Hisham Al-Jundi
Doha
A new survey of more than 18,000 Arabs in 12 countries has revealed that they overwhelmingly oppose the Islamic State (IS) group.
According to the fifth Arab Opinion Index announced by the Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies (ACRPS) in Doha on Monday, about 89 percent of the people surveyed in face-to-face interviews throughout the Arab world expressed negative views about IS.
Only 2 percent of the respondents had"very positive" views about IS, while another 3 percent viewed the group"positive to some extent".
The survey results, however, show no significant correlation between support for IS and religiosity. Positive and negative views were found equally prevalent among respondents who identify themselves as"Very religious","Religious" and"Not religious".
Dr Mohammed al Masri, coordinator of the Arab Opinion Index, told Qatar Tribune that people having positive attitudes towards IS were driven by political considerations and not because they shared the values of IS.
People with positive views towards IS among non-religious section is equivalent to people who are holding a positive view among the religious respondents, Masri added.
According to the index, a majority of Arabs have a widespread negative view of Israel.
About 86 percent of Arabs renounced official recognition of Israel by their home countries.
About 67 percent of Arabs named both the US and Israel as the country which posed the greatest threat to collective Arab security.
About 89 percent of Arabs agreed that Israel was a threat to the stability of the Arab region and 81 percent agreed that US policies destabilised the region. About 73 percent regarded Iranian policies as destabilising.
The index highlighted Arabs' lack of confidence in the policies of international and regional powers towards the Arab world.
Majority of Arabs believed that the American foreign policy in the region was negative. About 71 percent of Arabs believe that Iranian foreign policy was negative.