Palestinian–American Opinion: Enviable Unanimity

By Fouad Moughrabi

Several major American newspapers have, on occasion, carried profiles of Palestinian Americans in an attempt to discover where they stand on the various issues that divide Israel and the Palestinians. Perhaps the best and the most exhaustive has been the series done by Kathleen Christison for the Christian Science Monitor (Oct. 7, 14, 21, and 28, 1988).

Christison discovers a community with a keen political consciousness, a high level of education and a stable sense of national identity. The majority of Palestinian Americans opt for an independent Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza, although some still long to return to the villages and homes from which they or their parents were driven in 1948. The majority is active in the American political system in higher numbers than their non-Arab fellow citizens. And they value the experience of democracy gained by living in the United States and hope to transfer this to the new Palestinian state upon their return.

"They are vocal and influential," says Christison, "well plugged into the populace of the West Bank and Gaza and well represented in international Palestinian organizations." She concludes that of Palestinians interviewed in six US cities, all but a few accept Israel as an enduring reality. They are usually highly educated and professional. Their participation in American political life is much higher than average. They are an exile community but seem to be well adjusted to life in the United States. Nonetheless, they are usually troubled by the attitude of the American government toward the Near East and its failure to play a more constructive role in peacemaking. They can understand America's commitment to Israel, but they cannot understand its refusal to recognize the rights of the Palestinians at the same time to equality and nationhood.

These findings are confirmed in a recent public opinion survey of Palestinian Americans conducted by Ms. Pat El-Nazer, an honors student in international affairs at Kennesaw College, north of Atlanta, Georgia. To my knowledge this is the first major empirical survey of Palestinian opinion in the United States. It represents a solid beginning and provides a data base that future surveys simply cannot ignore. Professor B.E. Hale of Kennesaw College and I helped supervise this project.

A total of 240 questionnaires were completed between July 10 and Sept. 20, 1988. The survey asked questions dealing with the following areas: levels of support for the Palestine Liberation Organization; extent of active support; attitudes toward various scenarios for a settlement; views of America's role in the region; and political aspirations for the future. This survey found that 96.6 percent of the respondents agreed or strongly agreed that the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people.

Moreover, Yasser Arafat emerged as the uncontested leader of choice among Palestinians residing in the United States. Nearly 63 percent chose Arafat and only 13.3 percent chose George Habash, head of the Marxist-oriented Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, generally described as a "rejectionist" and identified in the late 1960s and early 1970s with "international terrorism." The rest of the US respondents selected a variety of names. Similarly, a 1986 survey done by the Palestinian newspaper Al- Fajr, of Jerusalem, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, and Newsday discovered that 93.5 percent of West Bank Palestinians also agreed with the statement that the PLO is the sole legitimate representative of the Palestinian people. The Al-Fajr survey discovered 71.1 percent support for Arafat in the West Bank.

Respondents in the United States were further asked whether they favor political negotiations, civil disobedience, or armed struggle as a method of resolving the Palestine problem. Nearly 40 percent ranked political negotiations as most important, 30 percent ranked civil disobedience as most important, and another 30 percent chose armed struggle. At the same time, 19.2 percent chose political negotiations as the second most important method, 38.5 percent chose civil disobedience, and 12.1 percent chose armed struggle. In other words, the majority chose either political negotiations or civil disobedience.

Asked if they thought "the PLO is a democratic organization which allows the Palestinians to influence policy," 85.1 percent of respondents agreed. An even higher 86.9 percent agreed that the "PLO as an umbrella organization represents their views." High as these figures are, they still represent a 10 percent lower approval figure than the astonishing 96.6 percent of Palestinians who agreed that the PLO represents the Palestinian people. Upon closer examination, one discovers that as the level of education increases, the number of respondents who think the PLO represents their views or that it is a democratic organization tends to increase. Furthermore, the core support for the PLO appears to reside among those who consider themselves political moderates. Respondents who describe themselves as either on the political right (such as Muslim fundamentalists) or on the left (Marxist-Leninists) tend to show higher disaffection with PLO policies.

The majority of US respondents (60.8 percent) prefer an international conference with all members of the United Nations Security Council as well as full participation by an independent PLO delegation. Only 6.7 percent prefer a conference with a Jordanian-Palestinian delegation, while some 21.3 percent chose direct negotiations between the PLO and Israel, mediated by the United States.

US Role in an International Conference

The majority of Palestinian respondents (73 percent) think the United States "has an important role to play in solving the Palestinian problem." However, 89.7 percent agree that "American policy has had a negative impact in solving the Palestine problem." Thus, most respondents feel that the US can play a role in the resolution of the conflict, but that its policies so far have been negative. This survey was conducted long before the U.S. decided to open a dialogue with the PLO.

Asked if "they would extend to a member of the Jewish faith Palestinian nationality and equal political rights in any future Palestinian state," more than three quarters (77.3 percent) agree, some 12.4 percent disagree, and 10.3 percent do not know. Additionally, 65.5 percent say they would return to live in a new state of Palestine, 19.4 percent say they do not plan to return but would like to keep the option open; 3.4 percent do not plan to return at all; and 11.2 percent do not know.

The majority of respondents (60.8 percent) think the city of Jerusalem should be returned to Arab sovereignty. Another 23.7 percent think it should be internationalized in accordance with the United Nations plan of 1947; and 14.7 percent think it should be the capital of the state of Israel and of the Palestinian state.

The following profile of the Palestinian-American community emerged from this study: Nearly 40 percent are college graduates and some 22 percent are college students. Nearly 58 percent of those who are naturalized US citizens vote in American elections. The vast majority think the PLO represents the Palestinian people and Arafat is their leader of choice. They opt for an international conference, with PLO participation, whose purpose is to bring about a two-state solution to the conflict. The majority thinks the PLO is responsive to its political opinions and prefers a democratic Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital. Most Palestinian respondents say they are willing to return to a new state of Palestine and are willing to give members of the Jewish faith equal rights and nationality in this state.

Fouad Moughrabi, a professor of political science at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, is co-author of Public Opinion and the Palestine Question.