Tuesday, February 20, 2007

"Among the Middle Eastern publics surveyed, the Lebanese are the most optimistic that Muslim and Western cultures can find common ground. More than two out of three (68%) Lebanese hold this view while only a quarter (26%) believes that violent conflict between Muslim and Western cultures is inevitable. The Lebanese overwhelmingly (78%) attribute current tensions between Islam and the West to conflicts over political power and interests rather than differences in religion or culture. Similarly, most Lebanese (59%) blame the tensions on intolerant minorities, whether such minorities are from both sides (24%), Western (20%), or Muslim (15%). Only about one-third (35%) of Lebanese believes these tensions are rooted in “fundamental differences between these two cultures.”"