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Interesting read.
I know this thread is about australian muslims but we seem to be talking in general anyway:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/22/news/pew2.php
I know this thread is about australian muslims but we seem to be talking in general anyway:
http://www.iht.com/articles/2006/06/22/news/pew2.php
For Muslims and the West, antipathy and mistrust
By Meg Bortin International Herald Tribune
Published: June 22, 2006
PARIS Westerners and Muslims around the world have radically different views of world events, and each group tends to view the other as violent, intolerant, and lacking respect for women, according to a new international survey of more than 14,000 people in 13 nations.
In what the Pew Global Attitudes Project called one of the survey's most striking findings, majorities in Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, and Turkey - Muslims countries with fairly strong ties to the United States - said, for example, that they did not believe that Arabs carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
This was just one finding illustrating the chasm in beliefs between the two groups following another year of violence and tension centered around that divide. The past 12 months saw terrorist bombings in London, riots in France by unemployed youths, many of them Muslim, a global uproar over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, and no letup to the war in Iraq.
This led majorities in the United States and in countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East to describe relations as generally bad, Pew found.
Muslims worldwide, including the large Islamic communities in Britain, France, Germany and Spain, broadly blamed the West, while Westerners tended to blame Muslims. Muslims in the Middle East and Asia depicted Westerners as immoral and selfish, while Westerners saw Muslims as fanatical.
The results were not uniform, however, and delivered some surprises:
Support for terrorism declined in some Muslim countries surveyed, dropping dramatically in Jordan, where terrorist bombings killed more than 50 people in Amman in November.
Two-thirds of the French public expressed positive views of Muslims, and even larger majorities of French Muslims felt favorable to Christians and Jews.
Muslims in Europe are less inclined to see a "clash of civilizations" than general publics in Europe and Muslims elsewhere.
Pew conducted the survey, part of Pew's Global Attitude Project for 2006, in April and May in Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the United States.
Pew, which interviewed Muslims in Europe as a group for the first time this year, said their views represented "a bridge" between the widely divergent views of other Europeans and Muslims in Asia and the Middle East.
The overall results, said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, show that "even though relations are not good, there hasn't been a spike in outright hostility between the two groups over the past year." While both sides see relations as bad, he said, "at least it's not getting worse."
Nonetheless, majorities in every country surveyed except Pakistan expressed pessimism about Muslim-Western relations, with Germany most strongly viewing the situation as bad (70 percent), followed by France (66 percent), Turkey (64 percent), Spain and Britain (61 percent), and Egypt (58 percent).
Of those who saw relations as bad, four-fifths in Turkey blamed the West, as did majorities in Indonesia, Jordan, and Egypt. In Nigeria, divisions between Christians and Muslims were sharp on this question, as on others: While 69 percent of Nigerian Christians blamed Muslims for the poor state of relations, 83 percent of Nigerian Muslims blamed Westerners.
In follow-up interviews by the International Herald Tribune, Muslims attributed the poor relations to everything from differing values to the media. But many pointed to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as the main cause and accused the West of double standards on terrorism.
"Whenever the Israelis strike the Palestinians, the international community and the UN turn a blind eye or keep quiet," said Saleh Bayeri, a politician and Muslim community leader in Jos, Nigeria. "But when the Palestinians launch a counterattack, it is condemned by America, the U.K. and other friends of Israel as a terror attack. That is the problem. It shows that the West is biased in dealing with Muslims."
Pew asked respondents to give their opinions of Christians, Muslims, and Jews, and it found anti-Jewish sentiment to be "overwhelming" in the Muslim countries surveyed. It reached 98 percent in Jordan and 97 percent in Egypt.
In the follow-up interviews, some respondents indicated that Muslims saw Jews and Israel as identical. "You see, Muslims generally see Westerners as supporters of the Jews - Israel," Bayeri said. "As a friend of the Jews, you are automatically an enemy in the eyes of most Muslims."
Majorities in the Muslim world, Pew said, also expressed the opinion that the victory of Hamas in Palestinian elections in January would "be helpful to a fair settlement between Israel and the Palestinians - a view that is roundly rejected by non-Muslim publics."
In the follow-up interviews, the U.S.- led war in Iraq, now in its fourth year, was cited by Muslims and Westerners alike as another primary cause of bad relations. Muslims, in comments reflecting historic tensions with Christianity, described Iraq and the Bush administration's war on terrorism as a "crusade" against Islam, while in the West people said that terrorist attacks by Muslims had undermined trust.
European Muslims lined up with European general publics on some issues, indicating that integration might be moving ahead better than recent events would suggest. While Muslims outside Europe generally saw Westerners as violent and immoral, for example, this view was not shared by Muslims in France, Germany and Spain. But British Muslims were highly critical of Westerners, the survey found, holding negative views resembling those of Muslims in Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, and Nigeria.
In Turkey, negative opinions of the West have increased in tandem with opposition across Europe to Turkish admission to the European Union. Only 16 percent of those surveyed in Turkey now hold a positive view of Christians, down from 31 percent in 2004.
Turkey also stood out because of the high percentage now saying they do not believe that Arabs carried out the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Fifty-nine percent express disbelief, up from 43 percent in a Gallup survey in 2002.
Disbelief was equally strong in Egypt, and stronger still in Indonesia (65 percent). Even in Britain, 56 percent of the Muslims surveyed did not believe that Arabs carried out the attacks; only 17 percent said they believed it.
The results, Kohut said, show that "many Muslims are still in denial" about something that even Osama bin Laden has acknowledged.
As for suicide bombings, however, Pew found that support declined over the past year in Pakistan, Indonesia and especially Jordan, where 29 percent now say violence against civilian targets can often or sometimes be justified, down from 57 percent in 2005. Support remained sizable in Turkey, at 17 percent, and even higher in Egypt, at 28 percent.
In Pakistan, where 69 percent now say suicide bombings can never be justified, up from 46 percent last spring, those seeing relations as generally good (30 percent) outnumbered those viewing relations as bad (25 percent), although 39 percent were undecided. In follow-up interviews, people cited the Pakistani government's support of the U.S. war on terror as one reason for the mixed view.
"Many perceive this bond with the West, and America especially, as not just important but necessary," said Reem Khan, a magazine editor based in Lahore. Pakistanis, she said, feel "the alternatives are all much worse and that an alliance with America can yield important economic and societal benefits."
Among Western publics, despite the events of the past year - the London bombings in July, the French riots in November, the cartoon controversy that erupted in January - overall opinions of Muslims remained favorable in Britain, France and the United States, Pew found. In Russia, where the government has claimed successes over rebels in Chechnya, favorable views of Muslims increased over the last two years.
But distrust grew in Germany, where 54 percent now hold unfavorable views of Muslims, and skyrocketed in Spain, with 62 percent holding negative opinions, up from 37 percent last year.
Spanish opinions of Jews also declined sharply, with 45 percent of the public expressing a favorable view, down from 58 percent last spring.
France stood out because of the harmonious views of Muslims and non- Muslims on a range of topics.
Publics in both the West and the Muslim world agreed that Muslim countries should be more prosperous, Pew found, though their views on the reasons for the current situation differed widely. Many in the Muslim world blamed the policies of the West, but others cited corruption among their own governments. In the West, people cited Islamic fundamentalism, inadequate education and lack of democracy.
PARIS Westerners and Muslims around the world have radically different views of world events, and each group tends to view the other as violent, intolerant, and lacking respect for women, according to a new international survey of more than 14,000 people in 13 nations.
In what the Pew Global Attitudes Project called one of the survey's most striking findings, majorities in Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, and Turkey - Muslims countries with fairly strong ties to the United States - said, for example, that they did not believe that Arabs carried out the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on New York and Washington.
This was just one finding illustrating the chasm in beliefs between the two groups following another year of violence and tension centered around that divide. The past 12 months saw terrorist bombings in London, riots in France by unemployed youths, many of them Muslim, a global uproar over Danish cartoons of the Prophet Muhammad, and no letup to the war in Iraq.
This led majorities in the United States and in countries in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East to describe relations as generally bad, Pew found.
Muslims worldwide, including the large Islamic communities in Britain, France, Germany and Spain, broadly blamed the West, while Westerners tended to blame Muslims. Muslims in the Middle East and Asia depicted Westerners as immoral and selfish, while Westerners saw Muslims as fanatical.
The results were not uniform, however, and delivered some surprises:
Support for terrorism declined in some Muslim countries surveyed, dropping dramatically in Jordan, where terrorist bombings killed more than 50 people in Amman in November.
Two-thirds of the French public expressed positive views of Muslims, and even larger majorities of French Muslims felt favorable to Christians and Jews.
Muslims in Europe are less inclined to see a "clash of civilizations" than general publics in Europe and Muslims elsewhere.
Pew conducted the survey, part of Pew's Global Attitude Project for 2006, in April and May in Britain, Egypt, France, Germany, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Nigeria, Pakistan, Russia, Spain, Turkey and the United States.
Pew, which interviewed Muslims in Europe as a group for the first time this year, said their views represented "a bridge" between the widely divergent views of other Europeans and Muslims in Asia and the Middle East.
The overall results, said Andrew Kohut, director of the Pew Research Center, show that "even though relations are not good, there hasn't been a spike in outright hostility between the two groups over the past year." While both sides see relations as bad, he said, "at least it's not getting worse."
Nonetheless, majorities in every country surveyed except Pakistan expressed pessimism about Muslim-Western relations, with Germany most strongly viewing the situation as bad (70 percent), followed by France (66 percent), Turkey (64 percent), Spain and Britain (61 percent), and Egypt (58 percent).
Of those who saw relations as bad, four-fifths in Turkey blamed the West, as did majorities in Indonesia, Jordan, and Egypt. In Nigeria, divisions between Christians and Muslims were sharp on this question, as on others: While 69 percent of Nigerian Christians blamed Muslims for the poor state of relations, 83 percent of Nigerian Muslims blamed Westerners.
In follow-up interviews by the International Herald Tribune, Muslims attributed the poor relations to everything from differing values to the media. But many pointed to the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians as the main cause and accused the West of double standards on terrorism.
"Whenever the Israelis strike the Palestinians, the international community and the UN turn a blind eye or keep quiet," said Saleh Bayeri, a politician and Muslim community leader in Jos, Nigeria. "But when the Palestinians launch a counterattack, it is condemned by America, the U.K. and other friends of Israel as a terror attack. That is the problem. It shows that the West is biased in dealing with Muslims."
Pew asked respondents to give their opinions of Christians, Muslims, and Jews, and it found anti-Jewish sentiment to be "overwhelming" in the Muslim countries surveyed. It reached 98 percent in Jordan and 97 percent in Egypt.
In the follow-up interviews, some respondents indicated that Muslims saw Jews and Israel as identical. "You see, Muslims generally see Westerners as supporters of the Jews - Israel," Bayeri said. "As a friend of the Jews, you are automatically an enemy in the eyes of most Muslims."
Majorities in the Muslim world, Pew said, also expressed the opinion that the victory of Hamas in Palestinian elections in January would "be helpful to a fair settlement between Israel and the Palestinians - a view that is roundly rejected by non-Muslim publics."
In the follow-up interviews, the U.S.- led war in Iraq, now in its fourth year, was cited by Muslims and Westerners alike as another primary cause of bad relations. Muslims, in comments reflecting historic tensions with Christianity, described Iraq and the Bush administration's war on terrorism as a "crusade" against Islam, while in the West people said that terrorist attacks by Muslims had undermined trust.
European Muslims lined up with European general publics on some issues, indicating that integration might be moving ahead better than recent events would suggest. While Muslims outside Europe generally saw Westerners as violent and immoral, for example, this view was not shared by Muslims in France, Germany and Spain. But British Muslims were highly critical of Westerners, the survey found, holding negative views resembling those of Muslims in Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, and Nigeria.
In Turkey, negative opinions of the West have increased in tandem with opposition across Europe to Turkish admission to the European Union. Only 16 percent of those surveyed in Turkey now hold a positive view of Christians, down from 31 percent in 2004.
Turkey also stood out because of the high percentage now saying they do not believe that Arabs carried out the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Fifty-nine percent express disbelief, up from 43 percent in a Gallup survey in 2002.
Disbelief was equally strong in Egypt, and stronger still in Indonesia (65 percent). Even in Britain, 56 percent of the Muslims surveyed did not believe that Arabs carried out the attacks; only 17 percent said they believed it.
The results, Kohut said, show that "many Muslims are still in denial" about something that even Osama bin Laden has acknowledged.
As for suicide bombings, however, Pew found that support declined over the past year in Pakistan, Indonesia and especially Jordan, where 29 percent now say violence against civilian targets can often or sometimes be justified, down from 57 percent in 2005. Support remained sizable in Turkey, at 17 percent, and even higher in Egypt, at 28 percent.
In Pakistan, where 69 percent now say suicide bombings can never be justified, up from 46 percent last spring, those seeing relations as generally good (30 percent) outnumbered those viewing relations as bad (25 percent), although 39 percent were undecided. In follow-up interviews, people cited the Pakistani government's support of the U.S. war on terror as one reason for the mixed view.
"Many perceive this bond with the West, and America especially, as not just important but necessary," said Reem Khan, a magazine editor based in Lahore. Pakistanis, she said, feel "the alternatives are all much worse and that an alliance with America can yield important economic and societal benefits."
Among Western publics, despite the events of the past year - the London bombings in July, the French riots in November, the cartoon controversy that erupted in January - overall opinions of Muslims remained favorable in Britain, France and the United States, Pew found. In Russia, where the government has claimed successes over rebels in Chechnya, favorable views of Muslims increased over the last two years.
But distrust grew in Germany, where 54 percent now hold unfavorable views of Muslims, and skyrocketed in Spain, with 62 percent holding negative opinions, up from 37 percent last year.
Spanish opinions of Jews also declined sharply, with 45 percent of the public expressing a favorable view, down from 58 percent last spring.
France stood out because of the harmonious views of Muslims and non- Muslims on a range of topics.
Publics in both the West and the Muslim world agreed that Muslim countries should be more prosperous, Pew found, though their views on the reasons for the current situation differed widely. Many in the Muslim world blamed the policies of the West, but others cited corruption among their own governments. In the West, people cited Islamic fundamentalism, inadequate education and lack of democracy.
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