Islam

Inter Press Service bericht: '"Great Divide" Seen in Muslim and Western Opinions


WASHINGTON - A "great divide" separates the worldviews of Muslims and Westerners, according to the results of a major new survey which suggests that European Muslims, who held the most tolerant views, could be a bridge between the two groups."Many in the West see Muslims as fanatical, violent, and as lacking tolerance," according to an analysis of the survey by the Washington-based Pew Global Attitudes Project. "Muslims in the Middle East and Asia generally see Westerners as selfish, immoral and greedy -- as well as violent and fanatical." But the survey also found that was less true among European Muslims. "In many ways, the views of Europe's Muslims represent a middle ground between the way Western publics and Muslims in the Middle East and Asia view each other," it said. The survey and analysis, which were released by Pew here Thursday, found that positive views held by Muslims of al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden and terror tactics associated with him have declined over the past year, quite substantially in Pakistan and Jordan, where suicide attacks killed more than 50 people in Amman hotels over the last year. At the same time, the percentage of Muslims who believe that Arabs did not carry out the Sep. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and the Pentagon has increased. Majorities in Indonesia, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan and among the Muslim community in Britain doubt that Arabs had any role. The survey, which was carried out in 13 countries from the beginning of April until mid-May, found that negative views of Muslims have become especially pronounced in Germany and Spain, where only 36 percent and 29 percent of respondents, respectively, expressed favourable opinions of Muslims. Both marked major declines from the last Pew poll one year ago. By contrast, nearly two-thirds of French and British citizens said they had favourable views of Muslims. Fifty-six percent of Russians agreed with that opinion, as did 54 percent of U.S. respondents.' Lees verder: http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0623-04.htm