war in 1967, Israel gained control of the Sinai Peninsula, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, eastern Jerusalem, and the Golan Heights. About 300,000 Israelis currently live in more than 100 Jewish settlements in the West Bank, along with about 2.5 million Palestinians.
Fatah leader Mahmoud Abbas is currently heading the Palestinian Authority from the West Bank, endorsed by Israel and most of the Western international community. Ismail Haniyeh of Hamas has become the de-facto leader in the Gaza Strip.
The administration headed by U.S. president Barack Obama has urged the Israeli government to cease all settlement activity in order to break a deadlock in peace negotiations with the Palestinians. Earlier this year, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu allowed for the construction of some 900 new settlements in occupied territory, citing the need to understand the "natural growth" of the Israeli population living in the area.
On Apr. 13, Obama discussed the situation, saying, "The Israeli people, through their government, and the Palestinian people, through the Palestinian Authority, as well as other Arab states may say to themselves: ‘We are not prepared to resolve these issues no matter how much pressure the United States brings to bear’. (…) It’s going to take time, and progress will be halting. And there will be frustrations."
Polling Data
When do you expect a solution to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians?
|
CAN
|
USA
|
BRI
|
|
|
Less than two years from now
|
3%
|
4%
|
4%
|
|
Three to five years from now
|
8%
|
10%
|
8%
|
|
Six to ten years from now
|
7%
|
6%
|
8%
|
|
More than ten years from now
|
19%
|
8%
|
14%
|
|
Never
|
40%
|
46%
|
41%
|
|
Not sure
|
23%
|
26%
|
26%
|
Source: Angus Reid Public Opinion
Methodology: Online interviews with 1,010 Canadian adults, 1,005 American adults and 2,006 British adults, conducted from Mar. 31 to Apr. 12, 2010. Margins of error range from 2.2 per cent to 3.1 per cent.
