Finally, some good news from the Middle East, said the Los Angeles Times in an editorial. Al Qaida may be making a frightening comeback, but at least on one front, radical Islam appears to be losing ground. 'œSupport for suicide bombings and other violence against civilians has plunged across the Muslim world,' according to a new Pew Global Attitudes survey. In Pakistan, just 9 percent of respondents now approve of suicide attacks, down from 33 percent five years ago. In Lebanon, support for suicide bombing has dropped from 74 percent to 34 percent. In Egypt, only 8 percent now approve of that tactic. Overall, in 15 Muslim countries, a majority of people said suicide bombings can never or rarely be justified.
The most likely explanation, said The Ottawa Citizen, is the 'œboomerang effect.' Originally, suicide bombing was used to attack infidels in Israel and the West. But now that Islamic radicals are also targeting civilians in Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, and other Middle Eastern countries, 'œthe great majority of victims are themselves Muslims.' That has made Muslims realize how gruesome, and immoral, it is to dismember a crowd of civilians into a pile of bloody body parts. This is supposed to be good news? said Marty Peretz in The New Republic Online. Among Palestinians, 70 percent of those polled still think suicide bombers are glorious martyrs doing Allah's work. The vast majority of the victims of Palestinian suicide bombers, after all, aren't Muslim, but Jewish. When Pew finds that Muslims no longer justify attacks on any civilians, whether they're Muslim, Jewish, or American, then maybe I'll start celebrating.
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