”Islamic Extremism”
Alienates Most in Muslim World
Jim Lobe
WASHINGTON, Jul 14 (IPS) - Concerns about ”Islamic extremism” and disapproval
over violence motivated by it are growing in both Muslim and non-Muslim
countries, according to a major new survey that also found declining support for
Osama bin Laden in most of the Islamic world, with the exception of Jordan and
Pakistan.
The survey, released here Thursday by the Pew Global Attitudes Project (PGAP),
found that large and growing majorities in predominantly Muslim countries --
notably Morocco, Lebanon, Jordan, and Indonesia -- believe that democracy can
work well in their countries and that, Lebanon and Turkey excepted, the greater
role of Islam in public life is a good thing.
Conducted before last week's bombings in London, the survey found that
majorities of the publics in North America and Europe, with the exception of
Germany and the Netherlands, held favourable views of Muslims.
It found that concerns about Islamic extremism -- both domestically and
elsewhere in the world -- were strongest in Russia, India, Spain and Germany,
although they were also intense in France and the Netherlands.
The survey, the subject of a 50-page report entitled ”Islamic Extremism: Common
Concern for Muslim and Western Publics”, covered the results of polling this
spring of some 17,000 respondents in 17 countries around the world, including
the U.S.
PGAP is based in Washington and co-chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State
Madeleine Albright and former U.S. ambassador to the U.N., John Danforth.
An initial report about attitudes towards the United States was released last
month. It found that with the exception of Russia, Indonesia, and India, global
opinion of the U.S. remained at very low levels -- made worse by the re-election
of Pres. George W. Bush last November.
The latest release deals mainly with reaction to Islam and ”Islamic extremism”
both in the Muslim world and outside it. Predominantly Muslim countries surveyed
included Indonesia, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Pakistan and Turkey. Non-Muslim
countries included Britain, Canada, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands,
Poland, Russia, Spain, and the U.S.
Although the survey found widespread concerns about Islamic extremism in all
countries except Lebanon and Jordan, it also found that Muslim and non-Muslim
publics have very different attitudes with regard to the impact of Islam on
their countries.
While most respondents in predominantly Muslim countries voiced concerns that
Islamic extremism can lead to violence, fewer personal freedoms, internal
divisions, and retarded economic development, the balance of opinion was that
Islam is playing a larger political role in their nations, a development that
was welcomed by most. Turkey, where the public was divided about the question,
was the clear exception.
In non-Muslim countries, on the other hand, fears of Islamic extremism were
found to be closely associated with concerns that Muslims living there did not
want to assimilate and were in fact gaining a stronger sense of Islamic identity
-- a development that was viewed especially negatively in France, Germany and
the Netherlands.
The survey also found a divide in the Islamic world on the meaning of ”Islamic
extremism” between those who defined it as the ”violent removal of non-Muslim
influences” and those who saw it as the imposition of strict Shari'ah laws.
Concern about Islamic extremism, however defined, was strongest in Morocco,
Pakistan, and Turkey, and among Christians in Lebanon, while the threat was seen
as negligible in Jordan and among Lebanese Muslims.
Asked what causes Islamic extremism in their country, pluralities in Lebanon and
Jordan cited ”U.S. policies and influence,” while similar pluralities in Morocco
and Pakistan cited ”poverty and the lack of jobs.”
At the same time, the survey found that support for terrorism and other forms of
violence has mostly declined in the Islamic world compared to 2002 when PGAP
first posed the question.
The percentage of respondents who agreed that ”violence against civilians is
often or sometimes justified” fell from 73 percent to 38 percent among Muslim
Lebanese over the three years, from 33 percent to 25 percent in Pakistan, and
from 27 percent to 15 percent in Indonesia. It was static at around 14 percent
in Turkey, although in Jordan, it rose from 43 percent to a majority of 57
percent.
As for bin Laden's status, the survey said it had actually been enhanced between
2003 and 2005 in both Jordan, where 60 percent said they have ”some” or ”a lot”
of confidence in the al Qaeda chief as a world leader, up from 55 percent two
years before, and Pakistan where support grew from 45 percent to 51 percent.
In the other three countries, however, bin Laden's image has fallen, according
to the survey, 23 percentage points in both Indonesia (from 58 percent to 35
percent) and Morocco (from 49 percent to 26 percent); while the percentage of
those expressing confidence in him in Turkey and Lebanon fell to single digits.
The survey also found that public opinion in the West generally held more
favourable views of Muslims than Muslims in the Islamic world held of Christians
and particularly of Jews. The percentage of westerners who said they had a
”very” or ”somewhat” favourable opinion of Muslims varied from a low of 40
percent (Germany) to a high of 72 percent (Britain).
Fifty-eight percent of Jordanians and Indonesians said they had a favourable
view of Christians, an opinion shared by only a third of Moroccans and slightly
more than a fifth of Turks and Pakistanis. Lebanese, 91 percent of whom said
they felt positively about Christians were the exception.
While majorities -- up to 85 percent (the Netherlands) of respondents -- in
North American and European countries said they had a ”very” or ”somewhat”
favourable opinion of Jews, only 18 percent of Turks shared that view, and that
was the highest percentage.
Thirteen percent of Indonesians, eight percent of Moroccans, and five percent of
Pakistanis agreed with that characterisation, while in Jordan and Lebanon
”dislike of Jews is universal,” according to the report, which added that 99
percent of the publics in both countries said they had a ”very unfavourable”
view of Jews.
Similarly, asked which religion was the most violent, large majorities ranging
from 61 percent (Canada) to 88 percent (the Netherlands) of respondents in
non-Muslim countries named Islam, while similar majorities in Islamic countries
named Judaism. The only exception was Turkey, where 46 percent of respondents
cited Christianity, compared to 20 percent who named Judaism.
In India, about six in 10 respondents (61 percent) said they hold a favourable
view of Christians, while among the Hindu majority in India, views of Muslims
are split about evenly at about 43 percent. Jews fare worse, with only 28
percent of Indians voicing favourable opinions.
On the other hand, Chinese respondents rated Jews more favourably (28 percent)
than both Christians (26 percent) and Muslims (20 percent). (END/2005)
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