Majority of Lebanese Christians trust in Hezbollah

They survey asked people about Hezbollah’s intervention in Syria, replacing Hezbollah fighters with UN peacekeepers on Lebanon’s eastern borders with Syria, Hezbollah’s efficacy in foiling infiltration attempts by the extremist groups, and the goals of the US-led airstrikes in Syria and Iraq.

The center surveyed Christians in particular due to the fact that Christians in Syria and Iraq were among the groups recently targeted by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS). The data, which was gathered via phone from October 15th to the 17th, also took into consideration demographic distribution, age and gender.

The survey revealed that 66 percent of Christians support Hezbollah’s military intervention in Syria, in comparison to only 39 percent in June 2013 and 53 percent in February 2014.

Moreover, 58 percent of those surveyed are against replacing members of Hezbollah with international peacekeeping forces, such as INIFIL, to counter attacks by extremist groups on the eastern borders with Syria.

The survey also revealed that 65 percent of those surveyed do not believe that the threat of takfiris attacking Lebanon is in retaliation for Hezbollah’s presence in Syria, contrary to what certain political factions believe.

Furthermore, 73 percent of those surveyed said they “do not believe that the US-led airstrikes in Iraq and Syria aim at eradicating ISIS.”