By the way, I’m truly not making a statement about what ought to be, but it’s important to recognize where people currently are–including the youngs:
(I’m pleasantly surprised healthcare reform ranks so high among students)
And, according to Axios:
- 45% said they support the encampments either strongly or a little bit. 30% were neutral, and 24% were strongly or a bit opposed.
- Some 34% blame Hamas, while 19% blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 12% blame the Israeli people and 12% blame Biden.
- Students were still more likely to say they support the pro-Palestininan encampments than oppose them. 45% said they support them either strongly or a little bit. 30% were neutral, and 24% were strongly or a bit opposed.
Also, very large majorities of students did not approve of occupying campus buildings, ignoring orders to disperse, and blocking pro-Israel students from parts of campus; people, including the youngs, just don’t like disruption. I am, however, surprised Netanyahu isn’t getting more blame: that seems to be a failure of communication.
And this probably isn’t winning protestors any friends (literally):
A majority of people (58%) who participated in or favored protests against Israel said they would not consider being friends with someone who has marched for Israel. Meanwhile, 64% of those who participated in a pro-Israel protest said they would still be friends with someone who has marched against Israel.
Keep in mind, we don’t know (or at least Axios isn’t telling us) for whom each of these various subgroups would vote. If the twelve percent who blame Biden would have overwhelmingly voted for him, but now are going to sit out the election, that still could be a problem, and I’m guessing the 24% who oppose the encampments aren’t especially fond of Biden, at least relative to other students. But I think a fair number of people on the left need to be more realistic about where people are. Social media isn’t a good barometer, to say the least.
mikethemadbiologist