Poll: ~15% of British Muslims have a rod for jihad

posted at 7:04 pm on July 3, 2006 by Allahpundit
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To mark the first anniversary of the London bombings (this Friday), the Times of London commissioned a poll of British Muslims to find out just how tiny the “tiny minority of extremists” really is.

Not all that tiny:

13% of British Muslims think that the four men who carried out the London Tube and bus bombings of July 7 2005 should be regarded as “martyrs”

7% agree that suicide attacks on civilians in the UK can be justified in some circumstances, rising to 16 per cent for a military target

16% of British Muslims say that while the attacks may have been wrong, the cause was right

16% would be “indifferent” if a family member decided to join al-Qaeda and two per cent would be proud

Pew got a similar number when it asked about suicide bombings a few weeks ago. British Muslims know MI5 is watching them — yet 15% were still willing to admit publicly to terrorist sympathies. How many sympathizers weren’t so brave and changed their answers because they worried about being reported by the pollster?

Ali Miraj, a two-time candidate for Parliament, comments:

More than 80 per cent of those polled feel it is unacceptable for the police to view Muslims with greater suspicion on the ground that the 7/7 bombers shared their faith. But what do British Muslims expect? I would rather be stopped and searched to prevent a terrorist attack than not on the ground of political correctness. These are difficult times and the police must act with respect and sensitivity, but they must be supported in maintaining security.

The fact that 7 per cent of Muslims believe that suicide attacks on British civilians are justified in certain circumstances is deeply disturbing. If this reflected the opinions of Britain’s 1.6 million Muslims then more than 100,000 people would see nothing wrong in another 7/7. And that nearly half of Muslims believe further suicide bombings in Britain are highly unlikely or unlikely compared with 16 per cent of the general population is indicative of an acute sense of denial. I have met scores of highly educated Muslims who still buy the conspiracy theory nonsense that 9/11 was a Mossad plot.

MI5 has whittled down its persons-of-interest list to a slim 8,000. Al Qaeda responds predictably and, thus far, futilely. They think.

Update: Britain’s IslamExpo is being hosted this week, coincidentally. Check out who one of the speaker is.

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