RSS FeedHatred Towards Jews and Muslims Linked
A person who hates Jews is more likely to hate Muslims as well, and vice versa. And people who go to a weekly religious service are less likely to hate a Muslim.
These findings come from Gallup poll results published this morning in a report, Religious Perceptions in America: With an In-Depth Analysis of U.S. Attitudes Toward Muslims and Islam.
Michelle Boorstein of the Washington Post said,
… the Gallup poll was prompted partly by Obama’s outreach to Muslim-majority societies and a desire to understand more about what shapes Americans’ views on Islam.
In a note accompanying the poll results, Gallup makes the argument that Americans’ prejudice against Muslims is at least partly fueled by misinformed beliefs. For example, people who believe Muslims worldwide oppose equal rights for men and women tend to be much more likely to report prejudice against Muslims.
The report states,
…feeling “a great deal” or extreme prejudice toward Muslims is not borne out of the absence of any information about Muslims, but rather arises from being exposed to negative media coverage of Islam and its followers.
This misinformation, especially through portrayals in the media, have a particular significance in the role of radicalization, as indicated in my published letter in the Globe yesterday. Daniel Simard and I also put together a paper related to this, Media Narratives in Times of Turmoil: Depictions of Minorities in Canada Post 9/11.
Boorstein also points to a Pew Forum poll showing that Muslims experience far more discrimination than any other group, by a wide margin.
The Gallop Poll found that 53% of Americans admitted to having negative views towards Islam, and 43% acknowledged some prejudice towards Muslims.
The report also states,
Variables Associated With Self-Reported Prejudice
Links Between Anti-Jewish and Anti-Muslim Prejudice
The variable most strongly linked to self-reported prejudice toward Muslims is self-reported prejudice toward Jews. Respondents who say they feel “a great deal” of prejudice — or extreme prejudice — toward Jews are about 32 times as likely to report feeling “a great deal” of prejudice toward Muslims. While Jewish-Muslim relations sometimes suffer because of the turbulence of the Israeli Palestinian conflict, among other reasons, these findings point to an area of potential cooperation for the two communities in addressing a common concern of prejudice toward each group. Previous Gallup research indicates that, compared with other religious groups in the U.S., Muslim Americans and Jewish Americans are most similar in terms of political ideology, education, and political party identification.
The findings should spurn greater cooperation between the Muslim and Jewish communities to work together in overcoming hatred and bigotry.
