Hidden truths behind polls supporting Israel.
According to a new Harvard/Harris poll, only the police and military are more respected than Israel. It’s heartening that Americans overwhelmingly support civilization over the Islamofascists of Gaza and Iran.
Then again, “Palestinian Authority” gets 17 percent support, and Hamas has a 14 percent positive rating — which is to say, 14 percent of your neighbors have taken the side of a medieval religious cult that’s vicious enough to cut Jewish babies out of mothers before beheading them. If 14 percent of Americans supported ISIS or al Qaeda or the Nazi Party, we would probably be concerned.
Anyway, those numbers seem far too small to me. I think there’s a good reason why. For one thing, many of those who claim to be “supporters” of the Jewish State are not. The Barack Obama types, who do the perfunctory throat-clearing about Israel’s right to exist before going into the usual reasons it should not. This faction — let’s be generous and call them “both-siders” — is a growing concern in the Democratic Party and on the fringes of the right.
According to the Harvard poll crosstabs, 36 percent of “liberals” of all ages agreed that the Hamas attack on civilians was justified. 15 percent of “conservatives.” While antisemitism isn’t the exclusive domain of left or right, full-blown Hamas apologists are now deeply embedded in left-wing institutions such as universities, major newspapers, cable news, progressive politics, think tanks, and the State Department. They have the kind of disproportionate reach and institutional respect that cosplaying Nazis standing in front of Disney playing with themselves can only dream about.
Also according to the Harvard poll, a majority of 18- to 24-year-olds believe the killing of more than 1,200 Israeli and American civilians was justified. Nearly half of those 25 to 35 believe it was justified. That percentage might be a bit lower than what you find in The New York Times newsroom; nevertheless, it is only going to get worse.
How many young people working as engineers or carpenters or starting a new business or at home tending to a new family support Hamas? Very few, one imagines. What about the lit majors or those pursuing international relations degrees or Ph.D.s in one of the social pseudosciences? There is little hope for those who attend hermetically sealed ideological laboratories of higher “learning,” where identitarianism, intersectionality, and other iterations of Marxism — most contingent on some form of antisemitism — are taught.
These institutions are run by cowardly administrators who only stand up for free speech when defending terror apologists. They will continue to create credentialed nitwits. These are not often places for young people to learn critical thinking skills. But they are places that produce ideologues who’ll be getting those editorial jobs and professorships and teachers union presidencies and law clerkships and security clearance jobs at the Pentagon.
Who else makes up this minority? We’re not supposed to talk about it, but it’s clear. According to a Cygnal poll (the outfit gets an “A” rating from FiveThirtyEight), a majority of American Muslims agree that Hamas was “justified” in its attack on Israel as well.
Though it is indisputable that antisemitism is deeply ingrained in certain Muslim communities, to say so will likely get you smeared as “Islamophobic” — always a big topic of conversation in Washington when Jews are being murdered.
But look to Europe, where crimes against Jews have skyrocketed in places with high levels of immigration from the Middle East, to understand the potential problem. When Pew polled the Muslim world, it found nearly universal antipathy toward Jews. Not only in places like Jordan and Egypt, where governments have spent decades ginning up Jew-hatred to distract from their own failing, but also in Muslim-majority nations like Indonesia, where there are around 20 Jews and the Israeli border sits thousands of miles away. Antisemites like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib did not appear from the ether. They represent communities in Michigan and Minnesota.
There were dozens of Charlottesville-type marches in the United States last week, with chants of genocide ringing in the air. They were attended largely by Muslim protesters, along with the hard left (including a number of self-hating Jews.) Though Jews are by far the most targeted religious minority in the United States, we have yet to have a big national conversation about the problem. No one in major media dares even bring it up.
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25, are more likely to support Hamas and the Palestinian Authority. This raises questions about the role of education and ideology in shaping these viewpoints. Are these young individuals being indoctrinated with anti-Israel sentiments through their education? Are certain ideologies, such as progressive politics, promoting sympathy towards extremist groups like Hamas
Title: The Troubling Support for Hamas: A Closer Look at Recent Poll Results
Introduction
A recently conducted Harvard/Harris poll has shed light on the opinions of the American public regarding the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. While it is heartening to see overwhelming support for civilization over extremism, the results also highlight concerning trends that need to be addressed. This article analyzes the poll data and delves deeper into the factors that contribute to this support for Hamas, particularly among certain factions of society.
The Poll Results
According to the Harvard/Harris poll, only the police and the military are more respected than Israel among Americans. This finding illustrates the prevailing sentiment that favors a democratic nation over extremist factions such as Hamas and Iran. However, the survey also reveals that 14 percent of Americans have a positive rating for Hamas, while 17 percent support the Palestinian Authority. Such figures raise alarm bells, as supporting a group with a brutal ideology that targets innocent civilians is deeply concerning.
The Role of “Both-Siders”
One possible explanation for these numbers is the presence of individuals who claim to support Israel but are critical of its policies. These “both-siders” acknowledge Israel’s right to exist but often focus on its perceived faults. This faction, which can be found within the Democratic Party and fringes of the right, poses a growing concern. While criticism is essential in any democracy, it is alarming when it becomes a mask for detractors to support or justify violence against the Jewish state.
The Influence of Left-Wing Institutions
The poll’s crosstabs indicate that 36 percent of liberals, across all age groups, deemed the Hamas attack on civilians justified, while 15 percent of conservatives shared this belief. This illustrates that while anti-Semitism can arise from any political ideology, there is a growing presence of left-wing institutions that harbor full-blown Hamas apologists. These institutions include universities, major newspapers, cable news networks, progressive politics, think tanks, and even the State Department. The disproportionate reach and institutional respect given to these apologists contribute to a dangerous normalization of violence and extremism.
The Influence of Education and Ideology
The poll further highlights that the younger demographic, particularly those between the ages of 18 and
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