Few UK Muslims have sympathy for Paris attack motives

uk.reuters.com...

(Reuters) - One in four British Muslims say they have some sympathy with the motives behind the attack on French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo but the vast majority think attacks on those who publish images of the Prophet Mohammad are wrong, a poll has found.

Islamist gunmen killed 12 people at the offices of Charlie Hebdo in Paris on Jan. 7, including the magazine's editor and several of its prominent cartoonists, in revenge for its publication of satirical images of the Prophet Mohammad. In a poll of 1,000 Muslims commissioned by the BBC and published on Wednesday, 27 percent of respondents said they agreed with the statement: "I have some sympathy for the motives behind the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris".

Sixty-two percent said they had no sympathy. Seventy-eight percent felt it was "deeply offensive" personally when images of Mohammad were published and 11 percent felt sympathetic towards people who want to fight against Western interests.

So there we have it, a poll of 1,000. Don't get me wrong but 1 in four who have sympathy is still a large number in my reconning. I wish it would have been 1 in a 1,000. Or none at all.

a reply to: EnigmaAgent

1,000 that's a whole 0.036% of UK Muslims

EDIT: Sorry to be short, I just went through all this on the other thread.

originally posted by: and14263
a reply to: EnigmaAgent

1,000 that's a whole 0.036% of UK Muslims

EDIT: Sorry to be short, I just went through all this on the other thread.

Hey no probs. Is there a duplicate post to this? If so mods please close.

a reply to: EnigmaAgent

The statement given to the respondents is "I have some sympathy for the motives behind the Charlie Hebdo attacks in Paris"

I would have to respond that yes, I have some sympathy for the motives behind the attack. That doesn't mean I agree with the attacks themselves. It means I can understand how people were offended at the portrayal of their religious figurehead. I don't know what it means to each respondent, but I would have the same sympathy for those who disagree with the way Jesus is portrayed in some media.

(I actually don't think the Hebdo attacks had anything to do with the portrayal of Mohammad - I think they used that as an excuse to terrorize people. But that's beside the point.)

I still support the freedom of Hebdo and South Park (for example) to do what they do, I can just sympathize with those who feel hurt or betrayed by people making fun of their religious heads.

a reply to: EnigmaAgent

1 in 4 out of 1,000 questioned? That would amount to 400 people out of the 1,000 who supported it.

That would make a huge number if it were 100,000 people asked and the stats of 1 in 4 stayed the same

a reply to: TruthxIsxInxThexMist
250 out of the 1000, one out of every four.
What the demographic mix was is important though, ages/gender/blah.
...and it is a pretty slippery worded question.

a reply to: Benevolent Heretic

i understand having sympathy for them being offended, maybe the question should have been worded differently, something like "do you feel the attacks were justified" which should have garnered a resounding no!!! if people went out and murdered every time they felt "offended" this world would be worse than the dark ages.

270 people exercised their Freedom of Expression.

originally posted by: grainofsand
a reply to: TruthxIsxInxThexMist
250 out of the 1000, one out of every four.
What the demographic mix was is important though, ages/gender/blah.
...and it is a pretty slippery worded question.

ooops.

Looks like I got my Maths wrong.

a reply to: EnigmaAgent

The wording of the question is all wrong, and will result in misinformation.

Asking people if they have sympathy for the motives of those who carried out these atrocities is like asking if you understand what happened, it does not indicate what people are now claiming it indicates.

This was irresponsible in the extreme.

I do polls regularly online for fun and what a lot of people don't realise is that they are totally useless. It all starts and end with 1. where the poll is taken. 2. who they ask in poll ie. what age group, what political group, what gender group.
That is how people taking the poll do affect the outcome.
Example. Did they poll Muslims in a moderate area or in a more active area. Get the idea.
Then there is the ultimate. They dare not tell the truth because it might be seen as being wrong.
Example. In Manchester in 2006 they polled 500 18 to 30 year old males with the question do you or have you watched porn. The results returned a 96% no. But when they were asked in a more conducive atmosphere ie." just talking among ourselves, lads together, nothing recorded" the results returned 100% yes. Go figure.