More than one-third of Arabs justify the 9/11 attacks, and only 23 percent believe Al Qaeda was behind the aerial suicide bombings.The poll was done by Al Arabiya and YouGov Siraj, but the raw results are not available online.
The survey included 220,000 Arabs and was carried out by the Al-Arabia television channel in Dubai and a British research institute.
Thirty-six percent of the respondents justified the attacks, but only 38 percent took the opposite view, leaving another 16 percent undecided or with no opinion.
Only 23 percent believe that Al Qaeda was behind the attacks, while a large number – 26 percent – think that the terrorist organization did not plan and carry out the hijack-bombings.
Al Arabiya has not yet translated their analysis into English.
Meanwhile, International Business Times notes the prevalence of 9/11 conspiracy theories in the Muslim world:
Following 9/11 and despite Al-Qaeda claiming the attacks, conspiracy theories emerged rapidly, with many blaming a Zionist enterprise. While many claim a Zionist involvement, very few seem able to explain how Bin Laden, a symbol of the fight against the West and the infidels for many Islamist extremists, apparently worked hand in hand with the Jewish lobby groups to prepare the attacks.
Most of the conspiracy theories insisting the leadership behind the attacks was more Zionist than Islamist. However for such bizarre beliefs to be taken seriously one would have to assume that Osama Bin Laden himself was a secret pro-Zionist and was part of a Zionist plot aimed at world domination.
While some theories accuse Israeli army veterans, an Israeli spy ring or even the media, most fail to give even a walk on part to al-Qaeda, preferring instead to focus on Jews. The surge of such theories also angered al-Qaeda leader Al-Zawahri, who at the time accused Hezbollah and Iran of being behind the rumours saying "The purpose of this lie is clear - (to suggest) that there are no heroes among the Sunnis who can hurt America as no else did in history. Iranian media snapped up this lie and repeated it," he said.