Poll reveals young Muslims admire Al-Qaeda
Monday, January 29, 2007 Poll reveals young want sharia law
1in 8 admires terror groups like al Qaeda
Daily Express, 29 February 2007
Evidence of the radicalisation of young British Muslims emerged last night after a poll showed more than one third want Islamic law imposed in the UK.
Three-quarters of Muslims aged 16-24 believe women should be forced to wear veils or headscarves and one-third believe heretics who give up the Islamic faith deserve to be put to death.
The survey also found more than one in eight young adult believers "admires" al Qaeda and other terrorist groups. Think tank Policy Exchange, which commissioned the poll, blamed Government-sponsored multi-cultural policies for encouraging the separateness between ethnic and religious social groups that fuels fanaticism.
Tory MP Philip Davies said: "It is alarming but correct to say that multi-cultural policies are the cause of these sorts of attitudes. Labour has done virtually anything possible to avoid getting Muslims to integrate into British society." Today, Tory leader David Cameron will admit in a speech that "uncontrolled immigration" has undermined social harmony in Britain.
Munira Mirza, the report's author, said: "The emergence of a strong Muslim identity in Britain is, in part, a result of multicultural policies implemented since the 1980s which have emphasised difference at the expense of shared national identity and divided people along ethnic, religious and cultural lines." Of Muslims in the 16-24 age group, the poll found 37 per cent wanted Islamic sharia law in the UK, 31 per cent wanted heretics put to death and 74 per cent wanted Muslim women to wear the full-face niqab veil or the hijab headscarf.
Thirteen per cent of the age group "admired organisations like Al Qaeda that are prepared to fight the West." Opinions among Muslims as a whole were far more moderate. Just under two thirds wanted their children to attend mixed-faith state schools. Furthermore, 84 per cent believed they had been treated fairly in British society. Just over a quarter – 28 per cent – believed the Government and local councils had gone "over the top" in trying not to offend Muslims.