Sunday, September 09, 2012

The bogus poll of James Zogby on the Arab world

This is a scandal.  We have known for years that Mr. Zogby is a propagandist for the UAE: and he has been awarded a show on Abu Dhabi TV, which is watched by 2 people (he included).  But what is hilarious is that he released a poll of Arab attitudes toward Syria.  The poll is clearly cooked by the intelligence branch of one of the regimes of oil and gas.  It claims (in answer to question 3a) that of all the Lebanese people, a mere 1% of Lebanese sympathize with the Asad regime.  This is unbelievable simply because the pro-Syrian regime forces in Lebanon (Amal, Hizbullah, `Awn, Ba`th, SSNP, etc) amount to much more than 1% percent.  Just think of the matter in sectarian terms, especially that Lebanese tend to polarize along sectarian lines.  But you can simply compare the poll with the more comprehensive poll by Pew which says that 96% of all Lebanese Shi`ites have a favorable view of the Asad regime (and Shi`ites in Lebanon constitute at least 35% of the population).  I know that during intense propaganda moments, like the period we are witnessing today, numbers are cooked, polls fabricated, images distorted, and realities invented.  But Mr. Zogby: we know that you are loyal to UAE and are trying your best to serve them, but maybe the number should have been a bit higher, and maybe then we would not have noticed the propaganda ploy.