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The hijacking of a TWA plane by Arab terrorists on June 14, 1985 is the focus of this survey. Respondents were asked if they approved of Ronald Reagan's handling of the hostage situation, if the United States should be negotiating for the release of the hostages, and if the United States should request Israel to meet the terrorists' demands for the release of Shiite Moslems being held prisoner. Other questions posed include whether the United States should reduce its ties to Israel and whether military action should be undertaken against terrorism in the Middle East even if it risks a larger war. An assessment of the actions of the Israeli government also is provided. Demographic characteristics are included as well.

This survey was conducted following the release of the hostages taken during the hijacking of a TWA flight by Arab terrorists on June 14, 1985. Respondents were asked if they approved of Ronald Reagan's handling of the situation and whether they agreed with the following statements: the United States was largely to blame for not having dealt firmly enough with terrorists in the past, ties to Israel should be reduced, military action should be taken against those responsible for the hijacking, the handling of the situation will help to reduce similar occurrences in the future, and Israel helped as much as it could with the situation. Respondents were also asked to assess more specifically Reagan's actions and the media coverage of the interviews with the hostages while they were still being held.

This data collection is part of a continuing series of monthly surveys that evaluate the Bush presidency and solicit opinions on a variety of political and social issues. Demographic information collected includes sex, age, race, education, family income, religion, ethnicity, political orientation, party preference, and voting behavior. Issues addressed in this survey include the biggest threat to the respondent's way of life in 1991, Bush's handling of the economy and Iraq's invasion of Kuwait, whether the United States did the right thing by sending troops to Saudi Arabia and whether Bush explained the situation in the Middle East well enough so that people understood why troops were sent, whether the United States would end up fighting Iraq or resolving the situation peacefully, whether the Bush Administration had tried hard enough to reach a diplomatic solution or had been too quick to involve American military forces, and whether the United States should negotiate a compromise with Saddam Hussein or hold to its original demand that Iraq leave Kuwait entirely. Respondents were also asked whether they thought Iraq would actually release all the hostages by the end of the month and if their release should influence the United States' willingness to negotiate a compromise with Hussein, whether the United States should begin military actions against Iraq if they did not withdraw their troops from Kuwait by January 15 or wait longer to see if economic sanctions worked, and how long the United States should wait to see if the trade embargo worked. Respondents were also queried as to their agreement/disagreement with the following statements: the troubles among Iraq, Kuwait, and Saudi Arabia are just a conflict between different groups of Arabs that the United States should stay out of, the crisis in the Persian Gulf will continue as long as Saddam Hussein remains in power, public debate over whether the United States should fight Iraq will hurt the effort to persuade Iraq to withdraw from Kuwait, and the military draft should be reinstated to provide soldiers for the current Mideast situation. Those surveyed were also asked to choose a statement that comes closest to expressing their beliefs about God, to indicate whether they believed that prayer could change lives, and whether they went to a private doctor, hospital emergency room, or clinic when sick. In addition, the survey posed a series of questions related to responsibilities of adult children toward aging parents, various parenting situations, romantic love, birth control, beer commercials, sponsorship of sporting events by cigarette companies, marital infidelity, marital status, apologizing in marriage, and topics eliciting arguments in marriage.

This survey of New York City residents centers on the June 14, 1985 hijacking of a TWA plane by Arab terrorists. Respondents were asked if they approved of Ronald Reagan's handling of the hostage situation, if the United States should be negotiating for the release of the hostages, and if the United States should request Israel to meet the terrorists' demands for the release of Shiite Moslems being held prisoner. Other questions posed include whether the United States should reduce its ties to Israel and whether military action should be undertaken against terrorism in the Middle East even if it risks a larger war. An assessment of the actions of the Israeli government also is provided. Demographic characteristics are included as well.

This survey of New York City residents centers on the 1985 cruise ship hijacking in which one American passenger was killed. Respondents were asked if they approved of the handling of the situation by President Reagan and the Egyptian government, if the United States should attempt to seize the hijackers in order to bring them to justice, and if they thought Egypt knew an American had been killed before agreeing to release the hijackers. Other questions posed include whether the United States should cut aid to Egypt, reduce its ties to Israel, have diplomatic talks with the Palestine Liberation Organization, withhold aid to countries refusing to hand over terrorists, take military action against terrorism in the Middle East, and negotiate for the release of Americans taken hostage. Demographic characteristics of respondents also were recorded.