We keep hearing from the left that Syrian Muslim refugees are peace-loving, Western-friendly folk who can’t wait to join the multicultural party. They pose no threat in terms of terrorism; they pose no cultural threat. The same is true for Muslims all over the world: they hate terrorism, hate ISIS, and believe in basic notions of human rights.
Folks on the left ought to learn to read.
In November, the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies released a poll of Syrian refugees in Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey. Just 32 percent of Syrian refugees strongly supported bombing ISIS; another 26 percent supported that plan. But a full 42 percent of Syrian refugees either opposed bombing ISIS or refused to answer the question. 38 percent of Syrian refugees said they either opposed or wouldn’t answer whether they supported the “declared objectives of the anti-ISIL campaign to ‘degrade and ultimately destroy ISIL.’” Furthermore, 50 percent of Syrian refugees said that that goal was either unachievable or refused to answer whether it was achievable; 48 percent of Syrian refugees opposed the use of Western ground troops to stop ISIS; 20 percent either said that ISIS did not pose a threat to Syria or that they wouldn’t answer the question; 66 percent said that ISIS was created “by foreign actors.” Overall, only 73 percent of Syrian refugees said they were totally negative on ISIS: 10 percent said they were somewhat negative, nine percent somewhat positive, four percent positive, and four percent refused to answer.
Overall, only 73 percent of Syrian refugees said they were totally negative on ISIS: 10 percent said they were somewhat negative, nine percent somewhat positive, four percent positive, and four percent refused to answer.
Giving the lie to President Obama’s statement that ISIS is not Islamic, a plurality of Syrian refugees, 16 percent, attributed the rise of the group to its “commitment to Islamic principles”; another 10 percent cited ISIS’ declaration of an Islamic caliphate.
The poll also showed widespread Muslim dissatisfaction with military action against ISIS. Just 6 percent of Egyptians strongly supported bombing ISIS; overall, just 52 percent supported taking military action against ISIS in any way. Overall, 49 percent of Saudis, 49 percent of Palestinians, and 41 percent of Jordanians either opposed or wouldn’t answer whether they supported bombing ISIS.
Respondents from the various Muslim countries said that the United States and Israel would be the chief beneficiaries of a military campaign against ISIS, even as ISIS slaughters Muslims throughout the Middle East. Those two options garnered more support than either Iran or Bashar Assad’s regime, both of whom would clearly benefit more than either the US or Israel; just one percent of respondents said that Arab peoples would benefit generally from the downfall of ISIS. Naturally, these same respondents said that the most important US change in Middle East policy would not be doing away with ISIS, but dropping aid to Israel. Nearly none said stopping the Iranian nuclear program was important.
There is still widespread sympathy for ISIS’ program in Muslim countries in the region. The so-called moderate Palesitnians are the population most sympathetic to ISIS, with 36 percent being “negative to some extent,” 20 percent being “positive to some extent,” and 4 percent calling themselves outright positive toward ISIS.
So, what does all this mean? It means that the evidenceless picture of all Syrian refugees as Western-friendly doesn’t hold water. But don’t look for the media or the international left to pay attention to such facts. After all, these are the same people who keep stating, without evidence, that only a tiny minority of Muslims hold extreme views. When fact conflicts with pretty fiction, the left chooses its own pretty fictions every time. Which just means that more Westerners will die.
H/T Gateway Pundit