Survey finds 27% of Muslim Americans blame Israel, Zionists for 9/11

More than one-quarter of Muslim Americans surveyed said they believe Israel or “Zionists” were responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, according to a new study released Sunday by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs (JCFA).

The survey found that 27.40% of 416 Muslim American respondents attributed the attacks to a “Zionist operation,” while only 23.56% identified al-Qaeda as responsible.

By comparison, 62.24% of 429 non-Muslim respondents identified al-Qaeda as responsible for the attacks, which killed nearly 3,000 people. The established historical record identifies al-Qaeda and Osama bin Laden’s network as responsible for the attacks.

JCFA senior researcher Dr. Irwin J. Mansdorf and International Freedom Coalition president Dr. Charles Jacobs led the study, titled “Twenty-Five Years After 9/11: Conspiracy Theories Challenge Historical Fact.”

The researchers analyzed responses from 416 Muslim Americans and 429 non-Muslim Americans and compared their views on the 9/11 attacks, national security threats, U.S. institutions and other issues.

The researchers described the findings as reflecting a “severe disintegration of a shared American reality, operating across two major vectors: a profound socio-religious chasm and a sweeping decay of historical factuality within the general public.”

In addition to the 27.4% who attributed 9/11 to Israel or “Zionists,” 18.5% of Muslim American respondents said the U.S. government or CIA was responsible. The remaining respondents identified other explanations or were unsure.

The survey also found substantial generational differences. Only 40% of respondents under 30 identified al-Qaeda as responsible for the attacks, while 28.6% said they were “unsure” who was responsible. The researchers said the level of uncertainty among younger Americans “leaves them highly susceptible to digital manipulation.”

The study also found differences in perceptions of national security threats across religious and political groups. Among the Muslim American respondents, 26.2% identified U.S. government agencies or the CIA as the “single greatest danger for a future mass-casualty event.” Meanwhile, 58% of Republican respondents identified Iran and radical Islamists as the primary danger in what the study described as a “traditional external defense posture.”

The researchers also asked respondents about political commentator Hasan Piker’s statement that “America deserved 9/11.”

Among non-Muslim respondents, 71.3% disagreed or strongly disagreed with the statement. Among Muslim American respondents, 47.1% disagreed or strongly disagreed, while 28.1% agreed or strongly agreed and another 24.8% said they were neutral.

The survey also examined whether respondents believe 9/11 should be a mandatory subject in U.S. schools. Among non-Muslim respondents, 77.5% of Republicans, 66% of Democrats and 60.8% of independents supported making 9/11 a mandatory subject. Among Muslim American respondents, 44.7% supported the proposition, while more than one-third chose a neutral response.

“The results are very clear on two points: First, there is a significant lack of knowledge among younger people about who carried out the 9/11 terrorist attacks; and second, Muslim Americans, to a much greater extent than the US population as a whole, do not accept that the attacks were carried out by the Islamist terrorists of al-Qaeda,” the research author Mansdorf told The Jerusalem Post.

“Clearly, there is a need for greater awareness and education about the events of 9/11,” he continued. “While there is a strong focus every year on commemorating the victims of the attacks, far less attention is paid to the perpetrators and the motivations behind the attacks."