Subscribe to our RSS feed.
Follow Us on TwitterPeter Manning (NSW) responds to AFR editorial PUBLISHED 1Oct13 October 2, 2013
Polls show Australians back Palestinians
Dear Sir/Madam,When I grew up my church and school set out on a political campaign to get state aid for Catholic schools. Your editorial on Muslim leaders trying to express their views on Israel and Palestine (“Labor should support Israel”, AFR, Sept 27) reveals nothing new. The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies does the same.
But apart from blindness to our history, it also miscasts how most Australians feel about this long-running dispute.
A run of polls over the past decade, done by professional pollsters, show the Australia community is siding with the Palestinians and, on specific issues like israel’s illegal settlements on Palestinian land, Israel’s invasion of Gaza in 2009 and the right of Palestine to be represented in the United Nations, clear majorities side with the Palestinian view.
Many of the polls have been conducted by one of Australia’s oldest and most respected pollsters, Roy Morgan’s. They were based were based on representative samples and were conducted according to professional criteria.
Bob Carr’s actions as Foreign Minister in publicly criticizing Israel’s consistent policy of ignoring US (and Australian) policy on illegal settlement building fits perfectly with how most Australians feel.
The Israel-right-or-wrong types like Paul Howes and your editorial are out of step, not the Grand Mufti of Australia.
Thank You.
