Only one in 25 British Muslims believe Al Qaeda was responsible for the September 11 attacks on the US, a poll has found.
But the biggest point survey results show that more UK Muslims believe Jews perpetrated the 9/11 attacks than believe Al Qaeda planned it.
Out of the 3,000 British Muslims polled by the ICM for the Policy Exchange think tank, 31% said the U.S. government was behind the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon that claimed the lives of nearly 3,000 people, a result the research said was “deeply troubling.”
Fifty-eight percent said they didn’t know who carried out the attacks and 7% said it was a Jewish plot.
“What was striking about this conversation was the unanimity of views within the focus group about 9/11: there was almost total agreement that this event had been staged,” the survey authors wrote, adding that “it was noticeable how a gathering of otherwise ‘normal,’ well-adjusted individuals could hold fairly outlandish views.”
The survey — of 3,000 British Muslims from a variety of towns — also said:
- 43% support the introduction of some forms of Sharia law.
- 44% believe schools should be able to insist on “a hijab or niqab” as part of the uniform.
- 15% believe art or music should not be taught in school (artistic representations of humans are regarded as idolatry in some forms of Islamic belief).
- 10% would not ban tutoring that “promotes extreme views or is deemed incompatible with fundamental British values.”
Read more about this survey at the Daily Mail