By David P. Farrar
One of the most stupid statements around is that extreme Islam is no different from extreme Christianity in that both religions are basically the same, and both suffer from a small number of extreme adherents who give the rest a bad name.
Theoretically this is true: An insane Christian who blows up an abortion clinic is just as bad as a mad Muslim who blows up a kindergarten. But it misses the key point, that the number of extreme adherents is higher in Islam by several degrees of magnitude. The number of Christian extremists who believe it is religiously justified to kill civilians, is perhaps a few hundred at the very most. And there is no doubt that Christian leaders condemn any killing of innocents.
Now while the number of active Muslim terrorists is thought to be around 10,000 - the problem is that tens of millions support them. A Pew survey in May 2005 of almost 18,000 people found the following levels of support for violence against civilian targets:
Jordan 88%
Lebanon 58%
Pakistan 44%
Indonesia 33%
Turkey 20%
Morocco 18%
Taking into account the population in each of these countries, this translates into the following numbers of Extreme Islam supporters:
Jordan 5.0 million
Lebanon 2 million
Pakistan 70 million
Indonesia 80 million
Turkey 14 million
Morocco 6 million=20
So in just those six countries you have around 177 million people who believe suicide bombing is acceptable. They represent one third of the world's Muslim population that supports suicide bombings and killing people in God's name. (And we didn't even mention Iran!).
Now this is still a minority of all Muslims, but it is a pretty damn big minority, and the next time some moron says that he is more worried about extreme Christian fundamentalists than about extreme Islamic fundamentalists, then think about that massive difference in numbers. This is not about whipping up hysteria against individuals who happen to be Muslim. It is about recognising that the problem is huge. It is hard to credibly claim that Islam is a religion of peace and it is only a few extremists who ruin it for the rest. Around two-thirds or more Muslims do not support violence targeted against civilians, yet somewhere between 20% and 33% do. That's not a small faction but a big fraction!
And in case people think that it might just be in Israel or Iraq that so many Muslims support suicide bombings, then consider that support for Osama bin Laden there runs very high in:
Jordan 60% = 3 million
Pakistan 51% = 80 million
Indonesia 35% = 80 million
Morocco 26% = 8 million
Turkey 7% = 5 million
Lebanon 2% = 70,000=20
That's 176 million or so who support the guy who dreamed up flying planes into towers, bombing tubes and nightclubs etc.
The challenge for moderate Islam and for the entire world, is to reduce the proportion of Muslims who accept violence against civilians from as much as 33% down to 1% or even less, to conform to the rest of humanity. This will not happen in a year or even ten years, but as the Pew survey shows, there has been some small progress from a couple of years ago, so there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon.
http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=3/a/130220061
One of the most stupid statements around is that extreme Islam is no different from extreme Christianity in that both religions are basically the same, and both suffer from a small number of extreme adherents who give the rest a bad name.
Theoretically this is true: An insane Christian who blows up an abortion clinic is just as bad as a mad Muslim who blows up a kindergarten. But it misses the key point, that the number of extreme adherents is higher in Islam by several degrees of magnitude. The number of Christian extremists who believe it is religiously justified to kill civilians, is perhaps a few hundred at the very most. And there is no doubt that Christian leaders condemn any killing of innocents.
Now while the number of active Muslim terrorists is thought to be around 10,000 - the problem is that tens of millions support them. A Pew survey in May 2005 of almost 18,000 people found the following levels of support for violence against civilian targets:
Jordan 88%
Lebanon 58%
Pakistan 44%
Indonesia 33%
Turkey 20%
Morocco 18%
Taking into account the population in each of these countries, this translates into the following numbers of Extreme Islam supporters:
Jordan 5.0 million
Lebanon 2 million
Pakistan 70 million
Indonesia 80 million
Turkey 14 million
Morocco 6 million=20
So in just those six countries you have around 177 million people who believe suicide bombing is acceptable. They represent one third of the world's Muslim population that supports suicide bombings and killing people in God's name. (And we didn't even mention Iran!).
Now this is still a minority of all Muslims, but it is a pretty damn big minority, and the next time some moron says that he is more worried about extreme Christian fundamentalists than about extreme Islamic fundamentalists, then think about that massive difference in numbers. This is not about whipping up hysteria against individuals who happen to be Muslim. It is about recognising that the problem is huge. It is hard to credibly claim that Islam is a religion of peace and it is only a few extremists who ruin it for the rest. Around two-thirds or more Muslims do not support violence targeted against civilians, yet somewhere between 20% and 33% do. That's not a small faction but a big fraction!
And in case people think that it might just be in Israel or Iraq that so many Muslims support suicide bombings, then consider that support for Osama bin Laden there runs very high in:
Jordan 60% = 3 million
Pakistan 51% = 80 million
Indonesia 35% = 80 million
Morocco 26% = 8 million
Turkey 7% = 5 million
Lebanon 2% = 70,000=20
That's 176 million or so who support the guy who dreamed up flying planes into towers, bombing tubes and nightclubs etc.
The challenge for moderate Islam and for the entire world, is to reduce the proportion of Muslims who accept violence against civilians from as much as 33% down to 1% or even less, to conform to the rest of humanity. This will not happen in a year or even ten years, but as the Pew survey shows, there has been some small progress from a couple of years ago, so there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon.
http://www.infoisrael.net/cgi-local/text.pl?source=3/a/130220061
