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British Muslims oppose military action
by Robin Aitken
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A poll of opinion among British Muslims, commissioned by the Today Programme suggests a big majority oppose the military action in Afghanistan. But the ICM poll, which spoke to 500 people by telephone in the week up to Monday, and before the fall of Kabul, found that a big majority felt the terrorist attacks on New York were unjustified.
This poll, carried out by ICM, has tested the widest range of public opinion among British Muslims since September 11. 500 Muslims across the country were polled at random by telephone between November 2 and 11, and it seems they are significantly out of step with opinion in the rest of the population.
80% of those polled think the military action by the US and Britain in Afghanistan is not justified and the majority would have preferred a diplomatic solution; in comparison recent polls of the general population have shown a clear majority in support of military action.
A majority of those polled disapproved of British Muslims going to fight
against America but nearly a quarter said they approved of it. More than
three quarters of those asked think the military campaign should stop now.
It seems British Muslims have not been persuaded by the prime minister's
often repeated assertion that this was not a war against Islam: 57% disagree
with only 34% assenting.
A measure of the difficulties faced by British Muslims since September 11 is given in a further response: nearly a third of those asked say they have experienced hostility or abuse since the New York attacks.
View the concise figures
View the figures in full (you may need to download Adobe Acrobat - just click on the link below)
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