Muslims, Westerners still divided, study says

Many Muslims don't believe Arabs were responsible for the Sept. 11 attacks.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
WASHINGTON -- Muslims and Westerners remain sharply at odds in the way they view each other, according to a 13-country poll released Thursday.
Among the findings: Majorities of Muslims in several countries don't think Arabs were responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. Majorities of Westerners in countries surveyed don't think Muslims respect women. Each group sees the other as violent and fanatical. On the bright side, support for Osama bin Laden is declining among Muslims, and most Muslims believe that democracy can work in Islamic countries.
The views of more than 14,000 Muslims and non-Muslims are detailed in the latest Pew Global Attitudes Project report. The results could shed light on foreign policy decisions and better methods for diplomacy.
"The extremes have had the microphones," former Secretary of State and project co-chair Madeleine Albright said. "The views of the extremist, in terms of describing the other, seem to have prevalence. ... We have a tendency to see Islam as monolithic. We equate everyone, and we see everybody as a terrorist."
Favorable opinions
Of the countries surveyed in the West, favorable opinions of Muslims are highest in France and Great Britain, at 65 percent and 63 percent respectively. Fifty-four percent of Americans surveyed had positive views of Muslims, and a slight majority, 55 versus 32 percent, thought that relations between Muslims and Westerners were generally good.
Similarly, Muslims living in European countries had significantly favorable views of Christians, with 91 percent of French Muslims and 82 percent of Spanish Muslims expressing positive opinions.
Anti-Jewish views continue to be overwhelming in the Muslim world, with 98 percent in Jordan and 97 percent in Egypt giving unfavorable ratings.
Nigeria, a country with high Muslim and Christian populations and a key oil exporter to the West, had a few surprising results. Though support for bin Laden has plummeted in many Islamic countries -- in Pakistan, it was down to 38 percent from 51 percent last May -- Nigeria's confidence in the al-Qaida leader has grown in the last three years, from 44 percent in May 2003 to 61 percent this year.