Hopes of a breakthrough Middle East peace proposal propelled this year’s Arab League Summit into the global media spotlight. During the March summit, which took place in Lebanon, Information International conducted a nation-wide poll in an attempt to gauge public perceptions and expectations on the crucial issues facing Arab nations.

A representative sample of 1,300 people spread proportionately over 6 mohafazas were surveyed, with a gender distribution of 65.7% male and 34.3% female. Those aged between 25-34 years made up the largest percentage of those surveyed at 29% with the 35-44 age group making up 23.2%, ages 18-24 equalling 21.6%, 45-54 year-olds equalling 15.1% and those above 55 years making up 10.3%.

The people surveyed came from a wide variety of professional backgrounds and included teachers, doctors, agricultural workers, drivers, service and sales industry workers, administrative and upper management employees, skilled and unskilled labor, and the military.
Graph 1 illustrates the level of support for the Arab League Summit. 49.2% of those in favor of it believed it would shore up support for the Intifada, while 30.9% said it would grant aid to Lebanon, 16.9% thought it would unify Arab nations and 3% stated other causes.

Those who were against it (19.3%) voiced several reasons for their disapproval: 52.3% believed it would not change anything; 26.4% said it would simply increase people’s anxieties without producing a solution; 11.2% believed it would put an end to the intifada against Israel; 8.3% thought it would intensify divisions between the Arabs; and 1.8% remained undecided.

Concerning attendance at the Summit, the majority of respondents (30.3%) believed that the most prominent absentee would be Libya’s Muammar Qadaffi, followed by 14.9% who thought it would be Saddam Hussein, 11.6% who predicted it would be Yasser Arafat, 9.4% who said Hosni Mubarak and 3.8% who believed no one would be absent.

Topics of concern at this year’s Summit were also broached, with 75.4% of those surveyed believing that leaders would explore the subject of possible war with Iraq, while 10.4% did not. 76.5% also believed that the outcome of a debate on Iraq would be opposed to any military action against the country, whereas 3% said leaders would favor it.

Reaction to any proposals by the Summit to boycott the United States for its position on the Arab-Israeli issue was met with 19.2% of respondents opposed to such a move and 63% in favor of it. Also, 20.2% were against any initiatives to boycott nations willing to relocate their embassies to Jerusalem, whereas 54.8% would favor such initiatives.

In terms of financial aid, 62,4% believed it would be granted to Palestine, 51.6% thought it would be given to Lebanon and 34.9% said Syria would receive aid. In this regard, 9.2% were against aid to Palestine, compared with 79.6% in favor of it; 6.9% were opposed to monetary assistance to Lebanon, while 87.4% were in favor of it; and 21.2% did not want to see aid given to Syria, while 61.7% supported such a move.

Views regrading peace and normalization by Arab states toward Israel in exchange for a complete withdrawal from lands occupied in 1967 did not meet with a highly favorable response, as illustrated in Graph 2.

However, 43.2% of respondents believed the summit would adopt the Saudi plan, while 28% did not, 25.1% replied that they did not know and 3.6% were unconcerned. In the event of the plan being adopted, 43% said they would stay opposed to it, whereas 39.7% would support the summit’s decision, 11.8% remained undecided and 5.5% were unconcerned.

When questioned about an initiative to grant Palestinians in Lebanon citizenship in exchange for an offer by Arab nations to pay off Lebanon’s debt, 81.9% were opposed, 10.3% were in favor and 6% did not know.
The value of the Arab League’s input since it was founded was questioned, with 34.4% finding it fair, 31.6% believing it weak, 18.4% deeming it bad, 9.2% considered it good and 1.5% thinking it was excellent. The question of the United Nation’s role was also posed, with 28.8% finding its performance fair, 27.1% believing it bad, 26% saying it was weak, 9.4% thinking it was good and 4.3% believing it was excellent.

Graph 3 illustrates the general opinion of the United States. Views of the U.S. military presence in Arab nations was also unfavorable, with 71.5% of those surveyed opposed to it, while 7.8% viewed their presence as favorable and 17.3% did not know.

When asked about Arab respect for human rights issues, 45.9% of respondents did not believe Arab nations abide by human rights conventions, 31.9% said they had limited regard for such issues, while 5% strongly believed they adhere to them and 12.4% said they did not know.

Concerning the future of the ‘Arab nation’, 49.8% were not optimistic about it, 34.7% were optimistic to a limited degree, while 5.1% strongly believed in its potential and 8.2% were undecided.

On the question of the most important issue facing Arab nations today, 64.3% considered the Palestinian issue the most critical, followed by 16.3% who believed preserving petroleum is crucial, 10% suggested the defense of Iraq, while 6.1% were unsure and 2.3% remained unconcerned.

Opinions on the primary cause of the Arab world’s problems and current crises were also tallied, with 58.8% placing blame on the presence of Israel. 17.5% indicating the lack of democracy in the region was the main factor, and 8.4% believing the multitude of beliefs and religions was the cause. 5.3% noted an uneven distribution of wealth, 2% considered both the presence of Israel and the multitude of religions combined to be the main reason, 4% were unsure and the remaining 4% were not concerned.

Noting that almost 60% of those surveyed considered the presence of Israel the chief reason for the Arab world’s problems today, the question of how they see relations between the two peoples in the event of peace, was posed. 33.6% replied that they would continue to boycott Israel, 27.6% said relations would be bad, 17.7% believed they would be weak, 9.7% thought they would be okay, 3.3% good and 1.8% said excellent.

Finally, respondents were asked how they view globalization. 47% saw it is a conspiracy, 34.8% said it was one stage in evolution, 15% did not know and 3.2% were unconcerned.