Israel Matzav: Muslims think little of their leaders and of terror groups

Muslims think little of their leaders and of terror groups

In a survey taken in May and June of 2009 - before Iran's elections - the Pew Global Attitudes Project find that most Muslims think poorly of their leadership, and particularly of the Hamas and Hezbullah terror organizations.

Four years after its victory in Palestinian parliamentary elections, Hamas receives relatively positive ratings in Jordan (56% favorable) and Egypt (52%). However, Palestinians are more likely to give the group a negative (52%) than a positive (44%) rating. And reservations about Hamas are particularly common in the portion of the Palestinian territories it controls – just 37% in Gaza express a favorable opinion, compared with 47% in the West Bank.

A survey conducted May 18 to June 16, 2009 by the Pew Research Center's Global Attitudes Project also finds limited support for the Lebanese Shia organization Hezbollah.1 While most Palestinians (61%) and about half of Jordanians (51%) have a favorable view of Hezbollah, elsewhere opinions are less positive, including Egypt (43%) and Lebanon (35%). As with many issues in Lebanon, views of Hezbollah are sharply divided along religious lines: nearly all of the country's Shia Muslims (97%) express a positive opinion of the organization, while only 18% of Christians and 2% of Sunni Muslims feel this way.

The most popular leader in the Muslim world is Saudi King Abdullah. The survey results also show a huge chasm between Shia and Sunni Muslims.

But here's the most curious thing in this survey:

In Arab nations, attitudes toward Jews remain extremely negative. More than 90% of Egyptians, Jordanians, Lebanese and Palestinians express unfavorable views toward Jews. Only 35% of Israeli Arabs, however, express a negative opinion.

I wish the Israeli Arabs would show that less negative opinion by sending more positive people to the Knesset.

On the other hand, given that there is little freedom in the Muslim world (particularly in Arab countries), one has to wonder how reliable these survey results really are except for the Israeli Arabs.

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Israel Matzav: Muslims think little of their leaders and of terror groups