By Staff Reporter |
A majority of college students support pro-Hamas protests and a significant percentage condone violence.
According to a survey of nearly 800 full-time college students by Intelligent.com, 65 percent of students were supportive of the pro-Hamas protests. 36 percent of those students supportive of protests condoned the use of violence. About 18 percent of respondents opposed punishment for student protesters who broke the law, compared to 60 percent who were supportive of punishment for lawbreakers and 22 percent who were unsure.
A slightly higher percentage of students expressed opposition to punishment for student protesters who violate school policy, compared to 55 percent who expressed support for punishment and 24 percent who were unsure.
51 percent of protest supporters said they sympathized with Hamas. By comparison, 40 percent of all respondents said they sympathized with Hamas. However, 71 percent of all respondents expressed the belief that Israel has the right to exist.
While not all condoned acts of violence, a greater majority supported aggressive and even unlawful protest tactics. 75 percent reported support for encampments, 45 percent reported support for blocking students from attending class, and 38 percent reported support for canceling graduation ceremonies.
36 percent of students revealed that the protests caused them to be more supportive of Palestine, and 46 percent said the protests didn’t sway their level of support.
Eight percent of protest supporters revealed that they disliked Jewish people, 39 percent said they had no opinion, and 51 percent had a favorable opinion.
The survey also offered insight to a main source of information for college-age students: TikTok. 31 percent reported that the Chinese-owned social media app provided them with the background and updates on the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
By comparison, about 15 percent of college students reported TV news as their source of information on the conflict. As for the others: a little over ten percent cited Instagram and YouTube, respectively, while about ten percent cited friends and family. Less than ten percent cited newspaper articles, and less than five percent cited professors, academic papers or books, or other sources of information.
This survey took place from May 1 to 2, across 763 full-time college students ages 18 to 24 balanced across four U.S. regions: Northeast, Midwest, West, and South.
Though gatherings and smaller protests began after Israel’s response to the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, the larger and rowdier pro-Hamas protests — marked by their encampments — broke out across all of Arizona’s public universities late last month. Many persist despite encampment teardowns from law enforcement as well as punitive measures like arrests and student suspensions.
Several activist groups have led in organizing the protests, facilitating resources for protesters, or establishing encampments, including: Arizona Palestine Solidarity Alliance, Mass Liberation Arizona, Muslim Students of America, Students for Justice in Palestine, Tucson Coalition for Palestine, Arizona Palestine Network, and Jewish Voice for Peace.
Activists with Mass Liberation Arizona and other groups also plan to pack the Maricopa County courthouse next Tuesday to protest the charges filed against those who encamped at Arizona State University.
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