Jack Salzman, Cornel West Struggles in the Promised

364 // GARY E. RUBIN
answer or saying they did not know, compared with 14 percent of whites who
gave these answers. 27
Other findings of the 1988 survey show ambivalence toward Israel by both
white and Black respondents. The margin of white respondents agreeing that
Israel is a reliable ally of the United States slipped to only 45 percent to 36 percent
in this poll, while only 33 percent of Black respondents agreed that Israel is
a reliable ally and 40 percent disagreed. On this issue, then, African Americans
raise serious questions about Israel's connection to the United States, but do so at
a time when other Americans are more prone to ask questions about American-
Israel ties as well.
On other items concerning Israel during the difficult time of the Intifada,
white and Black respondents gave almost identical answers. Thus, 29 percent of
whites and 27 percent of Blacks thought Israel's response to the Palestinian uprising
was too harsh, while 12 percent of whites and 10 percent of Blacks rated it as
too lenient. Among white respondents, 31 percent thought the media showed
bias against Israel, and 38 percent felt that it did not, while 26 percent of Blacks
perceived media bias against Israel and 29 percent did not. In sum, some erosion
of support for Israel during the Intifada occurred among both Blacks and whites,
but this trend took place within a context of remaining majority support for Israel
in both populations. 28
The 1988 AJC-Roper Poll also contained an important question on the
salience of this issue to respondents. Asked about their preferred solution to the
problem of Palestinians in the Middle East, small numbers of both Blacks and
whites backed a variety of solutions ranging from Israeli annexation of the West
Bank and Gaza Strip (5 percent of whites and 2 percent of Blacks) to the establishment
of a Palestinian state (8 percent of whites; 7 percent of Blacks). The
majority of both groups, however, had no firm opinion on this matter, with 58
percent of white and 64 percent of Black respondents replying that they did not
know what their preferred solution would be, either because they had not followed
the issue closely (34 percent of whites; 43 percent of Blacks) or because
they were uncertain (25 percent of whites; 21 percent of Blacks). These findings
indicate that Israel is not a relevant enough issue among respondents to generate
firm opinions, reinforcing doubts about how seriously pronouncements on Israel
by visible African Americans are taken among the larger Black population. 29
A follow-up American Jewish Committee—Roper survey in May 1990
confirmed many of the findings of the previous studies and added a new dimension
as well. This survey examined respondents' comparative sympathies not only
between Israel and the Arab states, but between Israel and the Palestinians as
well. Among white respondents, 41 percent expressed greater sympathy with
Israel, 9 percent with the Arab states, 32 percent equally with both or with neither,
and 17 percent said they did not know. Among Blacks, 23 percent indicated
greater sympathy for Israel, 7 percent for the Arab states, 31 percent for both