Few American college students view the Israel-Hamas war as a major issue in their lives while most shun the excesses of pro-terror protesters on campuses across the country, a new poll shows.
Just 8% of students say they have taken part in pro or anti-Israel demonstrations that began at Columbia University April 17 and spread across America — and 81% want universities to hold protesters accountable who destroy property, vandalize, or illegally occupy campus buildings, per the survey carried out by Generation Lab for Axios.
In addition, two-thirds of students (67%) said that occupying campus buildings was an unacceptable form of protest, while 58% said the same of refusing orders to disperse.
Nine in 10 students said demonstrators blocking pro-Israel or Jewish students from accessing parts of campus — as notoriously happened at UCLA — was also unacceptable.
Just 13% of students said the Middle East war was one of the three most important issues to them — far behind topics such as health care, climate change, gun control and immigration.
Four in 10 students said healthcare reform was one of their top three issues, followed by educational funding (38%), economic fairness (37%), racial justice (36%), climate change (35%), gun control (32%), immigration (21%) and national security (15%).
A plurality of students (34%) pinned the blame for the conflict on Hamas, which triggered a declaration of war by Israel when it attacked the Jewish state on Oct. 7, killing an estimated 1,200 people including 33 Americans.
Another 19% blamed the war on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and 12% pointed the finger at President Biden.
Despite their unease with some of the protester tactics, 45% still said they supported anti-Israel encampments, while 30% indicated they were neutral and 24% were opposed to some degree.
In a sign of the bitter feelings held by demonstrators against the Jewish state, 58% who support or have participated in anti-Israel protests say they would not consider being friends with someone who held opposing views.
On the other hand, 64% of pro-Israel students said they would still be friends with a peer who participated in anti-Israel demonstrations.
The Generation Lab poll sampled 1,250 students at two-year and four-year colleges May 3–6. The poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 2.7 percentage points.
