World poll: Only 19% see Israel in positive light

[ProgressiveMuslim]

Survey conducted in 28 countries on 29,000 respondents reveals that only Iran, Pakistan, North Korea have more negative perception than Israel. Most 'loved' country is Germany. 'Obama effect' has resulted in improvement in relations towards US for first time since 2005

Ynet
Published: 04.20.10, 21:43 / Israel News

Only Iran, North Korea, and Pakistan are viewed in a more negative light than Israel, according to a poll conducted in 28 countries and published Tuesday by the BBC.



The poll shows that just 19% of the 29,000 respondents questioned view Israel positively versus 50% who perceive the country in a negative light. Together with Israel at the bottom of the list are Iran (15% positive, 56% negative), Pakistan (16% positive, 51% negative), and North Korea (17% positive, 48% negative).

The poll also showed that world perceptions of the US are improving with 46% of respondents viewing the country favorably and 34% viewing the country negatively. Only two countries saw a decrease in the perception of the world's number one superpower – Turkey and India.


Topping the list of "America haters" are Turkey, with 70% of its respondents viewing the US unfavorable, and Pakistan, with 52% viewing the US negatively. Support for the US dropped surprisingly in India, from 43% to 39%.


"People around the world today view the United States more positively than at any time since the second Iraq war," said Doug Miller, chairman of international polling firm GlobeScan, which carried out the poll with the Program on International Policy Attitudes (Pipa) at the University of Maryland. He noted that the "Obama effect" apparently is a real thing...

read on:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3878518,00.html

[demosincebirth]

1. They have bigger problems to worry about than being liked.

[oberliner]

2. That number is up from 2007

Even so, the average of countries polled in
both 2009 and 2010 became slightly less
negative; unfavourable ratings have
dropped by four points.

Views improved but remained negative in
several countries. Unfavourable ratings
have dropped in Australia by 20 points (now
47%, down from 67%), in Canada by 14
points (now 38%, down from 52%), in China
by 12 points (now 40%, down from 52%), in
Japan by 11 points (now 52%, down from
63%), in Portugal by 22 points (now 46%,
down from 68%), in Spain by 11 points (now
60%, down from 71%)


I wonder who the 3 percent of Egyptians who have a favorable rating of Israel are.

I also want to know who the 5 percent of South Koreans are who have a favorable view of North Korea!

[proteus_lives]

3. So?

Huge swathes of the world have always hated Israel and the Jews.

[Tripmann]

4. Thats right proteus_lives

Its not OCL, or the continuing siege of gaza, or flouting of international law, or execution of rock throwing kids, or ongoing occupation that shapes peoples opinion on Israel, its good ol' fashioned jew-hatred :eyes:

[proteus_lives]

5. Right.....

Centuries of conditioning and prejudice have nothing to do with the way the world treats Israel. :eyes:

[Tripmann]

9. What way does the world treat israel?

And how many 100s of millions or even billions of people are you calling jew haters exactly?

[LeftishBrit]

6. No doubt ALL of these things are involved.

Not to mention that Israel is a high-profile country due to its location and links with America, so people have opinions about it. There are plenty of other countries in the world that do bad things, are subject to racism, or both; but most of them have a lower profile.

[Mosby]

7. Does anyone have a link to the BBC survey?

Seems odd that the most liked country only received a 59% rating.

[LeftishBrit]

8. Here is a more detailed report

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/160410bbcwspoll.pdf

I always tend to be suspicious of the sampling in such polls. Also, they don't differentiate between those who hold strong opinions about a country and those who don't normally think about it but can muster up an opinion if asked. I would use them more as a guide to *changes* over time in perceptions of a country - e.g. the USA has gone up and the UK has gone down a bit - than the exact level of opinion at any time.