From the Jerusalem Post:
New public opinion surveys conducted among “opinion elites” in Europe show that support for the Palestinians has fallen precipitously, according to a leading international pollster, Stan Greenberg, who has been briefing Israeli leaders on his findings in the past few days. There has not necessarily been “a rush to Israel” but there has been a “crash” in backing for the Palestinians, he noted.
Greenberg told The Jerusalem Post that the shifts in attitudes reflected in the surveys were so dramatic that he “redid” some of the polls to ensure there had been no error.
He singled out France as the country where attitudes had changed most dramatically. Three years ago, 60 percent of French respondents said they took a side in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and of that 60%, four out of five backed the Palestinians. Today, by contrast, 60% of French respondents did not take a side in the conflict, and support for the Palestinians had dropped by half among those who did express a preference.
Greenberg says that Europeans are moving away from viewing the Israeli-Palestinian conflict through a “post-colonial framework.” It seems safe to assume that if “opinion elites” are turning against the Palestinians, the broader public is already there. I suppose that’s one of the perils of using mass murder as a political strategy.
Meanwhile, in Gaza, gunmen alleged to be from Hamas trashed the offices of Palestine Television:
Gunmen trashed an office of the government-run Palestine Television on Monday in what may be another incident in the struggle for political control of the strife-torn region.
Workers at the station in Gaza said the vandals were members of Hamas, the militant Islamist organization whose elected members now form the Palestinian government. Hamas denied the accusation.
The employees said equipment was smashed and attackers shouted that the station favoured the Fatah faction in its coverage. They said the gunmen shouted: “‘You are collaborators. You are biased. You are dirty people.'”
Two workers at the office, which transmits radio and TV signals, were assaulted.
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