Days before President Obama is set to visit Israel the AP reports that Palestinians have vandalized a banner with his picture put up in Bethelem. The banner was hung by activists noting the lack of 3G availability in the West Bank.
The Palestinians tore down the banner, hurled shoes at it and spray painted it with swastikas. Associated Press TV video showed a taxi driving over the banner before it was set on fire in the West Bank town of Bethlehem on Monday.
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The Palestinians have long felt aggrieved by the U.S., accusing it of being biased toward Israel.
Coincidentally,
ABC OTUS News released today a poll of Americans finding many more sympathize with Israel over the PA.
Fifty-five percent in this ABC News/Washington Post poll sympathize more with Israel, vs. 9 percent who side more with the Palestinian Authority, with the rest favoring neither, or undecided. It's been a similar gap for many years, including polling back to the 1980s testing Israel vs. the Arab nations of the Middle East.
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Despite that preference for Israel, seven in 10 want the U.S. largely to leave resolving the conflict to the Israelis and Palestinians themselves - a result that underscores the difficulties in finding a solution to the decades-old conflict. Preference for the United States to eschew a leading role is 15 percentage points higher than the last time it was asked in an ABC/Post poll, during an outbreak of violence between the two sides nearly 11 years ago.
Even among those who are more sympathetic to one side or the other, regardless of which side it is, about two-thirds don't want the U.S. to take the leading role. That preference rises to about three-quarters of those who don't favor either side.
In another expression of support for Israel, more Americans say the Obama administration has put too little pressure on the Palestinian Authority than too much pressure - 34 vs. 8 percent. They split about evenly, by contrast, on whether the administration has put too much or too little pressure on Israel. About four in 10, meanwhile, think the U.S. has appropriately pressured each side in the conflict.
A coincidence indeed in the reporting but is it a coincidence that gives any light as to why American positions have changed over the last decade or so regarding our involvement in the ME peace process?
Perhaps.
Perhaps not.