Neoconversatives rejoice: Poll says East Jerusalemites prefer Israel

According to a recently released poll conducted earlier this year by the Pechter Middle East Polls in conjunction with the Council on Foreign Relations, a majority of East Jerusalem Palestinians would prefer Israeli citizenship if a Palestinian state is declared. That some Palestinians would choose Israeli citizenship over Palestinian has long been a talking point of neoconversative pundits who rally against any regime maintained by Palestinian Muslims in the West Bank. They often argue that Israel can’t possibily be that bad towards the Palestinians if they would abandon their own national aspirations to live in the Jewish state. They are wrong.

The poll likely reflects a narrow class of Palestinians who benefit directly from Israeli rule (taxi cab drivers, those connected to the Israeli tourism industry, etc). It is not reflective of the people of Silwan, for example, who live under an Israeli regime of unequal distrrubition of resources.

Read the report here. Read the full results here (PDF).

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