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Muslim Doubts on Extremism

(International Herald Tribune) Brian Knowlton - Nearly four years after the Sept. 11 attacks, and with terrorist attacks continuing around the world, a growing number of Muslims say that violence against civilian targets is never justified, a survey conducted by the Pew Global Attitudes Project has found. That figure is highest in Morocco, followed by Indonesia and Turkey, with big majorities rejecting suicide bombing as an acceptable means of defending Islam. A belief that democratic governance would work for the Muslim world has risen sharply. But at the same time, in many Muslim countries, support is strong for a greater Islamic role in national governments. In almost every European country with a Muslim minority, a majority of respondents said they viewed Muslim immigrants as slow to accept and take on local values and customs, and they overwhelmingly viewed a growing sense of Islamic identity among Muslims in their countries as "a bad thing." Still, in Canada, the U.S., and Russia, majorities said they had very or somewhat favorable views of Muslims, as they did in France. Only in the Netherlands did a bare majority hold unfavorable views, as did nearly half of Germans. Polling in most Muslim countries found falling levels of confidence in Osama bin Laden, the leader of al-Qaeda. But in Jordan, confidence rose from 55% two years ago to 60%, and in Pakistan it rose from 45% to 51%. There was near-universal antipathy in the Muslim countries toward Jews.
2005-07-15 00:00:00
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