Poll:Harmful Views of Muslims Surge in Europe; May Be Due to Rise in Muslim European Attacks

A new poll released yesterday by the Pew Research Center shows that in several European nations, unfavorable views of Muslims surged in 2016 -- perhaps due to increased terrorist attacks by Muslims on the continent -- the Washington Post website reports today (July 12, 2016).

In Britain, the figure jumped nine percentage points to 28 percent. In Spain and Italy, unfavorable views jumped eight percentage points each, to 50 percent and 69 percent respectively. In Greece, unfavorable views were found in 65 percent of the country -- a jump of 12 percentage points from 2014, the last time the question was asked in Greece.

Across the 10 European countries surveyed, a median of 59 percent felt that an increase in refugees would increase the likelihood of terrorism in a country -- a figure higher than it is for concerns about the economic effect or crime in most countries.

In Hungary, 76 percent of respondents linked refugees with terrorism, while 71 percent of Poles reached the same conclusion. Even on the lower end of the scale, large minorities felt this way: 40 percent of Spaniards were found to believe that refugees were linked to terrorism, the lowest of any of the countries surveyed.