This poll from Gallup is based on a huge worldwide sample:
One of the largest-ever opinion polls conducted in the Islamic world found that seven percent of Muslims condoned the Sep 11, 2001, attacks on the US, but none of them gave religious justification for their beliefs, according to the figures released Tuesday.
The Gallup organisation’s poll of some 50,000 people in over 35 predominantly Muslim countries found that what motivated those considered “politically radicalised” was their fear of occupation by the West and the US, though most even admired and hoped for democratic principles.
“Politics, not piety, differentiate moderates from radicals” in the Islamic world, said Dalia Mogahed, executive director of the Gallup Center for Muslim studies. “Terrorism sympathisers don’t hate our freedom, they want our freedom.”
The overwhelming majority of Muslims - 93 percent - condemned the Sep 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington, and most said the biggest obstacle to better relations with the West was the latter’s lack of respect for Islam.
It is advantageous to George Bush and the fear-mongers who run our government to ascribe the terror attacks to the Muslim religion. The reality is, Osama bin Laden and his ilk are conservative political extremists who, like rightwing extremists in the United States, justify their hate-filled political agenda with narrow, self-serving interpretations of mainstream religion beliefs.
“conservative extremists ” Does any one else not find that a bit contradictory ?
No, it isn’t contradictory. “Conservative” and “liberal” are opposite ends of the ideological spectrum. Both have their extremes. American conservative extremists include Timothy McVeigh, Eric Alan Rudolph, Ann Coulter and members of the Klan, Aryan Nation and the militias, for example.
People in America need to talk one to one with people from the Middle East. Only by doing so will they understand that these people are just like us. They work, have families, have bills, just like we do. It’s only by talking will we be able to bridge this awful gap.
You are absolutely right on that this is the work of rightwing extremists who have hijacked the religion of a billion people to carry out their agenda of power, control and hate. In the US we have seen the horrific consequences to our economy, environment and standing in the world of Dopey George, Devious Dick and the BBAKs (that’s the Blundering Buffoons and America Killers - the US equivalent of the Taliban). In a different situation, they would have been tried for treason.
George Bush and his cadre are definitely trying to cast all Muslims in a negative light. I’m not suggesting you subject yourself to watching Fox News, but if you do, you will notice a pattern. If I hear the word “islamofacist” one more time I think I’ll be ill. Repetition is like water to these guys. They cannot live without it.
This ties in directly with the current whisper campaign by the Republicans against Obama. They cannot say he’s a Muslim in their campaign speeches, because it’s not true. They can however, send emails to their constituents claiming Obama’s Muslim, who then forward those emails endlessly around the net. Just so they can put a little fear into the religious rightwing base in an attempt to get them to get out and vote.
Very similar to what they did to McCain in 2000.
Thank you for doing this poll whom ever you guys are! - From a Muslim American
This is genuinely enlightening, so thank you for this post. However, I still have a hard time viewing Islam in a positive light when I see the reactions to the cartoons published in the Danish newspaper, or when a nation like Pakistan takes YouTube out of commission because it doesn’t like certain videos. Any religion that is not strong enough to stand up to criticism, satire, or parody without threatening holy war or murder must be a pretty weak religion.
Right. So because some people responded to the cartoons in a negative fashion, the entire religion is weak. C’mon even a two year-old sees the holes in that.
Gee only 7% of peace loving Muslim think it’s ok to fly hijacked airliners into American office buildings full of civilians. How many Americans would think it’s ok to hijack an Arab airliner and crash it into a mosque on Ramadan. Where are imans who are opposed to terrorism? Where are the Arabs trying to stop terrorist teaching in the schools and madras’. Suppose we taught all of our children to hate all Muslims as part of their curriculum. We haven’t even asked about Israel and it’s right to exist. The Muslims of the world should step up and solve their problems before they blame us! Try some birthcontrol, a bit of democracy, a rejection of radicalism, a belief in the sanctity of life. Then tell me what those 93% believe.
amen, sk. what a great point - it is not amazing that 93% didn’t approve - it is amazing that 7% did approve of flying planes into buildings and killing thousands of innocent people as acceptable political discourse…
This means that out of a billion muslims, potentially 70 million people think that 9/11 was cool as long as it wasn’t done for “religious reasons”. People are OK with this?
This all presupposes that Muslims perpetrated 9/11, which the evidence overwhelmingly contradicts.
See here
http://home.comcast.net/~plutarch/911.html
These results seem highly unlikely. Watch memritv.com if you’d like to see what they watch on TV over there. I was especially charmed by the children’s shows that advocate jihad and martyrdom.
Recent Pew polls seem to say just the opposit:
http://people-press.org/reports/pdf/206.pdf
So who is right then?
The only reason I lean toward the Pew poll is that the statement that %0 said they approve on the grounds of religion is totally unrealistic.
This is either a phony report or the poll itself is phony. For all we know they surveyed 50,000 educated, americanized Persians and Pakistanis in Southern California.
Considering that around 27% of Americans think killing close to a million muslims in Iraq is cool, this poll shows a good deal of restraint on their part.
Yeah, Gallup may be the oldest and most respected American pollsters but I’m sure they’re in the bag for terrorists and so would release a phony poll like this. That would explain why they claimed to poll Muslims worldwide but only polled Iranian-Americans in Beverly Hills.
And those terrorist-propaganda TV shows prove that all Muslims are terrorists just like Fox News (with a viewership of a couple hundred thousand a day) proves that all 300 million Americans are brainless mouth-breathing rightwingers.
This poll is probably a liberal conspiracy because, you know, leftwingers are all about helping rightwing terrorists like al Qaeda.
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@ sk and jr
You both seem to have a problem with the fact that 7% of Muslims support the act of 9/11. You incorrectly state that no such numbers of Americans would support similar acts in Muslim countries.
Far more Americans than that, you pair included I venture to guess, support the violent deaths of millions of Iraqis and other Muslims on the basis of lies and farcical fables. Is there something more honorable or more humane or democratic about US bullets or US bombs dropped from the safety of the clouds and desperate acts of sabotage with their own lives to pay is there? I think if there is any difference morally it has to go with the poor and downtrodden, the abused and oppressed who fight back against US and Israeli predations with all they have left. As can be further implied by this poll, those who fight Israel and the US, do so not on religious grounds but for freedom and their land.
Having made the point I would hasten to add, that I like the majority of people these days and certainly all those with a modicum of intelligence, honesty and enough curiosity to find out, know that 9/11 was an inside job.
Yes Rabbit, any thinking individual with an average amount of intelligent understands 911=inside job. It’s an ugly thing to believe but the evidence is overwhelming and obvious.