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| Britain |
| 1 in 10 British Muslims back terrorist attacks |
| 2004-03-15 |
| More than one in 10 British Muslims back al Qaida-style terror strikes on the United States, a poll has revealed. In the run up to the anniversary of war in Iraq, more condemned the recent Gulf conflict than attacks on America. And almost half said they might consider becoming a suicide bomber if they lived as a Palestinian. An overwhelming 80% say Britain and the US should not have launched the invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein. That is significantly higher than the 73% opposed to terrorist strikes on the US, according to the ICM survey for The Guardian. Attacks on the US by al Qaida or other groups were viewed as justified by 13% of the 500 British Muslims questioned. Another 15% said they did not know whether the such attacks are wrong or right. Far fewer, 10%, said Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George Bush were right to go to war. Liberal Democrat MP Jenny Tonge provoked fury when she said that despite condemning violence living as a Palestinian could have driven her to become a suicide bomber. However, 47% of Muslims agreed compared with just 15% of all of those questioned. Ms Tongeâs comments were rejected by 43% of Muslims and 78% of all voters. Continuing Islamic hostility to the war is costing Mr Blair support at the polls. Backing for Labour among British Muslims has slipped from 75% at the last election to just 38%, the poll showed. However, overall the party remains ahead on 37% despite a fall of one point on last month. Conservatives are up one on 35% while the Liberal Democrats remain on 21%. The Muslim Council of Britain said the poll shows most British Muslims âabhorâ terror attacks. And if a minority believe the US deserves to suffer more such attacks, that shows the US is losing trust. Iqbal Sacranie, general secretary of the council, said the poll results surprised him, particularly the 13% who feel further attacks on the US would be justified. And he stressed most of the people polled were questioned before the terror attacks in Spain. âMy gut feeling is that the poll is not right or fair,â added Mr Sacranie. âThe 13% reflects emotions are running high. But the percentage of Muslims that would support attacks when they are taking place would be much much lower.â He said: âBritish Muslims are much more frustrated than the general population with US foreign policy. At the end of the day itâs a Muslim population around the world on the receiving end of trouble and bias in terms of US policy.â One of Britainâs most radical Muslim leaders said he believed the majority of Muslims in the UK supported al Qaida-style terror attacks on the United States. Sheikh Omar Bakri Muhammad, who heads the London-based group Al-Muhajiroun, said British Muslims were afraid to voice their real feelings about the coalition war in Iraq. And he claimed that far more were pro-Osama bin Laden than really admitted. âI am sure the real figure who support al Qaida is much higher than one in 10. Since the introduction of the new anti-terrorism laws, Muslims are terrified to speak their minds. I believe it is the majority of Muslims in the West who support al Qaida. This is beyond doubt. The role of the suicide bomber in Palestine is a noble one â to fight for freedom for his people and become a martyr. Why is it strange for Muslims to want to be part of this?â |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #19 Bulldog, homogenous rooting for the home team makes for a dull match, anyway. No Red Sox home game would be complete without 5,000 plus Yankees fans. |
| Posted by: Super Hose 2004-3-15 8:54:30 PM |
| #18 Only 1 in 10? Damn, I'm impressed! I would have guessed 9 in 10. |
| Posted by: Barbara Skolaut 2004-3-15 6:21:50 PM |
| #17 half of Los Angeles would be deported to Mexico after the next soccer game. Ed, you say that as if it were a bad thing... |
| Posted by: Old Patriot 2004-3-15 3:03:14 PM |
| #16 It this is the case, half of Los Angeles would be deported to Mexico after the next soccer game. Half? How about 5/8? Or 3/4? |
| Posted by: Bomb-a-rama 2004-3-15 11:09:15 AM |
| #15 And we all know what was found when they raided Finsbury Park Mosque. All the necessaries for the Mulsim sacraments - fake credit cards & passports, CS gas, baseball bats etc etc.. Get rid of the extremists and we may achieve true assimilation. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-3-15 10:36:39 AM |
| #14 hey its not just the homes of the Paks thier allowed to keep thier explosives, you forgot Mosques too,watch out for the 'scud' shaped minarete (tower thing) on it. :) |
| Posted by: Jon Shep U.K 2004-3-15 10:28:16 AM |
| #13 Having said that, when they discovered the ready-to-blow suicide bomber in Gloucester, it seemed that the entire Pak community there came out to protest about police racism. Very misguided behaviour methinks. No wonder your average Brit is paranoid wheen you see them so vociferously protesting their right to have high explosives around the home! |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-3-15 10:08:31 AM |
| #12 Hear hear.. quite agree. Whilst the majority of my Muslim friends and colleagues are perfectly well adjusted people as defined above, it seems some have mighty dubious views about 9/11 though, and we certainly should irradicate scum like Hamza and Bhakri Mohamed (Al-Muj) overnight. Things will get better in time I am sure, but there could be a bomb next week... |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-3-15 9:41:48 AM |
| #11 Well, I'd call this fairly unsurprising, and not bad news. An overwhelming majority of British Muslims oppose terrorist acts in the USA. An overwhelming majority of the general population do too. But not all. There was a time when a significant minority of Americans were supportive of IRA terrorism. There's a scummy and/or unthinking element in every community and every sector of society. Of the Muslims I know, none would condone terrorism, and not because, according to Sheikh Nutjob, they are "terrified to speak their minds". A vastly disproportionate number are medical doctors, one's a teacher, one's an agricultural research consultant. Two have served in the Territorial Army. When I go to a Muslim wedding in a month's time, I won't be telling other guests and relatives that they should think about moving out of the country any time soon. Besides, as far as I'm concerned, dynamic is more important than a snapshot of opinions like this. How well are Muslims integrating with society, with time? Do the younger generation socialise with non-Muslims? Yes. Drink? Yes. Too much, sometimes? Yes. Intermarry? Act as bridesmaids at Anglo-Jewish Church of England wedding ceremonies?! Yes. Take the Koran less seriously than their parents? Yes. My own, personal, experiences of Muslims living in the UK leads me to believe that integration and assimilation is going pretty well. The size of the fanatical and anti-Western element should not be overstated. Of course the Muslim community is almost as varied as the national community, and attitudes and outlook vary from one group to the next. Assimilation will be a multi-speed process. My own experiences are admittedly subject to selection bias. Howard's right to point out that it isn't only Muslims who would fail the cricket test. Personally, the day people are collectively expatriated from the UK simply on the basis of their religion, race or parental place of origin, is the day that I would leave too, of my own volition. |
| Posted by: Bulldog 2004-3-15 9:12:08 AM |
| #10 Talent or not, well not at all even, I wouldn't expect my next door neighbour to come round my house to watch the cricket and have a beer to suddenly 'turn around' and start cheering for the Paks or Indians, if he did this in my house i'd say oi no you do not cheer for a team thats not your own if you claim to be british. Anyway i seem to recall a load of Paks nearly killing some 'umpire' type guy in a cricket match in the UK a few years ago, they swarmed the pitch like thugs and mauraded round like wild apes hooting and screaming leaping around wildly,there were thousands of them, a sea of Paks swarming the pitch attempting to iradicate anything in thier frenzied path.Poor old guy very nearly died remember and these clowns were said to be British, they may well technically be British but only by a poece of paper called a passport in my book |
| Posted by: Jon Shep U.K 2004-3-15 8:54:38 AM |
| #9 Quite. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-3-15 8:18:36 AM |
| #8 It this is the case, half of Los Angeles would be deported to Mexico after the next soccer game. |
| Posted by: ed 2004-3-15 8:09:45 AM |
| #7 Famously UK immigrants from Pak, India, West Indies will cheer on their teams as opposed to England when playing in the UK. A tory politician of the eighties and nineties, Norman Tebbit, claimed that those failing to support the English team should be repatriated to their country of origin... a question of loyalties - 'The Cricket Test'. The fact that the English cricket team are blessed with an abject lack of talent may help to explain this, however. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-3-15 7:27:15 AM |
| #6 How is the Cricket Test conducted? Is it pass/fail or scored? |
| Posted by: Shipman 2004-3-15 7:12:00 AM |
| #5 Time to apply 'The Cricket Test' and chuck out the ones not cheering our team. |
| Posted by: Howard UK 2004-3-15 5:21:31 AM |
| #4 i say all muslims in the UK are a security risk to great for us to ignore. Basically they all need to be told to get out the country within a few months, if not lock em up.Islam is Nothing but a death cult |
| Posted by: Jon Shep U.K 2004-3-15 4:03:19 AM |
| #3 The poll results are heart-warming. It is uplifting to know British Muslims are more moderate than American Democrats. Truly there is a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel in this war on terrorism. |
| Posted by: Garrison 2004-3-15 1:37:15 AM |
| #2 And, even for the terminally blind, so rests the Myth of the Moderate Muslim forever. |
| Posted by: .com 2004-3-15 1:30:25 AM |
| #1 Moral equivalency is fun! For instance, can we rig these polls the same way AQ rigged the Spanish election? Wrong answers this time, Abu "Captain Hook" Hamza loses the other hand. More wrong answers, Tomahawk on the Finsbury Street mosque (RN of course, we wouldn't want to violate British sovereignty). Gotta know the language, and we're learning fast. |
| Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy 2004-3-15 1:00:02 AM |