[lbo-talk] Half of Russians blame Israel, U.S. for Mideast conflict - survey

[Chris Doss]

No surprise here.

Half of Russians blame Israel, U.S. for Mideast
conflict - survey

MOSCOW, August 1 (RIA Novosti) - Almost half of
Russians questioned in a nationwide survey blame
Israel and the United States for the ongoing violence
in the Middle East, a pollster said Tuesday.

The conflict between Israel and Lebanese militant
group Hizbollah, raging for almost three weeks, has
left more than 700 Lebanese civilians dead, and taken
the lives of over 50 Israelis. More than 100
Palestinians have been killed in Israeli air strikes
and military incursions in the Gaza Strip over the
past month.

The All-Russian Center for Public Opinion Study said
that 23% of respondents blamed Israel for the
beginning of the violence, while other 21% blamed the
United States and Israel's other allies.

The poll showed that 14% and 13% blamed Islamic
militant groups Hizbollah and Hamas respectively for
the conflict, 5% blamed "Iran, Syria and other
sponsors of terrorist organizations in the Middle
East," and 4% said the government of Lebanon was
responsible for the conflict.

Twenty-eight percent of respondents said both sides in
the conflict were equally responsible for the current
situation.

The pollster also said 43% of respondents believed
Russia should not interfere in the Middle East
conflict, and the majority, 70%, said Russian
peacekeepers should not enter the conflict zone.

Thirty-eight percent of respondents said Russia should
continue acting as an independent mediator in the
conflict, while 11% said Russia should support one of
the conflicting sides.

The poll was carried out on July 22-23 in 153 cities
and towns in 46 regions across Russia. Pollsters
questioned 1,600 respondents, and the survey has an
error margin of 3.4%.


Lyubo, bratsy, lyubo, lyubo, bratsy, zhit!

ËÞÁÎ, ÁÐÀÒÖÛ, ËÞÁÎ, ËÞÁÎ, ÁÐÀÒÖÛ, ÆÈÒÜ!

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