Hostages are freed from the Hyper Cacher supermarket in Paris.

The overwhelming majority of Muslims around the world are a peaceful people but what are their attitudes to the extreme elements within their religion? Just how deep is the chasm between radical and moderate Islam?

The results of multiple polls and studies on global attitudes to extremist Islamist activity shows there is tolerance, and sometimes even support, of repellent behaviour that should be categorically condemned.

A poll conducted in 2014 by ICM research found a surprising level of support for Islamic State among sections of the French, British and, to a lesser extent, German populations.

The poll of 1000 people in each country found that an alarming 15 per cent of French respondents had a positive attitude to IS. In Britain, the figure stood at 7 per cent while only 2 per cent of Germans polled were favourably disposed to the terror group.

I say only 2 per cent but that is still a disturbingly high number given only 4-5 per cent of Germans identify as Muslim.

The French figure may be an outlier but even half that figure is troubling and speaks to an undercurrent of feeling among a sizeable section of the population.

One can dismiss the findings of this research but sadly there are others that paint a similarly troubling picture.

Less than a year after Islamist suicide bombers attacked London, killing 52 people, a poll conducted by the Sunday Telegraph found that although 99 per cent of British Muslims were against the attack, 20 per cent had sympathy for the “feelings and motives” of the bombers.

But let’s not be too hasty in dismissing the significance of the 1 per cent of those polled who said the suicide bombers were right to carry out the attack.

There are about 2.7 million Muslims in the UK.

If that 1 per cent is representative, then that’s 27,000 Muslims who saw the utter carnage and devastation caused by the London bombings and thought that the attacks were “right”.

The poll also showed that an equal number of Muslims were for and against the introduction of sharia law.

Shamefully, there are now attempts to enshrine elements of sharia law in the British legal system.

This pitiful attempt to appease the more radical or devout element of the Muslim community comes at a great cost — a civilised country tolerating backward and discriminatory practices.

Unfortunately, unnerving views expressed by Muslims in Western countries are nothing new.

Pew’s 2006 Global Attitudes poll revealed that 8 per cent of Muslims in the US thought suicide bombings could “often/sometimes” be justified. A further 5 per cent thought they were justifiable
only rarely.

This permissive attitude to violent jihad among some Muslims helps explain why so many young men raised, and often born, in Western countries have gone to the Middle East to fight alongside terrorists.

According to British MP Khalid Mahmood, there are more than twice as many British Muslims fighting for extremist groups in the Middle East than there are serving in the British Army.

That mirrors the Australian experience where we have just less than 100 people in the Australian Defence Force who identify as Muslim while a much larger group than that is said to be fighting against our interests in the Middle East.

Mid last year, there were estimates that up to 300 Australian men were fighting in Syria and Iraq. The exact number is difficult to ascertain because many go to those regions via neighbouring countries such as Turkey.

Yet the harebrained arguments blaming Western imperialism and intolerance for the evils perpetrated in the name of Islam persist as do attempts to shut down debate.

We are never going to be in a position to properly tackle these issues and fully integrate the Muslim community into the mainstream if we refuse to acknowledge unpleasant facts and shy away from openly debating how we can overcome this hatred from within.

The useful idiots of the Left are forever fretting about a non-existent backlash against the Muslim community; the phony Islamophobia card is used to silence debate and deserved criticism.

In recent months, we’ve had two terror incidents on Australian soil, perpetrated by Numan Haider in Melbourne and Man Haron Monis in Sydney, with other attacks foiled thanks to the work of counter-terrorism authorities.

A sophisticated country like ours should be able to discuss issues surrounding religion and its part in inspiring acts of terror.

Stifling debate only empowers the bigots and radicals.

RITA PANAHI IS A HERALD SUN JOURNALIST