Posted on 11/04/2001 12:53:04 AM PST by RightlySo
FOUR out of every 10 British Muslims believe Osama Bin Laden is justified in mounting his war against the United States. And more than one in 10 say the attacks on the World Trade Center were justified, write John Elliott and Maurice Chittenden.
A Sunday Times survey, the first large-scale poll of the Muslim community since the start of the bombing campaign against Afghanistan, shows 40% believe Bin Laden has cause to wage war against America and a similar proportion say Britons who choose to go to fight alongside the Taliban are right to do so.
Muslim leaders, some of whom said the survey did not reflect mainstream opinion among Britain's 2m Muslims, said they believed the results reflect increasing anger about America's role in the Middle East and central Asia.
British Muslims - 1,170 were interviewed outside mosques across Britain - are less convinced about Bin Laden's tactics: only 11% believe there was some justification for the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
The Muslims polled were overwhelmingly against the continued American bombing of Afghanistan: eight in 10 believe the action will lead to worsening race relations in Britain. Asked if it was more important for them to be Muslim or British, 68% chose their faith.
And the Sunday Times UK Follow-up Article:
The Sunday Times survey shows that while 11% think there was justification for the attacks, as many as four out of 10 Muslims believe Bin Laden had reason to mount a war against the United States.
A similar proportion, 40%, believe that Britons who decide to fight alongside the Taliban are justified. Fewer than one in six believe America was right to bomb Afghanistan after the terror attacks. This weekend, a month after the start of the bombing, 96% believe America should stop its aerial assault.
The Muslim community says it will be particularly incensed if bombing continues after the start of the Ramadan religious festival on November 17.
Abdul Mohammed, 29, an IT consultant from Derby, said: "It would be very emotional to bomb during Ramadan. The feelings would run higher in Muslim countries such as Pakistan."
"Osama's actions are wrong but his grievances are justified," said Bashir Maan, a Glasgow city councillor. "What has the US done for Palestine in the past 15 years? What kind of democracy responds with bullets when stones are thrown at them?"
The Sunday Times interviewed 1,170 Muslims at random in cities across Britain, including London, Birmingham, Leicester, Bradford and Manchester on Friday.
Outside the mosque in Regent's Park, Abdul Riaz, 25, said: "The killings in America were terrible. That should not happen. But it will not help the world to kill more people in Afghanistan."
More than seven out of 10 believe Tony Blair is wrong to support America in its war against Bin Laden and the Taliban. Asked if they believed efforts to capture or kill Bin Laden were justified, only 36% said "yes", compared with 61% who said "no".
More than 1,000 of those surveyed said they believed the bombing campaign in Afghanistan would lead to worsening relations in Britain between Muslims and non-Muslims.
Muslim leaders said they were surprised by the depth of feeling shown in the poll findings. Sahib Mustaqim Bleher, general secretary of the Islamic Party of Great Britain, said: "The 11% who think there was justification for the terror attacks troubles me. My reading is that there are people who would say America had it coming to them.
"But those who said it was right to attack the World Trade Center must be a small fringe. There will be people who are happy that the prowess of America has been dented, but that is different from accepting the loss of human life, which included many Muslims, in New York."
Dr Zaki Badawi, chairman of the Imams and Mosques Council of the United Kingdom, said: "I doubt that this is an accurate reflection of the Muslim community in Britain. The sample may not have reflected the diversity of the community, but I accept there is a tremendous feeling of hostility to the United States because of its actions in the Middle East.
"The US is supporting Israel's breach of the United Nations resolutions over the occupation of Palestinian land. I believe that the results of the survey demonstrate a natural sympathy which the British show for the underdog and the results should be looked at in that light."
Umar Hegedus, the former Thought for the Day presenter on Radio 4 who heads the Islamic charity Amama (Trust), said the results might have been different and less extreme if people had been interviewed in their homes.
But Dr Ghayasuddin Siddiqui, the leader of the Muslim parliament, said: "Muslims feel that the catastrophic humanitarian disasters of the Middle East are the responsibility of the United States. They are reflecting their deep hostilities to America."
When is the media going to shoot straight with the truth. Why can't we handle the truth?-- Muslims do NOT like the west, and even when they settle in the west (USA too), they still hate us.
Deport, deport, deport! I'm sick of hearing the PC cries of tolerance. I don't favor violence against those who do us no harm, yet I still say, "deport".
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