There's a key finding in this poll done by the Gallup Muslim West Facts Project that I don't think is getting enough attention. The report finds that an astonishing number of Americans, nearly half (43%) admit having at least "a little" prejudice towards Muslims. That goes a long way towards explaining how someone like Senator James Inhofe could say "I believe in racial and ethnic profiling" and not be ashamed. Martin Luther King Jr. Day was just this Monday, champ.
But guess what correlates highly with "a great deal" of prejudice towards Muslims? Anti-Semitism. From the report:
Among the top variables, respondents who report “a great deal” of prejudice toward Jews are about 32 times as likely to report the same level of prejudice toward Muslims.
Somehow I don't find this surprising.
-- A. Serwer
