Caitlin Corbett

LIS 5970
12/8/2014

Final Project
In my proposal, I indicated my intent to analyze and compile data sets related to Middle
Eastern affairs. My focus would be the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian
territories. Events such as the United States activities in the region and diplomatic investments
have certainly played a role in the opinions of the people on the ground, in both areas. And I
have been curious to take a look at the numbers appearing in miscellaneous foreign policy
articles myself. What I discovered fairly quickly was the overwhelming nature of international
polling data, with questions and topics ranging from the broad to the most granular. In response
to this, I adjusted my approach and worked to isolate what I thought were useful data sets
despite not being exhaustive. And my beautiful question is what opinion polling in the two areas
can say, if anything, about cause for optimism in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Optimism must
be fueled and nurtured by the people. And the numbers I have scrutinized point to polarized
standpoints, but an also very common sense of concern and pessimism. Perhaps most easily
seen is the lasting influence of the historical events and circumstances that have since kindled
the mistrust and hostility.
My beautiful question, as it were, transformed slightly and took on different shapes as I
dove into various sources. This is because of the necessity to grapple with particular data sets,
while noting trends where detectable. Pew Research is well-known and prolific with their
international polling as well as their domestic, and there is quite a bit to assess. And I did need to

filter and sort through survey compilations until I could locate the chunks I was most eager to
work with.
Unfortunately, one of the survey questions I utilized from Pew Research, which dealt
with satisfaction with national condition, did not have data available for the past decade in its
entirety. However, I still utilized it because I am truly aiming for something more akin to trend
observation, rather than scrutiny of every year. For instance, the stark difference in base
percentages between Israel and Palestines satisfaction with their national condition struck me,
though context and acknowledgement of historical implications rendered it unsurprising. Also,
the pessimistic shift (of both) evident in the Spring 2014 coexistence surveys numbers is also not
unexpected, given the events of the summer. Spring of this year was, as we know, the season
just before Israel launched their most recent Gaza offensive. I will be very interested to look at
data sets pertaining to that specific period as they become more widely available. A correlation
between dire events and an active decline in optimism is to be expected, but pulling in the
context is helpful and insightful.
And that is precisely why I also chose to feature a timeline for my little project as well.
While numbers and raw data are very important, they derive their greatest meaning from
context such as history and politics. Although I did not extend the date coverage all of the way
through to present day, I did want to include some of the earliest parts of the story. Many
people are not aware of the World War I and II ties to the contemporary problem, and I think it
helps give the data added weight. My timeline is viewable here: http://www.tikitoki.com/timeline/entry/384259/Unyielding-Conflict-Israel-Palestine/. My charts follow the lists
below. My project is not expansive, at least not currently. But it has served as a jumping off place
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for someone who seeks to continue analysis of public sentiment and associated trends in a
region so troubled.

Tools

Plotly: for graph generation

iCharts: for graph generation
Tiki-Toki: for timeline generation

Sources

Pew Research Global Attitudes Project: http://www.pewglobal.org/category/datasets/

CNN: http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/10/world/meast/israel-gaza-timeline/

Council on Foreign Relations: http://www.cfr.org/israel/crisis-guide-israeli-palestinianconflict/p13850

BBC News: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/middle_east/03/v3_ip_timeline/html/

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Please note Pews coexistence surveys question was the following: Do you think a way can be found
for Israel and an independent Palestinian state to coexist peacefully with each other, or not?

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