(JNi.media) The Pew Research Center on Tuesday released a survey showing that in 11 countries with significant Muslim populations, people expressed negative views of ISIS. In no country surveyed did more than 16% of the population favor the Islamic State.
In Lebanon, where one of the most brutal attacks took place recently, almost every person surveyed had an unfavorable view of ISIS, including 99% with a very unfavorable opinion. ISIS is hated equally, according to the survey, by Lebanese Sunni Muslims (98% unfavorable) and Shia Muslims and Lebanese Christians (100%).
It gets a little more interesting in Israel, Jordan, the Palestinian Authority (PA) and Gaza. Israelis (97%) and Jordanians (94%) are also strongly opposed to ISIS as of the spring of 2015, according to Pew, and that included 91% of Israeli Arabs.
But there was less disfavor in the Palestinian Authority controlled territories, where only 84% had a negative view of ISIS, with the Gaza Strip markedly more hostile (92%) to ISIS than Judea and Samaria (79%).
However, a different poll, conducted by Dr. Nabil Kukali of the Palestinian Center for Public Opinion, which says it is “a leading full service research institute in Palestine,” stated that 68.5% of PA Arabs oppose the Russian intervention in Syria. So that, despite their disapproval, they are probably not looking for imported solutions, especially not in the form of the Russian military fighting on the side of President Assad.
The PCPO poll of the PA/Gazan Arabs’ state of mind was taken while the terror wave of shooting, stabbing and rioting against Israeli Jews was in full swing. Conducted during the period from October 18 to November 12, 2015, the poll covered a random sample of 1,000 respondents 18 years and above living in Judea, Samaria, eastern Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip. The revealed that:
50.4% are in favor of a third Intifada.
42.1% are in favor of a violent uprising.
29.9% favor a peaceful, popular uprising.
62.3% oppose the resumption of peace negotiations with Israel.
43.5% are optimistic about the perspective of an eventual reconciliation between Fatah and Hamas.
58.9% are discontent with the performance of the PA-chairman Mahmoud Abbas.
47.8% call for the resignation of Abbas.
Dr. Nabil Kukali told Walla that the respondents said they were disappointed by the PA chairman’s speech at the UN General Assembly, when he called on the Arabs not to use violence against Israel.