60% Express Support For Palestine Over Israel Recent Survey

Several pro-Palestinian protests have erupted globally since the Israel-Palestine conflict broke out on October 7, 2023. In the U.S., however, protests broke out as students protested Israel’s genocidal actions in Gaza and demanded their educational institutions divest from companies funding Israel’s apartheid against Palestinians. Several universities saw these protests, some of them being Columbia University, Yale, and others.

Real Research, an online survey app conducted a survey, ‘Survey on Pro-Palestinian Protests Sweeping US College Campuses’ to gauge public opinions on the matter. The survey findings seemed to gather mixed conclusions regarding the matter.

Highlights

• 58.5% are ‘extremely concerned’ that the pro-Palestinian protests pitted university students against each other
• Maintaining campus safety is more important than free speech, opined 52.24%
• 59.96% support Palestine in their ongoing war against Israel

Students Being Detained– NYU Law Student Disapproves

A day after the protests began, the police intervened and arrested the protesters, sparking a wave of action at other colleges across the U.S. Meanwhile, police have also arrested around 45 pro-Palestinian protesters at Yale and charged them with misdemeanor trespassing. 60.24% of our respondents seem to support this, with only 39.76% not supporting this.

An NYU law student expressed, “It’s a really outrageous crackdown by the university to allow the police to arrest students on our own campus.” When asked about the agreement of the same, 67.16% agreed with the student’s statement, leaving only 32.84% that disagreed.

Pro-Palestine vs. Pro-Israel

Furthermore, the pro-Palestinian protests have also seemingly pitted students against one another with one side being pro-Palestine, and the other, pro-Israel. Reportedly, pro-Palestinian students were demanding that their schools condemn Israel’s assault on Gaza and divest from companies that sell weapons to Israel. 58.5% reported feeling ‘extremely concerned,’ while 36.14% were somewhat concerned, and 5.36% were not at all concerned.

Read Also: 73% Call for Renewed Diplomatic Efforts for Long-Term Stability in Gaza

Freedom of Speech or Campus Safety?

In light of the recent campus pro-Palestinian tensions over the Israel-Hamas conflict, the survey proceeds to ask respondents if free expression or maintaining campus safety is important; a majority, 52.24%, opined that maintaining campus safety is more important than ‘free expression’.

Vilification of Zionism ‘Spilling Over’ Into Judaism?

Ever since the beginning of the most recent conflict against Palestine, Israel has been ‘booed’ for their genocidal actions against innocent lives. Consequently, Jews have been receiving a lot of hate recently.

A Jewish freshman at Columbia University, Nicholas Baum, 19 years old, reportedly said, “Jews are scared at Columbia, it’s as simple as that… there’s been so much vilification of Zionism, and it has spilled over into the vilification of Judaism.”

Baum along with a set of Jewish students live in a Jewish theological seminary building, two blocks at Columbia.

The survey asked if respondents were concerned about this, 67.66% were seemingly concerned, whereas, 32.34% were not.

Palestine or Israel? Respondents Pick Sides

Finally, the survey on the pro-Palestinian university protests asked about the side that they chose in the ongoing Israel-Palestine conflict, 59.96% picked Palestine. Others, notably 21.16% pick Israel, 8.72% choose both, and 10.16% pick neither.