How Muslims see us, and vice versa

Further to this post, The Guardian reports on a new survey which shows that British Muslims are "the most anti-western in Europe":

Public opinion in Britain is mostly favourable towards Muslims, but the feeling is not requited by British Muslims, who are among the most embittered in the western world, according to a global poll published yesterday.

The poll, by the Washington-based Pew Global Attitudes Project, asked Muslims and non-Muslims about each other in 13 countries. In most, it found suspicion and contempt to be mostly mutual, but uncovered a significant mismatch in Britain.

The poll found that 63% of all Britons had a favourable opinion of Muslims, down slightly from 67% in 2004, suggesting last year's London bombings did not trigger a significant rise in prejudice. Attitudes in Britain were more positive than in the US, Germany and Spain (where the popularity of Muslims has plummeted to 29%), and about the same as in France.

Less than a third of British non-Muslims said they viewed Muslims as violent, significantly fewer than non-Muslims in Spain (60%), Germany (52%), the US (45%) and France (41%).

By contrast, the poll found that British Muslims represented a "notable exception" in Europe, with far more negative views of westerners than Islamic minorities elsewhere on the continent. A significant majority viewed western populations as selfish, arrogant, greedy and immoral. Just over half said westerners were violent. While the overwhelming majority of European Muslims said westerners were respectful of women, fewer than half British Muslims agreed. Another startling result found that only 32% of Muslims in Britain had a favourable opinion of Jews, compared with 71% of French Muslims.

Across the board, Muslim attitudes in Britain more resembled public opinion in Islamic countries in the Middle East and Asia than elsewhere in Europe. And on the whole, British Muslims were more pessimistic than those in Germany, France and Spain about the feasibility of living in a modern society while remaining devout.

The poll results, which can be viewed here, are decidedly mixed. On the plus side, "confidence in Osama bin Laden" has collapsed, and a significant majority of Muslims in Egypt, Jordan and Indonesia believe democracy and Islam are compatible. On the other hand, even in Europe, most Muslims refuse to believe Arabs carried out the 9/11 attacks. (They weren't asked who they believe actually did it, but I have a pretty good idea.)

On a related note, Cathy Young has a new piece in Reason about the line between legitimate criticism of the Islamic faith and prejudice against Muslims. You won't agree with all of it (I don't), but Young's columns are always worth reading.

Damian P.

Posted by damian at June 26, 2006 11:07 PM