LONDON (AFP) – Around a quarter of British Muslims have some sympathy with the motives of the London bombers, if not their methods, while a third believe Western society is “immoral,” according to a new poll. The survey in the Daily Telegraph asked the Muslim-only respondents whether they felt the July 7 blasts in which 56 peopled died, including the suicide bombers, were “justified”, to which six percent said they were. In contrast, 71 percent said they were not justified at all, with 11 percent saying they were “on balance” not justified. However, when asked whether they had sympathy with the “feelings and motives” of the four British Muslim bombers, disregarding their methods, 13 percent said they had a lot of sympathy and a further 11 percent had a little. While 81 percent said they were fairly loyal or very loyal to Britain, the survey also found some equivocal feelings towards Western society more generally. Just one percent of the respondents agreed with the statement: “Western society is decadent and immoral, and Muslims should seek to bring it to an end, if necessary by violence.” However, another 31 percent backed the sentiment when the reference to violence was replaced by “but only by non-violent means”. In a similar poll for The Sun newspaper, 91 percent of the all-Muslim respondents said they did not feel the suicide bombings were justified by the Koran, the Islamic holy book. Just over half felt Islam was compatible with modern British society, but a similar number felt that the attacks ran the risk of turning other communities against British Muslims.
