Helen Thomas passes.

[C0ckney]

yep. it's a sad state of affairs. in the UK labour need around 34-35% for a majority, the tories need around 40% and the liberals need 45% (but would take two thirds of the seats in such an unlikely scenario).

i would expect that few canadian electors would change their votes based on a party's policy towards israel. although i'm just guessing here really.

[Wezil]

Yeah. In a 1st past post system you can play to your base and still win elections.

Our system is truly broken.

Less than 40% will earn you a majority government.

[C0ckney]

around the same as the UK, funnily enough, the base numbers at least. our liberals are fairly critical of israel.

edit: you dans'ed me!

[Wezil]

Conservative base is about 30%. For these people Israel can do no wrong.

Any additional supporters would probably be Liberals.

[C0ckney]

Nope. We do not view Israel negatively by and large. That's why our government can get away with a brain-dead, reactionary policy of unquestioning support for the state.

What is changing is a growing sense that the Palestinians have been getting jobbed, but any informed person is not going to put the blame solely on Israel (although settlements and other issues are on them).

the numbers i posted dealt with people's view of israel and show that by and large, canadians do have a negative one. no doubt there's lots of nuance in there, but those numbers are hard to ignore.

Nope. We don't hold views widely different from Americans, and we are their closest neighbour by history, geography, economics and just about any other measure you wish to use.

well again, i've presented numbers that show that canadians hold different views to americans, when asked the same question, on israel's influence. perhaps a more detailed survey would show something different, but i'm not prepared to take that on trust.

[kentonio]

I'd say pretty much all of them except for Fox.

All the networks are anti-Israel other than Fox? Not sure if serious..

[notyoueither]

it's an interesting contrast as you say. it could well be that canadians view israel negatively, but view the palestinians as worse.

Nope. We do not view Israel negatively by and large. That's why our government can get away with a brain-dead, reactionary policy of unquestioning support for the state.

What is changing is a growing sense that the Palestinians have been getting jobbed, but any informed person is not going to put the blame solely on Israel (although settlements and other issues are on them).

i see your point. however, i think it's a valid question to guage people's views on israel/palestine. it certainly supports my point that americans hold different views on the subject to almost everyone else, including their closest neighbours.

Nope. We don't hold views widely different from Americans, and we are their closest neighbour by history, geography, economics and just about any other measure you wish to use.

[Asher]

Easily the worst thread in weeks.

Glad to see that HC shows himself to be equally on par with the person he celebrates the death of.

[Felch]

Well, ken started out asking if any were reliably anti-Israel "or at least balanced." I don't know of any that are consistently anti-Israel (I mostly see bits and pieces on youtube clips), but I assume that some of the networks keep bias to a minimum.

[DaShi]

Conservatives think that anything that is not heavily slanted toward conservative beliefs is liberally biased. Hence, to them Fox News is "fair and balanced," while CNN is the bastion of liberal propaganda.

[Hauldren Collider]

I'd say pretty much all of them except for Fox.

[Felch]

Which TV networks are reliably anti-Israel?

Who knows? I don't watch TV news.

[Ben Kenobi]

Yeah, that's what happens when you develop your theology by going over the OT in detail, then skimming most of the NT so you can get to the "good parts" in Revelation.

I'm guessing you skipped over St. Paul's ingrafted branches in Romans and parts of Matthew with the Samaritan woman.

[C0ckney]

That's strange given that the current government is hugely pro-Israel and their policies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have the support of half the population.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/nearly-half-canadians-say-ottawas-policy-on-israeli-palestinian-conflict-strikes-right-balance/article554580/

"Almost half of Canadians surveyed (48 per cent) say they believe the federal government’s policy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict “strikes the right balance,” according to a new Focus Canada survey conducted by the Environics Research Group."
Their policy boils down to, essentially, Israel is right.

it's an interesting contrast as you say. it could well be that canadians view israel negatively, but view the palestinians as worse.

BTW, the BBC poll asks if the influence of the country is mainly positive or negative, not whether people support the country. I am pretty supportive of Israel, but if asked that question I'd likely say that Israel's influence has been mainly negative. Would it be better if the Jewish State were in Northern Greenland? Yes. Does it matter? No. Israel is where it is and we'll all have to figure out how to make things work in a way that does not involve millions of Jewish people 'going home.'

i see your point. however, i think it's a valid question to guage people's views on israel/palestine. it certainly supports my point that americans hold different views on the subject to almost everyone else, including their closest neighbours.

[DaShi]

Yeah, obviously. This thread is about Helen Thomas after all.

And the media ran stories about Mel Gibson. I think they've got the anti-Israel stories covered.