According to a November 2014 study from the Doha-based Arab Center for Research and Policy Studies, 13 percent of Syrians have a “positive to some extent” view of ISIS.
The study shows that, in general, the majority of Arabs all over the Middle East have a negative view of ISIS. While 85 percent view ISIS negatively, 11 percent view them favorably.
President Obama still plans to accept 10,000 Syrian refugees despite criticism from Republicans. The president accused those against the plan of being scared of “widows and orphans.” A recent Fox News poll shows that 67 percent of Americans oppose the administration’s plan to admit Syrian refugees into the country.
The American Enterprise Institute notes 13 percent is a “significant level of support” and that “even if the vetting process were perfect, it does not account for the more than 1 in 10 refugees who may not be ISIS operatives, but are ISIS sympathizers – and thus potential ISIS recruits down the line.”
The survey was done by telephone interviews and respondents were selected at random from a database kept by the ACRPS for its annual Arab Opinion Index. “The samples thus reflect the multi-stage cluster sampling method, with a margin of error for each of the samples/population groups cited at ±4%. In addition to 900 Syrian refugees drawn equally from three countries of residence (Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey),” says the Arab Opinion Project on their website.
“The sample comprised of 600 citizens from each of seven countries: Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Tunisia and Palestine.”
A more recent poll was released by the UK based polling firm ORB International showing one in five Syrians believes that ISIS’s influence in Syria has been either “somewhat positive” or “completely positive.”