But there is little doubt that the cartoon controversy reinforced negative perceptions of Muslims within the West. Evidence of this can be found in a Pew Research Center poll from 2006. The poll revealed that many non-Muslims in the West blamed the controversy on Muslims and their inability to respect different viewpoints. In France, 67 percent of those surveyed felt that Muslims and their intolerance were primarily at fault for generating the conflict over the cartoons. Similar majorities existed in other countries: 62 percent in Germany, 60 percent in the United States, and 59 percent in Britain.

QUESTION: The poll is from 2006, shortly after the controversy. It would be worth checking whether these perceptions shifted in the years since.

Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Intro…, loc. 419