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Islamic State’s appeal in Malaysia : Comments
By Murray Hunter, published 21/1/2016Reports are coming out in the media that hundreds of Malaysians are joining the jihad in Syria and Iraq, and the elaborate means through social media young people are being recruited to the cause of Islamic State.
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So Malaysia tipping toward increased Islamization is disturbing. The slightly authoritarian nature of the Malaysian Government may be doing the wider region a service by slowing radical Islam down.
In addition to the Murray Hunter's article the news item he hotlinks to is interesting. Noting Osama bin Laden was always popular with many Saudi and Pakistani publics, IS seems to have rising popularity in Malaysia, hence:
http://www.themalaymailonline.com/malaysia/article/after-new-is-arrests-security-expert-says-malaysia-in-uncharted-waters January 17, 2016:
“Malaysians have abnormally high levels of sympathy for the IS terrorist group, according to a recent Pew Research Centre study that showed over one in 10 here viewed the organisation favourably.
Expressed support for IS was higher only in Nigeria, the home to the current deadliest terrorist organisation, the Boko Haram, as rated by the Institute of Economics and Peace’s Global Terrorism Index 2015.
In neighbouring Indonesia — the largest Muslim country in the world by population — 79 per cent of respondents said they were against IS, with just four per cent saying they were positive about the organisation."