Exclusive poll: Most college students shrug at nationwide protests
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College protests against Israel's war in Gaza are dominating headlines. But only a sliver of students are participating or view it as a top issue, according to a new Generation Lab survey shared exclusively with Axios.
Why it matters: The poll hints that the war — and the accompanying protests — might not hurt President Biden's election prospects among young voters as much as previously thought.
By the numbers: Only a small minority (8%) of college students have participated in either side of the protests, the survey of 1,250 college students found.
- Students ranked the conflict in the Middle East as the least important issue facing them out of nine options.
- It landed behind health care reform, racial justice and civil rights, economic fairness and opportunity, education funding and access, and climate change.
What they found: The survey found that three times as many college students blame Hamas for the current situation in Gaza than they do President Biden.
- Some 34% blame Hamas, while 19% blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 12% blame the Israeli people and 12% blame Biden.
Zoom in: A large majority (81%) of students support holding protesters accountable, agreeing with the notion that those who destroyed property or vandalized or illegally occupied buildings should be held responsible by their university, per the survey.
- A majority also said they oppose the protest tactics: 67% say occupying campus buildings is unacceptable and 58% say it's not acceptable to refuse a university's order to disperse.
- Another 90% said blocking pro-Israel students from parts of campus is unacceptable.
The other side: 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.
Zoom out: More than 2,000 people have been arrested on campuses across the U.S.
- The student demonstrations — which include on-campus encampments and building takeovers — have been met with suspensions, expulsions, arrests, police force and canceled commencement ceremonies.
Worth noting: 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.
Methodology: This study was conducted May 3-6 from a representative sample of n=1,250 students nationwide from 2-year and 4-year schools. The margin of error is +/- 2.7 percentage points. The Generation Lab conducts polling using a demographically representative sample frame of college students at community colleges, technical colleges, trade schools and public and private four-year institutions.
Go deeper: Where college negotiations ended campus protest chaos
