Monday, August 31, 2009

Who is your enemy? The Lebanese people give the answer

Ad-Duwaliyyah li-l-Ma`lumat asked the Lebanese about their perceptions of the enemy. (The firm is one of the most reliable, in my opinion). Israel won hands down. 93.9% of all Lebanese consider Israel to be the enemy. The US came in second: 64.8% of Lebanese consider the US to be their enemy. As for the most liked foreign states, Qatar came in first: 86.8% of all Lebanese consider Qatar to be a friend. Syria came in second (as a friend of the Lebanese) with 72.3% of respondents. Iran came in third with 68.6%. I was curious to see the breakdown by sectarian affiliation (remember when Grand Mufti, Shimon Peres recently said that Arab Sunnis no more consider Israel to be the enemy because they think of Iran as the enemy), and no surprise (to me at least) there. 89% of Maronite Lebanese consider Israel to be the enemy, while 96.7% of Sunnis consider Israel to be the enemy, and 98.2% of Druzes (and 97.4% of Shi`ites). So the Sunni-Shi`ite divide is not salient when it comes to hostility to Israel. Saudi Arabia was considered a friend by 60% of Lebanese while 31.4% of Lebanese consider it an enemy. As for what constitutes the biggest threat to Lebanon, 48.2% of Lebanese consider Israel to be the source of the biggest threat to Lebanon, while some 5.5% of Lebanese consider the arms of Hizbullah to be the threat. What does all that mean? Simple. The usurping entity is doomed and will be--in historical terms--a mere murderous footnote.