Poll: 14 Percent of U.S. Holds Anti-Jewish Bias
Also finds anti-Semitism and Islamophobia are linked
January 22, 2010
A new Gallup poll finds that Americans are more prejudiced toward Muslims and—wait for it—Christians than they are toward Jews. 18 percent of respondents admitted to some prejudice toward Christians, compared to only 14 percent toward Jews. The Muslim figure was much higher: 43 percent acknowledged at least “a little” bias against those of the Islamic faith. 25 percent have unfavorable views of Judaism (as opposed, it seems, to Jews). Finally, the real magic number may be seven percent: the proportion of Americans who say they have “some” or “a great deal” of prejudice toward Jews.
The other interesting result: prejudice against Jews and Muslims is correlated. Specifically, Americans with “a great deal” of anti-Jewish prejudice are much more likely to feel the same way about Muslims than an average American is. Said Gallup’s Muslim analyst, “Groups working against the two types of prejudices should perhaps form a closer alliance.”
Marc Tracy is a staff writer at The New Republic, and was previously a staff writer at Tablet. He tweets @marcatracy.
