According to the website greekcitytimes.com, the situation and opinion of Greek citizens varied significantly on Islam in the country between two polls 15 years apart, indicative of the changes that have taken place.
"In 2009, Public Issue investigated, for the first time in Greece, the attitudes of Greeks towards Islam, the social perceptions of the concepts and symbols associated with the Islamic religion, the degree of knowledge and familiarity of citizens with the Islamic tradition, as well as existing social beliefs about the relations between Islam and the West and Islam and Greece.
The current findings are compared with those of 2009
Importantly, the survey was conducted shortly before the Greek financial crisis, the recourse to the International Monetary Fund (2010) and the imposition of the memorandum policies. It depicts a completely different social reality from today's.
The key questions of the original survey are repeated in the company's new survey, conducted in December 2023.
Over the last two decades, with a turning point in 2016, there has been a rapid increase in migration flows of Muslim populations to Greece, mainly from South Asian and Middle Eastern countries.
As a result, over the last 15 years (2009-2023), social attitudes in Greece towards the Muslim world have changed dramatically.
Greek public opinion, generally following the pan-European trend, is clearly more negative or even hostile towards the Muslim world.
Attitude of Greek citizens towards the symbols of Islam
According to the results of the 2009 survey, more than 5 out of 10 Greeks had a neutral attitude towards the traditional concepts and symbols of the Islamic world, stating that they have "neither a positive nor a negative impression" of words related to Islam, such as "Arabs" (50%), "Quran" (52%), "Muslims" (53%), "Prophet Muhammad" (53%), "Mosque" (54%) and "Islam" (61%).
However, as early as 2009, words with a more fundamentalist tone, such as, for example, "Burqa", "Hijab" and "Jihad", caused a "negative impression" in 67%, 62% and 53% , respectively.
It is a given that traditionally, in Western countries, these concepts have always been negatively charged.
'Hijab' is seen as a remnant of a patriarchal, non-secular society, 'burqa' has become synonymous with the oppression of women's human rights, while 'jihad' has become synonymous with 'holy war'.
What has changed since then in the way Greek society deals with the increased coexistence with Muslim populations?
The findings of the new December 2023 survey show that a major ideological shift has occurred in the 15 years since
Both the general image of the Islamic religion, the word "Islam" itself and the image of the Muslim mosque (the word "mosque"), and the image of the Muslim believer (the "person" which the word "Muslim" registers - distinctly - a shift from a neutral position (it causes "neither positive/nor negative impression") to highly negative attitudes.
The word "Islam" now creates a negative impression at more than double the rate, 59%, compared to 23% in 2009 (+36%), the word "Muslim", at 39%, compared to 26% (+13%) and the word "mosque", at 36%, compared to 23% previously (+13%).
General picture of Islam (2009-2023)
In 2009, almost 1 in 2 Greeks (54%) perceived Islam only as a religion and not as a political movement.
Moreover, 8 in 10 said they "did not know the teachings and customs of Islam" (77%), while almost the same proportion (83%) said they "had never had contact with the Qur'an".
Today, in Greece, 51% of citizens, a similar percentage to that recorded in the 2009 survey, still perceive Islam exclusively as a religion.
However, in the 15 years since the previous survey, the percentage of Greek citizens who accept Islam has increased significantly, not only as a purely religious phenomenon but also as a political and cultural phenomenon.
This percentage in Greece represents one third of public opinion (33%, up from only 12% in 2009).
As far as Greek public opinion's views on the relations between Islam and the West are concerned, it should be stressed that the perception that Christianity is in "conflict" with Islam is widely established in Greek society.
This belief was already reflected in the 2009 survey, to the extent that 67% of Greek citizens, i.e. 2 out of 3, believed that there is a "clash of civilisations" between Christianity and Islam.
However, in the 15 years since then, all indications are that this trend has been further reinforced.
Today, the corresponding figure has widened considerably (generalised), approaching 79%, i.e. it now concerns 8 out of 10 citizens (Figure 5).
It is noteworthy, moreover, that in 2009 almost 1 in 2 respondents (55%) did not rule out the possibility of further conflict between Islam and the West in the future.
Greece against Islam
Cultural "incompatibility" and fear of the Islamic "danger"
Comparing the results of the two empirical Public Issue surveys on existing social perceptions, it is clear that there are large and widening differences between Greece and the Islamic world.
In fact, there is a complete alienation of the majority of Greek society from the Islamic world, despite the size of the Muslim immigrant populations that have flowed into the country over the last two decades, and probably because of them, has not changed significantly between 2009 and 2023.
Specifically, for the majority of Greek citizens, and specifically for 62% of respondents today (63% in 2009), i.e. consistently 6 out of 10 citizens, the distance between Greece and the Islamic world is characterized as "great".
Moreover, in 2009, there was also a relatively strong opposition as 27% (more than 1 in 4 respondents) considered this distance "small", while the corresponding percentage has shrunk to just 7% today.
This finding is empirical evidence that cultural "incompatibility" has been reinforced.
As a consequence of this ideological/cultural 'distance', the fear of the so-called 'Islamic danger' is to some extent reinforced.
Although 52%, i.e. 5 out of 10 citizens (7 out of 10 in 2009, 70%) believe that Greece is not currently in danger from Islam, the change that has taken place in the last 15 years is not negligible.
According to the recent survey, the percentage of citizens who accept that there is an "Islamic danger" has increased from 27% in 2009 to 39% today (+12%).
According to the survey findings, Egyptians (54%), Palestinians (44%) and Syrians (44%) are the nationalities that Greeks like the most today.
The positive differentiation in the image of Egyptians is not only due to the traditionally friendly relations between the two countries but most likely also to the recently upgraded diplomatic relations.
In contrast, the nationalities with the lowest level of liking are Pakistanis (22%), Afghans (22%) and Iranians (30%).
Israelis and Turks occupy an intermediate position, registering a similar level of sympathy, 35% (in 1/3 of the social body).
In terms of nationalities, the image of Palestinians shows a greater deterioration, with 27%, a reversal from what used to characterize Greek public opinion.
This development is not only the result of the current situation (the Gaza war) but is also related to longer-term processes and trends concerning the change in Greek foreign policy and the approach to Israel. Of course, this change has influenced the image that Greek public opinion currently has of the Israelis in a positive direction, although it does not reverse - over time - its negative balance ("like" 35%, against "dislike" 49%).
It should be noted, however, that the improvement in the image of Israelis, +8%, is the only discernible positive change observed among the nationalities surveyed, given that sympathy for Turks remains essentially unchanged (35%, compared to 34% before, +1%)," the article concludes.
The opinion of Greek citizens and their view on Islam is of grave importance for any Greek government in our country. The case of integration is the biggest problem not only for Greece, but for all countries in Europe.
As a first measure it would be to find a way to seal both the Greek borders and the borders of the other countries of the South, because the problem in the coming years will be very big with uncharted consequences for the history of Europe which is constantly being ethnically altered.
