Pew poll:
Between 63 million and 287 million ISIS supporters in just 11
countries
November 18, 2015
Sierra Rayne
American Thinker
A
new poll by
the Pew Research Center reveals significant levels of support for
ISIS within the Muslim world. In 11 representative
nation-states, up to 14 percent of the population has a favorable
opinion of ISIS, and upwards of 62 percent "don't know" whether or
not they have a favorable opinion of the Islamist group.
In Pakistan, a
nuclear weapons state, only 28 percent of the public view ISIS
unfavorably. By this overwhelming degree of either tacit
support or tolerance for ISIS in the country, ISIS should be
considered as a potential proxy nuclear weapons power via its
linkages and support within Pakistan.
When broken down by
ethnicity and religion, the results are equally troubling. In
Israel, 4 percent of its Arab population – which equates to more
than 66,000 individuals – have a favorable view of ISIS. For
Gaza and the West Bank, 5 and 8 percent, respectively, also hold a
favorable view of ISIS. In Nigeria, the ISIS favorability
rating among the Muslim population soars to 20 percent.
Another 12 percent of Muslims in Malaysia take a similar
positive view of ISIS.
Substantial support
for ISIS also exists among Malaysia's Buddhist population, where
more than one third of respondents either view ISIS favorably or do
not have a negative or positive opinion.
Non-negligible
proportions of Christians in Burkina Faso (5 percent) and Nigeria
(7 percent) have a favorable view of ISIS, with ISIS unfavorability
ratings surprisingly low at just 66 and 71 percent, respectively,
among this cohort.
Despite only
minorities in each nation surveyed holding clear support for ISIS,
the large total population of the region translates into a massive
number of ISIS supporters. For these 11 nation-states alone,
the favorability ratings for ISIS reported by the Pew poll are
indicative of at least 63 million ISIS supporters – and potentially
upwards of 287 million if the undecided are included in the
calculation. These numbers suggest there are, at a minimum,
hundreds of millions of ISIS supporters worldwide.