Young Americans favor Palestinians despite biased Gaza coverage: Poll

A new opinion poll has found that more young Americans have favorable views of Palestinians than they do of Israelis amid Tel Aviv’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip. 

According to the survey by the Pew Research Center, a Washington-based think tank, 60 percent of Americans between the ages of 18-29 had positive views of Palestinian people, while 46 percent favored Israelis.

The poll also found that 46 percent of young American adults believe the way Israel is carrying out its Gaza onslaught is unacceptable, compared to 21 thinking otherwise.

For decades, Israel enjoyed strong bipartisan backing from Americans. In recent years, however, there has been a measurable shift in public opinion, especially among young people, away from the traditional position. 

Since the start of Israel’s US-backed war on the besieged Gaza in October, young Americans have been at the forefront of a growing Palestinian solidarity movement.

They have led mass protests across the US to vent their outrage at President Joe Biden’s support for Israel’s offensive that has so far killed at least 32,070 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured 74,298 others.

A December poll from The New York Times/Siena College found that half of young Americans believe Israel is intentionally killing civilians in Gaza.  

Mass pro-Palestinian rallies are regularly taking place across the country in major cities. Since October 7, there have been 6,304 pro-Palestine protests and other actions across the US. 

Thousands rally in front of White House to demand ceasefire in Gaza

Thousands of protesters have taken to the streets in the United States

However, the Pew poll found that 48 percent of Americans did not know the Palestinian or Israeli death toll.

The death toll for Israel in the October 7 operation led by Hamas is around 1,200 people, while more than 32,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza.

Many journalists have blamed US media coverage for the lack of awareness of either death toll, which Palestinian Americans have criticized as being largely skewed in Israel's favor.

The young adults rely on social media to hear directly from Palestinians and journalists about the ongoing Israeli war crimes in Gaza.

Major US newspapers and TV networks have shown pro-Israel bias in their coverage of the Gaza war, leading to a lack of awareness among some people of the realities on the ground.

The survey, which was conducted in February, sampled 12,693 adults in the United States with a margin of error of 1.5 percentage points. 

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