Britons loathe Israel more than Iran, survey finds

[RFS_Br]

Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron, with Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg and Leader of the opposition Labour Party, Ed Miliband, attend a Holocaust Memorial Day ceremony at Central Hall Westminster, Tuesday Jan. 27, 2015, in London. The event in London with invited guests and dignitaries marks the International Holocaust Remembrance Day and commemorates the 70th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi Auschwitz death camp. (photo credit: AP Photo / Chris Jackson, Pool)

Britons feel more “unfavorable” to Israel than any other country worldwide except North Korea, a survey found.

The survey — taken in August and published Thursday by Chatham House, the Royal Institute of International Affairs — showed a massive surge in negative attitudes toward Israel since the previous such study, two years earlier. Thirty-five percent of Britons said they “feel especially unfavorable towards” Israel in the 2014 survey, compared to 17% in 2012.

That figure meant that Israel is regarded more unfavorably by Britons than Iran — 33% in the 2014 survey, compared to 45% in 2012. Only North Korea fares worse — regarded as especially unfavorable by 47% in 2014, compared to 40% in 2012.

Commenting on the dramatic rise in hostile attitudes to Israel, the compilers noted that, “The survey was conducted in August 2014 at a time when … Israel was engaged in a military operation in Gaza against Hamas that caused large numbers of civilian casualties.”



In a section summing up Britons’ attitudes to nations outside Europe, the authors noted that “North Korea is viewed most unfavorably (47%), followed by Israel (35%). The number of those viewing Israel unfavorably has increased by 18 points since 2012, presumably in response to the controversial military campaign in Gaza and the civilian casualties it caused, which were prominent in the news at the time the survey was conducted. Iran (33%) is the third most unfavorably viewed country, though its rating is down by 12 points compared with 2012. Pakistan (28%) and Nigeria (21%) complete the top five.

The Chatham House study — entitled “Internationalism or Isolationism? British Attitudes Towards the UK’s International Priorities” – was based on a YouGov poll in August which questioned a representative sample of 2,059 adults.

Britain will be holding general elections in May. Conservative Prime Minister David Cameron was broadly supportive of Israel during the summer conflict. Opposition Labor leader Ed Miliband was far more critical.


Britons loathe Israel more than Iran, survey finds

 

[Abii]

There are a ton of Arabs and Pakistanis in the UK. So the hate towards Israel is coming from them. Almost every single Arab and Pakistani will have an unfavorable view of Israel.

 

[Steve781]

There are a ton of Arabs and Pakistanis in the UK. So the hate towards Israel is coming from them. Almost every single Arab and Pakistani will have an unfavorable view of Israel.

British people in general are not very fond of Israel. It isn't really about the Palestinians as such, more to do with resentment about the tendency of their lobby to get us involved in conflicts which are not in our interests and the fact that they still glorify terrorists who blew up the King David Hotel.
But criticising Israel is not the same as criticising Jews, which is what supporters of Israel always claim when they are criticised.

 

[jaunty]

There are a ton of Arabs and Pakistanis in the UK. So the hate towards Israel is coming from them. Almost every single Arab and Pakistani will have an unfavorable view of Israel.

To be fair the same survey also puts Pakistan among the top 4 and there has been a huge increase of unfavorable views towards Israel in the last two years. I think it is due to the latest conflict. Many people who were on Israel's side in general felt that there were a lot of civilian casualties and Israel went overboard without caring about it.

 

[Syrian Lion]

There are a ton of Arabs and Pakistanis in the UK. So the hate towards Israel is coming from them. Almost every single Arab and Pakistani will have an unfavorable view of Israel.

they hate the Zionists so much they went and invaded a country just to place them there far away from them

 

[RFS_Br]

There are a ton of Arabs and Pakistanis in the UK. So the hate towards Israel is coming from them.

That's utterly laughable. 4.4% of Brits are Muslim. How could they account for every single of the 35% of British individuals who dislike Israel?

 

[al-Hasani]

There are a ton of Arabs and Pakistanis in the UK. So the hate towards Israel is coming from them. Almost every single Arab and Pakistani will have an unfavorable view of Israel.

There are 250.000 Arabs in the UK. A "ton" indeed. Most of them very well off. In fact the British Arabs are one of the richest minorities in the UK.

British Arabs - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Many Europeans dislike Jews. Always have. Anti-Semitism has been present in Europe as long as there have been Jews. No European country was an exception historically. It culminated with the Holocaust.

The unfavorable view of Israel in the UK has little to do with the tiny Muslim community of which the majority are from South Asia (Pakistan, Bangladesh etc.).

Such surveys have no value anyway and are likely bound in the assault on Gaza this past summer.