Survey finds 39% of American Muslims deny Hamas crimes

FIRST IN DAILY SIGNAL – A year after Hamas terrorists invaded Gaza, Israel, raped women and slaughtered more than 1,100 people, including young children, and after video evidence of the massacre spread around the world, a shocking percentage of American Muslims deny it Facts and harbor disgusting anti-Semitic attitudes, a new poll shows.

When asked which statement was “closest to your view,” more American Muslims chose “Hamas did not commit murder and rape in Israel on October 7th” than “Hamas did commit murder and rape in Israel on October 7th.” .”

More than a third (39%) denied Hamas' killings and rapes, while only 31% admitted them. Another 30% said they “don’t know” in the poll, which was first shared with The Daily Signal.

Female Muslims and Muslims of Arab descent were more likely to say Hamas did not commit murder or rape on October 7.

Among the general American public, 64% acknowledged Hamas' crimes, while only 7% denied them and another 29% said they knew nothing about them.

When asked why Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 59% of Muslims said “because Hamas wanted to advance the Palestinian cause,” while only 14% explained terrorism by saying “Hamas wanted to kill Jews and on Destruction sets”. of Israel.” In contrast, most Americans (51%) explained October 7 as Hamas seeking to kill Jews and destroy Israel, and only 17% said Hamas aimed to advance the Palestinian cause.

Two in three college-educated Muslims (67%) said Hamas attacked to advance the Palestinian cause. Black Muslims (39%) were least likely to make this statement.

Similarly, many American Muslims (43%) said, “Israel has no right to exist as a Jewish homeland,” while only 11% of the general public said this. A third of American Muslims (33%) said “Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish homeland,” compared to two-thirds of all Americans (66%).

Younger Muslims (ages 18 to 29) and Muslims of Arab descent were more likely to believe that Israel had no right to exist as a Jewish homeland.

Anti-Semitic beliefs

The survey also asked U.S. Muslims whether “Jewish people have too much power, too little power, or about a normal level of power” in the American media and in U.S. federal politics.

A majority of Muslims (58%) said Jews have “too much power” over the media, and about the same number (57%) said Jews have “too much power” over federal politics.

In my opinion, significantly fewer of the general public say that Jews have “too much power” over the media (22%) and politics (17%), while more Americans say they have “about a normal amount of power” over the media have (41). %) and politics (45%).

Older Muslims (67% of those over 65) and college-educated Muslims (64%) were more likely to say that Jews have too much power over the media.

Meanwhile, more Americans (57%) say anti-Semitism increased after October 7 than say anti-Muslim hostility increased during the same period (44%). A third of Americans say anti-Muslim hostility has decreased during that time, while just 20% say anti-Semitism has declined since then.

If attacked by Iran

The poll, conducted in September before Iran fired missiles at Israel on Tuesday, asked both Muslims and the general population what the U.S. should do if Iran attacked Israel.

Just over a third of U.S. Muslims (37%) said the U.S. should “not support Israel at all,” while a quarter (25%) said the U.S. should “only provide diplomatic support.” A smaller group said the U.S. should “support Israel with aid and military equipment, but not send troops” (14%), and just 9% said the U.S. should support Israel with American troops.

In contrast, Americans overwhelmingly support Israel: 17% say the U.S. should send troops, 35% support Israel with military equipment and aid without troops, and 20% say the U.S. should only provide diplomatic support. Only 8% said the U.S. should not support Israel at all.

The 2024 election, Kamala Harris

U.S. Muslims are giving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a high priority when it comes to how they vote in the 2024 election.

The poll asked: “Which of the following options is most important to you in the next election?” Among the general public, only 4% chose the “Israel-Palestine conflict”, which was behind inflation and the economy (29%), immigration ( 25%), threats to democracy (9%) and abortion (9%) took a back seat. Even climate change was higher at 5%.

Meanwhile, 34% of Muslim respondents chose the Israel conflict as their top issue, while only 25% chose the economy and 11% chose immigration.

The poll also examined American Muslims' attitudes toward the Democratic presidential nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris. Nearly half (47%) said Harris was “too pro-Israel,” while 29% said she “strikes the right balance” and 7% called her “too pro-Palestine.”

College-educated Muslims (53%) and Muslims of Asian (62%) and Arab (66%) ancestry were more likely to call Harris “too pro-Israel,” while Muslims of other races – black (37%), white (41%) and Hispanic (52%) %) were demonstrably more likely to say they understood the problem correctly.

Muslim identity politics

The survey asked American Muslims and the general public about various policy positions that would give Islam a privileged place in American society and law. On every issue, American Muslims showed greater support than the American public as a whole.

Muslims were more likely to support making it illegal to display a picture or caricature of the Prophet Muhammad (50%) than the general public (14%). They were found to be more likely to support the creation of a Muslim political party (46%) than the general public (9%). They supported the implementation of Sharia law (39%) more than the general public (10%). They also supported declaring Islam the national religion of America (33%) more than the general public (9%).

Many Muslims opposed these measures (31% opposed the implementation of Sharia law and 32% opposed the declaration of Islam as the national religion), but the general public opposed them far more forcefully (56% and 68%, respectively).

“Sharia” simply means “law” in Arabic, and interpretations of Sharia vary. While radical Islamist groups like the Taliban interpret Sharia law in an extremely restrictive way, there are major differences among American Muslims.

Muslims reject attacks on Jews on university campuses

While American Muslims tended to oppose Israel's right to exist, deny Hamas' murders and rapes, and attribute positive motivations to October 7, they did not support campus protesters who targeted Jewish students who support Israel.

The survey asked which of two statements came closest to respondents' views: “Jewish students on college campuses who openly support Israel are not valid targets for campus protests” or they “are valid targets.”

Nearly half of Muslims (46%) agreed with nearly half of the general public (48%) that these Jewish students do not represent valid targets.

Only 23% of Muslims and 23% of the general public described the students as valid targets, while the rest said they didn't know.

The survey, conducted by JL Partners on behalf of the Heritage Foundation, surveyed 1,000 Americans online between September 9 and September 13 to gauge the attitudes of the general public. The study surveyed 500 U.S. Muslims using various methods – landline, cell phone, SMS and online panel. Analysts weighted the survey to obtain a representative sample. The error rate is plus/minus 3%.