America, we have a problem.
By Daniel Greenfield
(OCTOBER 22, 2023 / FRONTPAGEMAG) The Cygnal poll is unique in that it polled Muslims in America as a separate group about the Hamas attack on Israel during which the Islamic terrorists massacred civilians, raped and kidnapped women, and killed and kidnapped children.
28% of Muslims in America strongly agree that Hamas was justified while 29% somewhat agree. On the other side, 16% strongly disagree while 25% somewhat disagree.
Notably, Muslims in America have been following the situation fairly closely, with 44% saying that they have a high awareness of Hamas, 66% believe they’re well informed about the conflict, and 65% believing that they are informed about the Hamas, Fatah lineup of ‘Palestinian’ terror politics.
Support for Hamas per se is not a given.
Hamas Leader Ismail Haniyeh has a 38% favorability among Muslims in America and 34% unfavorable. (Unlike the 7% favorable among Jews, and 12% favorable among Evangelicals, the Muslims polled presumably know who Haniyeh is. Alternatively, 7% of Jews and 12% of Evangelicals love Hamas. Who knows these days.)
Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has a 31% favorable among Muslims in America and a 34% unfavorable.
52% of Muslims in America equate Hamas to Al Qaeda while 18% say it’s not as bad. (It’s unclear how many of the 52% dislike Al Qaeda or support it.) 49% equate it to ISIS.
About a third of Muslims in America do rate Israel and even Netanyahu positively. They are however outnumbered.
Muslims in America have somewhat mixed feelings about Hamas (this is likely to be a function of different factors such as their feelings about the Muslim Brotherhood, a significant portion of the Muslim world is hostile to it) but a majority do justify its worst atrocities.
Similarly, many Muslims don’t like Al Qaeda in relation to its attacks on Muslim countries, but may support its attacks on America.
What are the implications for the United States? The poll doesn’t ask about support for Al Qaeda or terrorist attacks in America, but there’s going to be some overlap. It also doesn’t break down Muslim demographics by age, but the overall demographic support for Hamas skews much higher among younger people. It’s likely that Hamas support is much higher among young Muslims and lower among older Muslims. And since it’s the young who commit terrorist attacks, that’s where the pressure point is.
Immigration has imported terrorism and support for it inside the United States. Islamic terrorism has become endemic and indigenous to America. How long until we have our own ‘Hamas’ in America?
This article was originally published in FrontPageMag and can be viewed here.