Brad Greenberg picks up on a 9/17 poll of Palestinians showing that they are for McCain by 33 to 30 percent, with a lot not caring. Obama meanwhile has reversed his standing in I/P over the last few months. Israelis were for McCain at first; now they're for Obama. Here's the Palestinian pollster's analysis:
Dr. [Nabil] Kukali indicated in his comments on these results that the modest
support for Mr. Barack Obama could be attributed to his previous
declarations about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that agitated among
the Palestinians a feeling of discontent as he said that "the City of
Jerusalem should remain the capital of Israel and must be kept unified.
And the right of the Palestinians to re-claim Jerusalem should be left
to the negotiations between the two conflict parties". "Mr. Obama
emphasized thereby the legitimate right of Israel to annex the whole
city", Dr. Kukali said.
support for Mr. Barack Obama could be attributed to his previous
declarations about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that agitated among
the Palestinians a feeling of discontent as he said that "the City of
Jerusalem should remain the capital of Israel and must be kept unified.
And the right of the Palestinians to re-claim Jerusalem should be left
to the negotiations between the two conflict parties". "Mr. Obama
emphasized thereby the legitimate right of Israel to annex the whole
city", Dr. Kukali said.
Greenberg says that Obama's retraction of this declaration at AIPAC re Jerusalem in June makes this interpretation dubious. I'm with Kukali. Obama's declaration was calculated and was effective. As even J Street demonstrates, American Jews are for undivided Holy City they've never been to. Hey, Palestinians don't vote.
