Only a quarter of British Muslims believe Hamas definitively committed murder and rape during the October 7 attacks on Israel, a shocking new poll has revealed.
The survey also found that 40 percent of college-educated Muslims between the ages of 18 and 24 believed the terrorist organization did not commit the crimes.
The stunning findings, which come from the Henry Jackson Society, a national security think tank, come on the six-month anniversary of the massacre in which 1,200 civilians were killed and another 235 taken hostage from southern Israel.
The survey, conducted by polling firm JL Partners, also found that 46 percent of Muslims in Britain sympathized with Hamas.
Interfaith experts have warned that the results show a ‘real risk of a social cohesion problem’, adding that further education is needed to ‘inform, challenge and address longstanding anti-Semitic tropes’
Pro-Palestinian protesters held banners and flags outside the Home Office in London on Friday
Mourners were photographed today visiting the site in Re’im, Israel, where revelers were kidnapped and killed in the Hamas terror attacks on the Nova music festival last October 7.
Soldiers were seen visiting an air raid shelter there on the six-month anniversary of the massacre
When asked whether Hamas committed murder and rape on October 7, only 24 percent of British Muslims said it did – compared to 62 percent of the wider public.
Hamas terrorists are still holding about 130 hostages, a quarter of whom are believed dead.
Most of the others were released during a week-long ceasefire in November.
More than 33,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in the war, according to the health ministry in Hamas-ruled Gaza, which makes no distinction between civilians and fighters.
About 80 percent of Gaza’s population has been driven from their homes and a quarter are at risk of famine.
In January, Israel presented gruesome images to the International Court of Justice of civilians slaughtered and mutilated by Hamas terrorists on October 7.
An introduction to the film shown in The Hague recounted how more than 3,000 militants “invaded Israel from the land, sea and air” in more than 20 communities near the border and at the Nova music festival in Re’im.
Today’s poll shows that 39 percent of British Muslims say Hamas has not committed atrocities, while 37 percent say they do not know whether or not that is the case.
Younger and educated Muslims seemed most likely to think Hamas committed no atrocities that day – including 47 percent of those between the ages of 18 and 24 and 40 percent of university graduates.
According to the Israeli army, Hamas fighters bypassed Israel’s border with the Gaza Strip by flying in with a paraglider (photo: a paraglider entering Israel)
More than 250 hostages were returned to Gaza following Hamas’ attack on southern Israel
Israeli citizens were taken off the streets, transferred across the border and held captive
Researchers also found jMore than half, or 52 percent, of British Muslims believed it should be illegal to show photos of the Prophet Mohammed, compared to 16 percent of the general public.
About 32 percent, or almost a third of British Muslims surveyed, said they support the proposal Sharia law in Britain compared to nine percent of the general public Telegraph reported.
The poll also found that 46 percent of British Muslims and 16 percent across the board thought the Jewish people have too much power over British government policy.
About 41 percent of British Muslims said Jews have too much power in the media and 39 percent when it comes to the British financial system.
Fiyaz Mughal, founder of the interfaith groups Tell Mama, Faith Matters and Muslims Against Anti-Semitism, described the results as “shocking but not shocking.”
He told the newspaper: “Hamas is an Islamist extremist and terrorist group that has been terrorizing Gazans, Israelis and liberals in society for decades.
Dr. Alan Mendoza is executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, a think tank specializing in counter-extremism
“The feeling that Hamas has not committed massacres and rapes in Israel is horrible because it shows a closed mentality to everything that comes from Israel.”
“The findings confirm that much work needs to be done to inform, challenge and address longstanding anti-Semitic tropes that still circulate among some of my co-religionists.”
He called on the government to provide better guidance to teachers to improve education and warned that otherwise the country will be at risk’of a problem of social cohesion.’
Alan Mendoza, executive director of the Henry Jackson Society, criticized what he called “the failure of anti-extremism policies over the years.”
He said: ‘What is probably going wrong is the unwillingness to tackle this kind of extremism for fear of being labeled Islamophobic or racist.
The aftermath of an attack on the Supernova music festival by Hamas gunmen last October
CCTV footage shows armed men dragging a body and throwing it into the back of a car in Israel
The clipped video also showed a Hamas fighter shooting dead a dog during the October 7 attack
A Hamas man sets fire to an Israeli home during the October 7 atrocities
‘There is a reluctance to denounce this in the same way that people are very keen to denounce far-right extremism.
“The government must find a way to support and amplify the voices of moderate Muslims and push the extremist narrative to the sidelines.”
A government spokesperson said: ‘We recently set out a range of measures that will promote social cohesion and tackle religious hatred.
“Our plan will address divisions in our communities and ensure we protect our democratic freedoms across the country.”