Nothing much surprising in the Pew Poll on Westerners and Muslims
Read the results of the poll here, here, and here, and a pdf here. Pew goes on and on splitting various hairs, some of them meaningful, but overall there are not many surprises in the findings, at least to us. Tom Bevan has a good piece on the poll.
We would draw your attention to two points. First,many Muslims living in Western countries believe that there is a conflict between that modern world and the demands of religion. This is consistent with many things we have written on related subjects:
Second, Muslims in general do not think that Arabs carried out 9-11:
It is remarkable that in all countries but one, and mostly by wide margins, Muslims do not think Arabs carried out 9-11. Other data in the poll indicated that many of those surveyed suspected a Jewish plot. It might be of particular note that French Muslims, who had the lowest recorded rate of anti-Semitism (28%), also had the best grip on the reality of 9-11 (voting 48 – 46 that Arabs were responsible), and also were the least likely in the West to see a conflict between religious devotion and modernity. We’re not quite sure what to make of all that, particularly given the widespread riots of last fall and this spring, but it worthy of note.
It is clearly not encouraging that pluralities of Muslims, in Western and Islamic countries alike, apparently have no grip on, or insist on denying, the reality of the 9-11 attacks for which Osama bin Laden himself claimed credit. We really don’t know what to make of that, but it suggests that some people are living in a different, easily manipulated reality.
UPDATE
It is most curious that so many respondents said that Arabs didn’t perpetrate 9-11 when there are so many pictures of Palestinians and others celebrating 9-11 and brandishing pictures of Osama bin Laden at that time. Here is a video of Palestinian celebrations of 9-11.
June 23rd, 2006 at 4:13 pm
Unbelievable about their thinking Muslims were not responsible for 9/11. Weren’t these the same people that were dancing in the streets and celebrating their “bravery” when it happened? Are they capable of this much cognitive dissonance? Aghghgh /rant.