The Day In Israel: Sun Nov 21st, 2010

A new poll has confirmed what many (including me) have been saying for years: the palestinians’ ultimate goal is not peace and a two-state solution.

The majority of Palestinians support direct talks and the two-state solution, but ultimately want the entire area between the Jordan River and Mediterranean Sea to turn into one Palestinian state, a poll sponsored by The Israel Project, a Jewish-American organization, shows. 

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According to the poll, 61% of Palestinians from both Gaza and the West Bank support direct negotiations with Israel, and 60% accept the two-state solution. A 54% majority also agree peace is possible with Israel.

A closer look, however, reveals a different picture: According to the poll, most Palestinians refuse to reconcile with the idea of Israel as a Jewish state. While 23% accept the statement that “Israel has a permanent right to exist as a homeland for the Jewish people,” two-thirds prefer the alternative statement that “over time Palestinians must work to get back all the land for a Palestinian state.”

Moreover, the Palestinians perceive the two-state solution as a precursor to this entirely Palestinian state. When presented with the statement that “the best goal is for a two-state solution that keeps two states living side by side,” 30% agreed, while 60% opted for the alternative statement that “the real goal should be to start with two states but then move it to all being one Palestinian state.”

On the issue of terrorism, 58% said they support the armed struggle with Israel, while 36% believes that the direct talks are the only option. In the aftermath of Operation Cast Lead, support for armed struggle was lower in Gaza (51%) than in the West Bank (62%).

In other words, even those palestinians who seem to support negotiations are doing so because they know they have a better chance of destroying Israel once they have a state.

You can view the full poll results here.

Updates (Israel time; most recent at top)

5:50PM: A group of young Israelis has set out to enforce manners on buses.

While students in Great Britain set fire to London to protest tuition hikes, in Israel a different kind of student protest is surfacing. No, it’s not against the scandalous “avrekhim law,” which differentiates between students in post high school educational institutions and yeshiva students. The cause that has inspired some students to demonstrate is their disgust with the undignified behavior of passengers on Israeli public transportation.

Under the auspices of a project known as “Mishtarbus” (a Hebrew acronym for “bus manners police” ), students from the College of Administration decided once and for all to establish some order in the public transportation system. The group is seeking to eliminate such nuisances as loud ringtones, chattering across seats and ignoring senior citizens who are forced to stand. Five communications students taking a course on social networking are the driving force behind this project: Sandra Veller from Ra’anana, Tal Gvili from Kiryat Ono, Ran Amichai from Holon, Barak Ben Shimon from Mevasseret Zion and Lihi Ben David from Tel Aviv.

The biblical passage, “Rise before your elders and respect the elderly,” is etched into their hearts – and when they get on a bus this becomes an imperative. Even the theatrical sentence, “Please turn off your cell phones,” has found a new platform. At the end of the year they will be graded on the project, and it seems the principles they have formulated in the seminar, given by Dan Arev and Shikma Sharo, have for them become a uniquely important mission.

Sounds like a start. Now for supermarkets, post offices, the roads….

5:38PM: The latest from Latma.

4:00PM: Ynet: H&O signs franchise deal with Carter’s

I initially misread that, and though they were going to start selling peanuts.

1:50PM: Israel’s “country brand” has moved up 11 places.

Yeah, I realize that demands an explanation.

Countries are also brands. Since 2005, the FutureBrand Country Brand Index, produced in partnership with BBC World News, has measured the strength of a country brand based on its levels of awareness, familiarity, preference, consideration, advocacy and active decisions to visit. The study ranks 110 countries across 26 image attributes and seven measures of brand strength, but the most important factors, the aspects that truly differentiate a nation brand, are its associations and attributes – the things that people think of when they hear a place name, or look at a photograph or plan a trip.

Israel moved in the right direction in 2010, climbing 11 spots to #30. Israel was also crowned as one of the ‘Rising Starts of 2010′ along with Chile, Argentina and Iceland.

The improvement in the rankings is attributed to significant marketing investment for tourist destinations, “particularly in Tourism metrics like Authenticity and History, which align very well with campaigns promoting heritage and culture“.

The top spot in the study was conquered by Canada, largely due to the positive effects of hosting the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver. The Maple leaf managed to topple the US from the prestigious #1 country brand spot. The official press release mentioned a few reasons for uncle sam’s decline: widespread disappointment in President Obama, scrutiny over U.S. foreign policy choices, the economic recession, and other challenges.

If you’re interested in the full study, you may download the full 2010 Country FutureBrand Index on this link.

9:30AM: You may have already heard about Gabriel Lautner, the second-year law student from Toronto who argued in support of the motion that “Israel is a rogue state” at a Cambridge University debate.

The twist was he advanced this argument in a clearly pro-Israel way.

He also gained notoriety for some comments he directed towards the nefarious Lauren Booth:

The President of the Union had Latner escorted off the premises and banned for life following a complaint from Lauren Booth that before rising to speak he’d told her: “I am going to nail you to the fucking wall up there.” Not that Latner is too perturbed. He told the student newspaper Varsity that he has no doubt that he offended Ms Booth, but doesn’t know whether it was his remark to her or the fact that he “actually nailed her to the wall” in his speech that offended her, adding “ I can guess though”. As for the ban, it was a “rash” decision of the President but “isn’t going to drastically change my life”.

Well, the ban was apparently lifted and Mr Lautner has decided to run for the presidency of the Union, prompting this call to action from Booth:

Lauren Booth has called for action from you:

“Gabriel Latner, a wannabe Israeli soldier was recently given a life time ban from the Cambridge Union after making abusive remarks to me during a debate. This fawning Zionist, has been reinstated and is now running for the Presidency of the Union in Easter term 2011.

Surprise surprise. Please send your comments to president@cus.org“

Notice Booth’s characterization of Lautner as “wannabe Israeli soldier” and “fawning Zionist” (despite evidence to the contrary). Her hatred for Israel is just so palpable.

6:15AM: BDS public nuisance video of the day: It’s the gift that keeps on giving (hat tip: Lori).

This latest abomination comes courtesy of the The Philly BDS Coalition, in a bid to have Sabra and Tribe of Hummus de-shelved.

Besides the general idiocy on display, note the tall nerd, the seemingly powerless security guard, and some of the scariest-looking females you’ll ever see.

About the Author

An Australian immigrant to Israel, Aussie Dave has been blogging since early 2003.

Filed Under: General

Tags: BDS, Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research, Israel, Latma, lauren booth, Middle East Conflict, Palestinian, Philly BDS Coalition, The Day In Israel, The Israel Project