Muslim protests

Q. There have recently been protests around the world and in Australia (some violent) by Muslims against the screening of a film called ‘The Innocence of Muslims’ that negatively portrays the prophet of Islam, Mohammed. In your own view, which of the following statements is closer to your view on the protests?

A majority of respondents believe that the ‘Muslims engaged in the protests are just extremists and not representative of people who believe in Islam’ (55%).

About one third of respondents take the opposite view and believe ‘Muslims are more likely to be extremist in their views’ (29%).  Male respondents are more likely to take this view (35%) compared with females (24%), who are more likely to believe that the ‘Muslims engaged in the protests are just extremists and not representative’ (59% females, 52% males).

Looking at the results by voting intention, Greens voters are far more likely to believe that the ‘Muslims engaged in the protests are just extremists and not representative’ (73%), whereas Coalition voters are more likely to take the view that ‘Muslims are more likely to be extremist in their views’ (35%).

There were no real variations across the states and territories, save that respondents in Queensland were more likely to take the view that ‘Muslims are more likely to be extremist in their views’ (38%).