Let's start with the good news. A little over a week ago -- and just a week removed from the heinous slaughter of Israeli civilians by terrorists -- I cited a number of national surveys showing that a large majority of the American people were siding with Israel in its defensive war against Hamas. Despite the appalling pro-Hamas hate rallies that sprouted up across the country, and the explosion of anti-Israel and anti-Semitic social media vitriol, voters lopsidedly told pollsters that Israel's war to protect itself against Hamas was justified. They also said, overwhelmingly, that the US government's support of Israel was either appropriate or insufficiently strong. Less than one-in-five said the opposite.
In a polarized era, these were dramatic numbers:
New US polling
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 15, 2023
CNN: 71% call Israel’s defensive war justified — only 8% say it’s fully unjustified.
WaPo: 78% say US support for Israel is appropriate or insufficient. Just 18% say it’s too much.
Pro-Hamas faction is loud, bad, & still a small minority, thankfully 🇺🇸🇮🇱 https://t.co/g3d7dmT1M6
Roughly a week later, amid a growing global, misinformation-fueled chorus vilifying Israel and Jews, a major polling series has found America's pro-Israel sentiment is deepening, not abating:
I thought American public opinion support for Israel would peak a few days after the Oct. 7 massacre by Hamas, and then would decline amid the mounting civilian toll caused by the Israeli bombing of Gaza. So far, the opposite seems to be happening. https://t.co/CeVf9Wrk55 pic.twitter.com/K3HQonbnv6
— Yaroslav Trofimov (@yarotrof) October 20, 2023
Support for Israel has grown among Republicans, Independents and Democrats alike. The overtly and effectively pro-Hamas element is highly visible in the streets and online, but in real life, America stands strongly with Israel. That being said, there are very concerning pockets of pro-Hamas -- yes, pro-Hamas, not 'pro-Palestine' -- sympathy among two groups in particular. Here's one of them:
"Hamas was justified in attacking Israel as part of their struggle for a Palestinian state"
— Polling USA (@USA_Polling) October 22, 2023
All:
Disagree: 75%
Agree: 25%
Muslim Americans:
Agree: 58%
Disagree: 42%
Cygnal / Oct 18, 2023 / n=2020
New Cygnal poll has some terrifying results.
— AG (@AGHamilton29) October 22, 2023
Hamas just massacred 1400+ people, including 31+ Americans, in the most brutal way possible. They burned people alive.
9.5% of Americans, including 38.6% of American Muslims, still have a favorable view of their leader. pic.twitter.com/M3wkn4hQot
We've been treated to lots of knee-jerk lectures about 'Islamophobia' over the last several days, including a non-sequitur deflection from the White House Press Secretary just yesterday. Smearing broad groups of people is wrong, of course, and any manifestation of bigotry should be condemned unequivocally. When a Palestinian-American child was murdered in Illinois last week in a demented, reprisal-minded hate crime, virtually every pro-Israel person in the country denounced it. Local rabbis attended the funeral in solidarity. Civilized people reacted properly to that horrible killing. Contrast that with the throngs of people publicly celebrating the butchering of hundreds and hundreds of Jews, including many children. It's an object lesson. Which brings us back to 'Islamophobia.' It seems like it would be a very good idea for people who profess to be worried about that phenomenon to vocally reject the mass murder of Jews by genocidal, Islamist extremist terrorists.
But according to this Cygnal poll, while a large supermajority of Americans say Hamas was not justified in their slaughter of civilians overall, a majority of American Muslims say the opposite. They endorse the Hamas slaughter as justified. The same poll finds a plurality of American Muslims holding a favorable view of the terrorist group's leader. It's not a phobia -- an irrational fear -- for people to be alarmed by anyone who holds these affirmatively pro-terrorism, pro-Jew-murder stances. Younger Americans are much likelier than older generations to hold such repugnant views:
I just keep staring at these numbers. A slim majority(!) of 18-24 year old Americans say Hamas slaughtering civilians "can be justified by the grievance of Palestinians." Then 62% of the exact same group agree the massacre was "genocidal." Genocidal but justified. pic.twitter.com/cBp0pnnPFL
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 24, 2023
It's the same pattern with younger Brits:
Younger Britons are not only less likely to sympathise with Israel but are also much less likely to see Hamas as terrorists. While older Britons who came of age in the 1970s if not earlier say Hamas are terrorists, a view 81% share, only 41% of 18-24-year-olds think the same way
— Matt Goodwin (@GoodwinMJ) October 20, 2023
Maybe many of these people will age out of this horrifying ignorance (at best). Or maybe the most social media-addicted generation will be uniquely susceptible to insane, immoral misinformation. Some elected Democrats are very concerned by what they're seeing among the youngest generation within the party:
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY): “There are young people who have been indoctrinated with a hatred for Israel so visceral and fanatical that it renders them indifferent to the barbaric butchering of Israeli civilians and children,” https://t.co/kwAwKltw1q
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) October 24, 2023
Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-MA): “What I’m seeing on campuses is what I think of as illiberal leftism. I worry about Gen Z. Colleges are increasingly illiberal, and there is a rise of illiberal progressivism that is hostile to the concept of individual rights, free expression, free…
— Josh Kraushaar (@JoshKraushaar) October 24, 2023
Other elected Democrats are actively fueling the misinformation and bigotry:
She is spreading dangerous misinformation, fueled by her boiling bigotry, and she claims victimhood when people notice and react negatively. She has earned widespread contempt. https://t.co/gG31ZQFNmZ
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 23, 2023
She's evidently got allies in elite newsrooms:
BRUTAL: "As late as this weekend, after other news organizations had debunked the Palestinian propaganda, there were still some quarters inside the New York Times clinging to the—dare I say hope?—that the earlier narrative might have been right, and Israel was at fault." https://t.co/PN8rql4tiV
— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) October 24, 2023
Perhaps a third group should be added to the aforementioned groups of concern on this front, joining Muslims and Gen Z -- journalists. I'll leave you with the astounding ignorance spouted by a random 22-year-old in Brooklyn:
Understand what we're up against here. There are millions of Americans -- not a majority, but millions -- who polling indicates agree with this viewpoint.
— Logan Dobson (@LoganDobson) October 23, 2023
"I do support violence as an answer to settler colonialism" pic.twitter.com/cNdkF1VXFB
This avowedly pro-Hamas, pro-terrorism "progressive" fool asserts that Palestinians have "exhausted all other options except for violence," evidently totally unaware that the Palestinians have rejected every single peace deal ever offered, including very generous ones. He probably doesn't care. If you're willing to defend baby murder and rape in pursuit of a political cause, you're not likely to be persuaded by reason or facts. And that's the mentality that leads to scenes like this. Not over there. Here:
“There is only one solution.” Notice how many of these sickos are covering their faces. https://t.co/KogstZZNd9
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 24, 2023
Decades ago, neo-Nazis famously marched in Skokie, an Illinois community where many Holocaust survivors settled. Their fellow Jew-haters are now assaulting Jews in that same town. https://t.co/G2GmNaRznB
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 23, 2023
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