Q&A of the Day – Are American Muslims Supportive of Hamas?
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Today’s Entry: Brian- I just heard that a majority of American Muslims support Hamas! Please tell me this is wrong.
Bottom Line: Well, I’d like to be able to tell you that it’s wrong. Based on the initial polling that’s come out since the Hamas terrorist attacks on Israel and the subsequent Israel-Hamas war, it isn’t. The accredited survey that I’m aware of that’s recently come out on the topic was from the firm Cygnal. And the headline to their survey results pretty much says it all: Muslim Americans Say Hamas Was Justified in Attacking Israel. Yeah, that’s not a false or misleading headline either. And that wasn’t the only result which might make you question your fellow Americans from this survey either. So, about the Muslim American takeaways...
First, Muslim Americans are the second most likely of any demographic (second only to American Jews) to be closely paying attention to the Hamas terror attack and the Israel-Hamas war. The survey found 76% of Muslims paying “close” attention to what’s happening overseas. This means what comes next in this survey isn’t a result of ignorance of the horrors that have happened at the hands of Hamas. On that note, on a subsequent question, nearly 73% of American Muslims say they’re at least “informed” about Hamas and Palestinian politics – the most of any demographic with many saying they’re experts on the subject. And this takes us to some of the nitty gritty especially uncomfortable details that were revealed in the survey. The leader of Hamas is overwhelmingly viewed negatively by the American people with fewer than 1 in 10 Americans holding a favorable opinion of him. And who are those Americans most likely to be? American Muslims have a net positive opinion of Hamas’ leader with greater than 4% more Muslims holding a favorable opinion than not. Incidentally, American Muslims hold a more favorable opinion of Hamas’ leader, and the leader of the PLO, than any other person or world leader surveyed. Meanwhile, most Muslim Americans not only have an unfavorable opinion of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, more hold Israel as a country in a negative light than not – also the only constituency to hold that opinion. And that takes us to the most questionable question response of all...
On the question of whether “Hamas was justified in attacking Israel as part of their struggle for a Palestinian State” - 58% of American Muslims agreed with that statement. Hence the headline to the survey and the reporting you likely heard about it. And this takes most of us back to a very politically incorrect and perhaps uncomfortable place. The realization that most Muslims, whether they’re your next-door neighbor in South Florida or are waging Jihad in the Middle East are supporters of Islamic terrorists. And btw, this is nothing new. It’s just that the current conflict has once again brought this issue to the forefront. This is why for two decades I’m had a straight-forward message in Islamic terror related matters... It’s still about Islam. As I mentioned two weeks ago in the initial aftermath of terror attacks...
As the horrific images and horrific stories continue to emerge from Hamas’ terror attacks in Israel... It’s as clear as ever that what we’re witnessing is a battle between good and evil. Babies by the dozens beheaded. The elderly burned alive. Teens mowed down from behind by the hundreds. Women raped until they can’t be raped anymore. As horrific as this is, what’s happened in Israel is a brand of evil that’s anything but new – only the tactics in how the acts of terror were carried out were. In fact, did you know, that the current death toll from Hamas’ terror attacks in Israel only account for 11.6% of the Islamic terror deaths in the world thus far this year? That’s right, thus far this year there have been 1,343 Islamic terror attacks carried out across 46 countries resulting in the death of 7,781 people with an additional 7,089 who’ve been injured. The reason this is almost certainly news to you is due to the willingness of news organizations around the world to look the other way in the face of Islamic terrorism. Given that most of the acts of terror are carried out in the Middle East and in parts of Africa against Christians and Jews – it's usually easy for them to do. But terrorism is a way of life for many because this is still about Islam, and most specifically, those who adhere to sharia law. Islam when practiced under sharia law (strict Islamic law) is evil. Period. And yes, there are more Muslims that pay homage to sharia law than we’d like to admit. Consider that in 2013 the Pew Research Center studied Muslims in 39 countries. (the study found) 80% of Muslims in Asia favor sharia law, along with 64% - 74% of Muslims in African countries and in the Middle East. And in the Palestinian territories – it stands at 75%. In other words, for the largest Muslim populations in the world, extremism isn’t the minority position.
And now in 2023, right here in the United States, we’re seeing once again the uncomfortable truth that most Americans that adhere to the faith are onboard with the murdering, raping and torturing of Jews in Israel. It’s all right there in the Quran, which I’ve read, and it would appear a majority of American Muslims have too. What Hamas has done is precisely what Muhammad calls on his followers to do in Suras 4:76, 9:5, 47:4 and 48:29.
Now, I don’t have any prescriptive for this. As a Christian, reciprocal hate and bigotry most certainly isn’t the answer. But what I’ve been, ever since I read the Quran in the wake of 9/11, is more aware. Clearly most American Muslims don’t see the world the way most other Americans do. An NBC News story from two days ago from Muslim population zones in Michigan entitled: I will never vote Biden: Some Muslim Americans in a key swing state feel betrayed by the president shines light on this reality. President Biden's pledged support for Israel is behind the Muslim backlash citied in the story. The irony is most Americans surveyed believe Biden hasn’t been strong enough on Israel – including currently holding up Israel from going into Gaza. In the case of Michigan’s Muslims pledging any support for Israel at all was a bridge to far for them. So, are most American Muslims supportive of Hamas? Yeah, by current indications, most are.