Extremism: Declining Support?

Pew Global Attitudes Project
Declining Support for bin Laden and Suicide Bombing

by Juliana Menasce Horowitz, Research Associate, Pew Global Attitudes Project
September 10, 2009

Eight years after the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, the Pew Global Attitudes Project finds that support for Osama bin Laden has declined considerably among Muslim publics in recent years.

The first graphic in the article depicts rejection of suicide bombing and violence against civilians. The % declaring it never justified ranges from 87 in Pakistan to 17 in Falestine. The mid range is 56/55 in Jordan/Israel.

Confidence in Usama bin Laden is reported to have declined from 34% in 2008 to 18% in 2009. The question was: " How much confidence do you have in Osama bin Laden to do the right thing regarding world affairs- a lot of confidence, some confidence, not too much confidence or no confidence at all" The question was asked about a group of leaders. Unfortunately, only the bin Laden results are reported.

Support for suicide bombing is graphed on another page. The bar chart is two dimensional, you must click years other than '09 to see their statistics.

Concerns about domestic extremism are charted on another page. In '09, concern peaked at 79% in Lebanon & Pakistan. Note that "not too concerned" is combined with "not concerned". Concerns about global extremism peak in Pakistan, Indonesia & Lebanon.

If support for bin Laden & al-Qaeda has declined, has support for Hamas, Hezbollah and other branches of Islamic terrorism declined? Is the decline a result of publicity surrounding merciless random killings in Pakistan? Is it permanent or temporary? How will it be affected if al-Qaeda brings off a mass casualty attack in Dar al-Harb before September 20?

Is there any reduction in approval of and dedication to Allah's imperative to conquer the world by genocidal Jihad & terrorism? Why don't they ask about attitudes toward the relevant Surahs of the Qur'an?