Majority of U.S. Muslims believe Hamas was 'justified' in actions: survey
One concerning result was that the majority of Muslim Americans, 57.5%, said that they agreed that 'Hamas was justified in attacking Israel as part of their struggle for a Palestinian State.'
A survey conducted by Cygnal last week revealed that a majority of Muslim Americans believe that Hamas was "justified" in its reasons for its actions, including terrorist attacks against Israel.
A similar poll conducted by Harvard-Harris found that the majority of Gen-Zers (51%) believe that Hamas' killing of Israeli civilians "can be justified by the grievance of Palestinians."
A majority of 18-24 year olds in America think the killing of 1200 Israeli civilians was justified. pic.twitter.com/cdWXQ62Vru
— Max Abrahms (@MaxAbrahms) October 21, 2023
The Cygnal survey, which included over 2,000 participants polled from October 16-18, aimed to assess public awareness and sentiments regarding the events in Israel.
In terms of overall sentiment, 50.6% of respondents hold a favorable view of Israel, with only 12% expressing a negative perspective, while 37% remain neutral.
The demographic segments with the most unfavorable opinions of Israel were Muslim Americans, with 36.5% holding negative views, and Democrats, with 15.7% expressing negativity. Conversely, the groups displaying the most positive perceptions of Israel were Jewish Americans, with an overwhelmingly positive rating of 85.1% (with less than 5% holding negative views), and Republicans, with 64.9% viewing Israel positively (with less than 9% holding negative views).
In general, an overwhelming majority of Americans, approximately 84%, expressed support for Israel's right to defend itself against Hamas' terrorist attacks.
Furthermore, around 75% of Americans indicated that they believed Hamas had no justification for launching attacks on Israel.
The survey revealed that the majority of Americans perceive Hamas to be on par with Al Qaeda, the Taliban, and ISIS in terms of their view of these organizations. Meanwhile, Muslim Americans generally shared this perception, but the report noted a slight overrepresentation of those who believe that Hamas is not as severe as the other three terrorist organizations.
One concerning result was that the majority of Muslim Americans, 57.5%, said that they agreed that “Hamas was justified in attacking Israel as part of their struggle for a Palestinian State.”
Despite over 1,400 Israeli's being slaughtered by Hamas, Muslim Americans still had a positive opinion on Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh, with 38.6% viewing him positively vs. 34.5% viewing him negatively.
In the Harvard-Harris poll, some 51% of participants between the ages of 18-24 expressed that Hamas' actions were justified. A further 49% of those aged 25-34 shared the same belief.
Don't Get Censored
Big Tech is censoring us. Sign up so we can always stay in touch.