Britons dislike Israel more than Iran – but North Korea beats them both as most maligned nation | World Defense

Britons dislike Israel more than Iran – but North Korea beats them both as most maligned nation

BLACKEAGLE

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The Chatham House survey showed there has been a surge in negative attitudes towards Israel in the past two years



Britons dislike Israel more than Iran, new research suggests, following a surge in negative attitudes towards the country over the past two years, but North Korea is the most maligned nation outside of Europe.

In a survey conducted by think tank Chatham House on public attitudes towards other countries, 35 per cent of Britons said they felt “especially unfavourably” towards Israel, an increase of 18 per cent since 2012, while people’s unfavourable feelings towards Iran dropped from 45 per cent to 33 per cent.

North Korea beat them both however, with 47 per cent of Britons feeling “especially unfavourable” towards the nation led by Kim Jong-un.


The research, entitled ‘Internationalism or Isolationism? British attitudes towards the UK’s international priorities’ classed the top five least favorable nations as North Korea, Israel, Iran, Pakistan and Nigeria.

It was conducted during August 2014, which the researchers noted was at a time when “Israel was engaged in a military operation in Gaza against Hamas that caused large numbers of civilian casualties”.

The researchers suggested the prominence of this news at the time contributed to the increase in unfavorable feelings towards Israel.

For nations classed within Europe however, Russia was the most disliked at 56 per cent, followed by Ukraine at a significantly lower 23 per cent.

The results come at a time when there has been an increase in overt negativity towards Israel and the country’s president Benjamin Netanyahu.

CNN’s international correspondent quit his long-standing job on the network after he appeared to suggest that "Israeli propaganda" had played a hand in the brutal Charlie Hebdo terror attacks, while in the Philippines anti-Charlie Hebdo protesters held up burned images of Netanyahu and the Israeli flag with the message “Zionist conspiracy”.
Britons dislike Israel more than Iran – but North Korea beats them both as most maligned nation - Home News - UK - The Independent

 

UAE

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I think Europe as whole began to realize the reality of Israel, its it illegal occupation of Palestine, its war crimes and the human right violations committed by Israel. I salute Sweden and Spain for showing positive intention toward Palestine and its People.
 

DK01

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I don't think we Brits consider the two the same in any way shape or form. One is an aggressive, sophisticated killing machine that routinely kills women and children, whilst nurturing one of the most unequal societies in the world now, all in the name of religion/identity. The other is an Islamic republic, with so far no possibilities by which to acquire a nuclear weapon (several governments and the UN have said so as recently as 2010), that funds groups with big social programmes and the sort of reach within their people our western governments can only dream of (thinking Hezbollah here).

While I am not going to sit here and commend them on some of the actions the groups they back have taken, I cannot think of any other nation other than Israel that has kept and continues to hold large parts of another country's population prisoner.

Israel is out on its own, and now its upset its main ally America, the wind of change is blowing and gathering pace. Lets where they are without their American backers.
 

Hedonologist

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As a Brit I agree. At least Iran doesn't try to drag Europe into it's little battle which Israel constantly does. How many people have died for the benefit of Israel, a foreign nation?
 

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I am not surprised North Korea came out top. Public sentiment against North Korea is likely to have been influenced by the publication of a UN report in February 2014 which compared the regime’s systematic crimes against humanity to those of the Nazis.
 

xTinx

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Prior to the Gaza overkill, I'm sure the Britons were mostly neutral and didn't view Israel in a negative way. Things changed when Israel unleashed its true colours in the most devastating way possible. Everyone knew where Iran is coming from but at least it's not masquerading a different face. Israel was like a sheep in wolf's clothing and now everyone sees the country as pure wolf. As for North Korea, they're just plain hideous. I can't come up with enough words to describe the monstrosity that is North Korea.
 

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I am not quite surprised that North Korea tops the list. Testing missiles and weapons give them a bad reputation of being a very dangerous country.
 

DK01

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@ xTinx - Most brits I know have always viewed Israel in a negative way. The UK is a very welcoming nation and as such there are large muslim communities in the cities, meaning some people have Muslim friends. With this in mind, we're able to find out the real occurrences behind Israel's illegal occupation - often we're incredulous about our government's support for this nation.

The gaza overkill did not come as a shock to us, it may have served to reinforce our views of Israel, but the real shock was how nobody did anything as Israel retaliates to stone throwing with artillery fire.
 

Rowe992

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I am not a bit surprised at this result. For years Israel has played the victim and seek sympathy while at the same time they have been aggressive towards the Palestinian people with no regard for innocent women and children. They hide behind the USA like a spoil brat while making trouble and refusing peace deals.
 
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