Jordan Times
Monday, July 10, 2006
Jordanians see Zarqawi demise as positive development and IAF deputies actions unacceptable
By Alia Shukri Hamzeh
AMMAN — A recent poll has again shown that a majority of Jordanians classify
Hamas and Hizbollah as legitimate resistance organisations, while they regard Al
Qaeda as a terrorist group.
The same poll also revealed that a majority of citizens view the death of Iraq’s
Al Qaeda leader Abu Mussab Zarqawi as a positive development because he was a
terrorist and responsible for the November Amman bombings, and because his death
entailed greater security and stability for Jordanians.
The results of the poll, conducted on a national sample and a public opinion
leaders sample, were released yesterday by the University of Jordan’s Centre for
Strategic Studies (CSS).
Thirty per cent of the national sample felt sad or angry at the demise of
Zarqawi because he was a fighter, a Muslim and an Arab and because he fought
against US occupation of Iraq and was killed by US troops.
Pollsters said the survey showed the negative feeling over Zarqawi’s death was
not based on his ideologies, but rather reflected a reaction to US policies in
the region in general, particularly in Iraq.
“Many oppose US policies and its occupation of Iraq and therefore regard the
fight against the US military as legitimate. But at the same time this does not
mean that these people approve or agree with Zarqawi’s ideologies,” said
pollster Mohammed Masri.
A majority of the opinion leaders’ sample, or 78.8 per cent, viewed Zarqawi’s
death as a negative development because he fought against US occupation. A
quarter, or 25.4 per cent, of respondents from the national sample agreed.
Zarqawi, killed by US troops on June 9, was responsible for the Amman triple
bombings that killed 60 people last November.
According to the CSS poll, a majority of Jordanians considered a condolence call
by four Islamist deputies to Zarqawi’s family was politically unacceptable.
While national sample respondents differed on whether such a visit was socially
or religiously acceptable, opinion leaders said it was neither.
The deputies were condemned for their action and for making statements hailing
Zarqawi. The four MPs are in detention upon orders by the prosecutor general for
investigation over charges of incitement.
Meanwhile, the survey showed that the percentage of respondents who consider
Osama Ben Laden’s Al Qaeda organisation a terrorist group dropped from 48.9 per
cent recorded in December 2005, shortly after the hotel bombings, to 41.1 per
cent in June 2006. Pollsters regard the slight drop or increase in percentages
as statistically insignificant.
The June 18-23 survey also showed that the percentage of respondents from the
national sample who viewed Al Qaeda as a legitimate resistance group increased
to 25 per cent from 20 per cent recorded in 2005. The percentage had dropped
from 66.8 per cent in 2004.
The shift in perception then was linked to public reaction to the Amman attacks.
Pollsters said the attacks had a great impact on citizens’ perception of
terrorist organisations and acts. One of the most important outcomes of the
bombings was the significant drop in the number of Jordanians supporting Ben
Laden’s Al Qaeda, pollsters said.
In addition people were distinguishing between Ben Laden and Zarqawi’s Al Qaeda
in Iraq.
Sunday’s poll also showed that a majority of Jordanians still consider Iraq’s Al
Qaeda to be a terrorist organisation.
According to the survey, 54.3 per cent of the national sample regard the group
in Iraq as terrorist, but that figure is down from 72.2 per cent seven months
ago. It also showed that those who regard the group as a legitimate resistance
movement increased from 6.2 per cent in 2005 to 15.6 per cent as of last month.
Pollsters said the recorded percentages reflect a significant shift in the
perceptions of Jordanians towards the group that operates in Iraq. They said the
shift could be attributed to the several-month span since the Amman bombings
(during which people became less emotionally charged), the increase in US
military operations and the heightened level of violence in Iraq as well as
Zarqawi’s death.
Masri said the survey also revealed that public opinion was variable and changed
its stance on terrorism depending on political developments in the region,
especially in regard to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict as well as the
situation in Iraq. The poll was carried out to gauge public opinion on the issue
of terrorism.
The national sample comprised 1,104 respondents distributed throughout the
Kingdom, and the public opinion leaders sample of 612 respondents divided among
seven groups, including businesspeople, political party leaders, white collar
professionals, members of the media, leaders of professional associations and
trade unions, high ranking officials and university professors. It is the third
such poll by the CSS on terrorism.
Regional developments were also seen by pollsters as major factors influencing
people’s perception of organisations like Hamas and Hizbollah.
The poll noted that despite a slight variation in percentages, the majority of
citizens still classify the two as legitimate resistance groups.
On the national level, the percentage of those who view Hamas as a legitimate
resistance organisation dropped from 73.5 per cent in 2005 to 69.1 per cent in
2006. With Hizbollah, the drop was minor: Those who view the Lebanon-based group
as a legitimate resistance organisation from 63.9 per cent in 2005 to 63.6 per
cent.
As for public opinion leaders, the poll showed only a two percentage point drop
from 84 per cent to 82 per cent of those who view Hamas as a legitimate
resistance organisation.
A similar drop was also evident in regards to Lebanon’s Hizbollah — from 84.2
per cent in 2005 to 82.4 per cent last month.
One observer noted that people’s steady view of Hamas as a legitimate resistance
group was an indication that Jordanians were not swayed by the government’s
accusation in April that members of Hamas had smuggled weapons into the country
and were planning terrorist attacks against certain individuals. The movement
denied the allegations. The announcements strained ties between Jordan and the
new Hamas-led government in Palestine.
The survey also showed a steady stance of public opinion and opinion leaders
regarding Israeli killings of Palestinian civilians in the West Bank and Gaza,
and American forces operations in Iraq. The majority of Jordanians regard these
operations as terrorist acts.
As for Israeli assassinations of Palestinian political leaders in the West Bank
and Gaza, 89.1 per cent of respondents considered the acts to be “terrorist”.
Similarly, 77.3 per cent of respondents still regard US-led armed operations in
Iraq as “terrorist” acts.
With regards to armed military operations carried out against US troops in Iraq,
the majority of Jordanians, or 57.1 per cent termed the attacks as “not
terrorist”.
The poll showed similar results among the public opinion leaders. It said the
Arab-Israeli conflict and the occupation of Iraq had a great impact on shaping
opinions.
The majority of opinion leaders sampled, or 85.1 per cent, said they consider
armed military operations against the US-led allied forces in Iraq to be
non-terrorist acts. However, 89.5 per cent do consider the US-led armed
operations in Iraq a “terrorist” act.
The majority of both samples view the attacks in the US, London, Sharm El Sheikh
and Amman as acts of terrorism.
Pollsters said Jordanians take political factors into account upon estimating
actions and attacks. Political issues such as the Israeli occupation, the
American support for the Israeli occupation, and the American occupation of
Iraq, as well as the British role in the occupation of Iraq were all taken into
consideration when viewing attacks as terrorist or not terrorist.