This morning’s Washington Post reports on the results of a recent Pew Global Attitudes survey, showing that most of the world’s Muslims reject suicide bombings and violence against civilians. The poll, conducted between April 6 and May 29, surveyed 45,239 people in 46 countries. Not surprisingly, Palestinians were the most enthusiastic supporters of suicide bombings: 70 percent of them responded that such attacks are “sometimes” or “often” justified. The countries showing the least amount of support? Egypt (8 percent) and Pakistan (9 percent). The survey also suggested that, in many countries, enthusiasm for suicide attacks has fallen sharply since 2002. At that time, 74 percent of Lebanese, 43 percent of Jordanians, and 26 percent of Indonesians agreed that at least some suicide bombings could be justified; today, those statistics stand at 34 percent, 23 percent, and 10 percent, respectively. Pew also discovered waning support for Osama Bin Laden in many of the same countries. The most precipitous decline was in Jordan, where just 20 percent of respondents voiced confidence in the Al Qaeda leader, down from 56 percent in 2002.
