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US Muslims view Trump as unfriendly: Poll

Wednesday, 26 July 2017 10:01 AM [ Last Update: Wednesday, 26 July 2017 10:35 AM ]

International travelers arrive on the first day of the the partial reinstatement of the Trump travel ban, temporarily barring travelers from six Muslim-majority nations from entering the U.S., at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) on June 29, 2017 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by AFP)

American Muslims say they have experienced deep suspicion about their faith since Donald Trump took office in January, a survey shows.

Almost three-quarters of US Muslims see Trump as unfriendly toward them, shows a Pew Research Center report released Wednesday.

The Pew survey, which is its third on American Muslims since 2007 and its first since Trump became president, surveyed 1,001 adults by phone, both landline and cellphones, between Jan. 23 and May 2, in English, Arabic, Farsi and Urdu.

Sixty-four percent of those with a more distinct Muslim identity, like a head covering for women, noted that they had recently experienced some sort of discrimination and nearly half of them say they had the same problem last year, such as being treated with distrust, threatened or called an offensive name.

The poll also shows that the Muslims were optimistic about their future. Seventy percent say hard work will result in success in America.

Nearly half of them note they received more support from individual non-Muslim Americans during the past year.

“There’s a sense among the American Muslim population that others are beginning to understand them and beginning to sympathize with them,” said Amaney Jamal, a Princeton University political scientist and adviser to Pew researchers.

Prejudice against Muslims has “pushed the average American to say, ‘This is really not fair. I’m going to knock on my neighbor’s door to see if they’re all right,” Jamal added.

In January, Trump issued a temporary ban on travel from some Muslim-majority countries which sparked protests and chaos at airports around the country and the world.

Opponents of the ban, including states and refugee advocacy groups, sued to stop it, arguing that the controversial ban discriminated against Muslims.

Last month, the US Supreme Court ruled in favor of the administration. However, it limited the scope of the Muslim ban, saying it could not apply to anyone with a credible "bona fide relationship" with a US person or entity.

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