Poll: Overwhelming majority of Arabs oppose Islamic State group

An overwhelming majority of Arabs reject the ideas and actions of the Islamic State group, a comprehensive poll has found according to results announced on Monday.

The results are consistent with previous findings by the same pollsters.

The poll, conducted by the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, covered 12 Arab countries and involved 18,310 respondents in the period between September and December 2016.

Nearly 89 percent of the respondents had a very negative or somewhat negative view of IS, while 2 percent reported very positive views and 3 percent somewhat positive views.

The poll also surveyed Arabs on their views vis-a-vis the foreign policy of several regional and international states.

Arabs were found to be generally suspicious of the policies of the United States and Russia, as well as France and Israel, according to the head of the public opinion unit at the centre Dr. Mohammed al-Masri.

Arabs perceive the US and Israel as posing a grave threat to the region, he said during a press conference on Monday.

The interesting new development, however, is that the respondents (66 percent) now see Russia as a threat, following its military intervention in Syria and its alleged role in Libya.

"Arabs are greatly disappointed by the policies of regional and international powers on Palestine, Syria and Iraq, and to a lesser degree, on Libya and Yemen," said Masri.

On other issues, the poll found that Arab citizens remain keen on democratic values, and are proud of the Arab Spring wave of uprisings in 2011, perceiving peaceful protests in a positive light.

A majority of respondents said the protests were aimed against dictatorial regimes and corruption, and were in favour of democratic transition, and only 3 percent said the Arab Spring was a conspiracy fuelled by outside powers.

The full results of the poll can be accessed here

Separately, a poll in the Palestinian territories has shown that the vast majority of Palestinians believe President Donald Trump’s policies will lead to more Israeli-Palestinian tensions or to stagnation.

Tuesday’s survey by the Palestinian Center for Policy and Survey Research says only 9 percent believe Trump will be able to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. The survey among 1,270 respondents had an error margin of plus or minus 3 percentage points.

It was published as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hosted Trump envoy Jason Greenblatt to discuss peace efforts. Greenblatt met on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

A US statement says Greenblatt told Netanyahu that Trump hopes to work out an approach to settlement building that is consistent with the U.S. goal of reaching a peace deal. The envoy says Trump is interested in promoting Palestinian economic growth.

(With input from agencies)