| Date: 16 November 2006 |
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A public survey conducted in Britain revealed that Islamophobia, which
was triggered by the 9/11 attacks, escalated with the Madrid and London
attacks and with the claim that “a second 9/11 attack was prevented” 16
days ago, has gained a new and even more disturbing dimensions. YouGov's latest survey, conducted for The Daily Telegraph, reveals that 53 percent of Britons polled see Islam as a “threat” to the West. A large majority of the nation believes a majority of Muslims are ready and willing to carry out acts of terrorism. According to the results of the YouGov survey, headlined in the Daily Telegraph yesterday, the proportion of those who believe that "practically all British Muslims are peaceful, law-abiding citizens who deplore terrorist acts as much as any one else" has fallen from 23 percent last July to just 16 percent. The proportion of those who believe that "a large proportion of British Muslims feel no sense of loyalty to this country and are prepared to condone or even carry out acts of terrorism" has nearly doubled from 10 percent a year ago to 18 percent, an increase of 80 percent. The most striking and alarming point to emerge from the survey is the rate of respondents who agree that “Islam poses a threat to the West,” which rose to 53 percent, evidence that Islamophobia is on the rise. This rate was 32 percent in a YouGov poll conducted in 2001. The survey also reveals that the majority of the British public think the police should focus their counter-terrorism efforts on Muslims. The survey's findings about the position of Muslims in British society points to a significant increase in the number of Brits worried about some of their Muslim compatriots, particularly after the allegation that a “second 9/11 plan” was disclosed 16 days ago and with the London attacks carried out last year. The Daily Telegraph wrote there is an increasing polarization between “Muslims” and “others,” and maintained there is a substantial increase in the number of people who believe in the reality of a "clash of civilizations." Meanwhile, the British government launched a new initiative in order to fight the rising radicalism and ethnic tension in the country. The Commission on Integration and Cohesion launched by the Ministry of Culture will attempt to bring together different ethnic and social groups with the slogan, “diversity is an asset.” As Islamophobia threatens Europe, Muslim organizations in Germany issued a statement after the planned terror attacks targeting trains in the North Rhine Westphalia last week and condemned these attempts. In the joint statement, it was emphasized that such attacks damaging Muslims could neither be based on Islam nor vindicated. In the statement issued by Muslim umbrella groups and immigrant associations, Muslims were called to “engage in a dialogue and not to be provoked” despite the ever increasing tension in the country. Muslims more moderate than Christians A Pew survey published two months ago revealed that European Muslims have more moderate views than Christians. The majority of Europeans believe in a clash of civilizations, whereas a very small section of the Muslim population agrees with this view.
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