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Original poster

To think that this really can't be true about young people's thoughts about Israel?

635 replies

Another2Cats · 05/06/2024 19:52

So, I just read an article where they say they have done a poll of young people and, of those under 25, 54% said that they agree with the statement "the state of Israel should not exist". Just 21% disagreed.

Did the polling company manage to just randomly pick a bunch of people that feel this way, or is this genuinely how many young people feel?

IABU to think that this can't really be true? (I am quite prepared to accept that IABU and that this really is what a majority of young people believe)

The link is here:

https://unherd.com/newsroom/majority-of-young-britons-think-israel-should-not-exist/

and this is the text of the article:

A majority of Britain’s young people do not believe Israel should exist, a new UnHerd poll has revealed.

A preliminary finding of an exclusive survey of 1,012 voters about foreign policy, conducted by Focaldata and due to be released tomorrow on UnHerd, found that a striking 54% of 18-24-year-olds agreed with the statement that “the state of Israel should not exist.” Just 21% disagreed.

This finding dovetails with other UnHerd polling on the same issue. In a separate question, young respondents were asked who was more to blame for the war in Gaza. Half blamed the Israeli government, while a quarter answered Hamas. Only 19% responded “all equally”.

The war’s high degree of exposure online and on social media appears to have fuelled interest among Britain’s young. An AI-generated “all eyes on Rafah” graphic was shared more than 44 million times on Instagram recently, with pro-Palestine content also proliferating on TikTok. Critics have argued that the Chinese social media platform has deliberately promoted anti-Israel content, which TikTok has denied, citing the existing attitudes of its young user base.

These attitudes are reflected in further UnHerd polling, which asked young Britons about their level of interest in wars around the world. It found that Britons aged 18-24 are far more interested in the war in Gaza than they are in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or in US-China tensions. Among this group, 38% were very interested in Gaza and 28% were somewhat interested, compared with 19% and 44% who were very or somewhat interested in the war in Ukraine, respectively.

As the Israeli war enters its eighth month, public opinion has slowly shifted in Palestine’s favour. Historic polling shows that popular support for Israel was at its highest shortly after the 7 October attacks at 21%, but this figure has since fallen. Although young people were most sceptical of Israel before the attack, the overall level of support for the Jewish state over the same time frame has plummeted to 16%, according to YouGov figures.

As of this week, a new ceasefire proposal is on the table, and the US is pushing Israel to accept it. The deal would involve the exchange of prisoners for hostages and would pave the way for negotiations. A ceasefire has strong majority support in the UK.

Majority of young Britons think Israel should not exist

A majority of Britain’s young people do not believe Israel should exist, a new UnHerd poll has revealed. A preliminary finding of an exclusive survey of 1,012 voters about foreign policy, conducted by Focaldata and due to be released tomorrow on UnHerd...

https://unherd.com/newsroom/majority-of-young-britons-think-israel-should-not-exist

OP posts:
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41
ClonedSquare · 05/06/2024 20:16

I guess it depends how you interpret the statement, as it's ambiguous. Does it mean "the state of Israel should not exist in any form" or "the state of Israel as currently defined should not exist" ?

If you interpret it as the latter, I don't think it's surprising that a lot of people agree with that statement, given the situation with Gaza.

user09876543 · 05/06/2024 20:15

I suspect that if they'd done the same poll before this current tension even erupted the result would have been the same. Most children who have studied GCSE History will have studied Israel/Palestine and the Israelis don't come across well in that module which deals with 1940s onwards. My two certainly had heated debates with DH around the dinner table where they argued strongly that the Israelis were on the wrong side of history (and that the British played a significant role in messing up). Now that feeling has been strengthened.

PostItInABook · 05/06/2024 20:15

546 people aged between 18-24 is not a ‘majority’.

These ‘surveys’ are always a crock of shite.

noblegiraffe · 05/06/2024 20:09

Absolutely and totally unsurprising given the rhetoric around this conflict in recent months, including on Mumsnet.

A student from one of the encampments was on the Today programme on Radio 4 a few weeks ago and she refused to say that Israel had the right to exist.

People on MN were trying to suggest that she had an 'extreme' view, not one that was the logical conclusion of having marches and intense social media for 8 months which have decried Zionists as the most evil people on earth and calling for Palestine to be free (of Israel) from the river to the sea.

What exactly did people expect to happen?

Barleysugar86 · 05/06/2024 20:08

I think you are probably seeing Muslim children upset about the war who feel that Israel wants Gaza not to exist and so are responding that Israel shouldn't exist in kind. It's a flippant question without any exploration into the why so I wouldn't read too much into it.

Socrateswasrightaboutvoting · 05/06/2024 20:05

Another2Cats · 05/06/2024 19:52

So, I just read an article where they say they have done a poll of young people and, of those under 25, 54% said that they agree with the statement "the state of Israel should not exist". Just 21% disagreed.

Did the polling company manage to just randomly pick a bunch of people that feel this way, or is this genuinely how many young people feel?

IABU to think that this can't really be true? (I am quite prepared to accept that IABU and that this really is what a majority of young people believe)

The link is here:

https://unherd.com/newsroom/majority-of-young-britons-think-israel-should-not-exist/

and this is the text of the article:

A majority of Britain’s young people do not believe Israel should exist, a new UnHerd poll has revealed.

A preliminary finding of an exclusive survey of 1,012 voters about foreign policy, conducted by Focaldata and due to be released tomorrow on UnHerd, found that a striking 54% of 18-24-year-olds agreed with the statement that “the state of Israel should not exist.” Just 21% disagreed.

This finding dovetails with other UnHerd polling on the same issue. In a separate question, young respondents were asked who was more to blame for the war in Gaza. Half blamed the Israeli government, while a quarter answered Hamas. Only 19% responded “all equally”.

The war’s high degree of exposure online and on social media appears to have fuelled interest among Britain’s young. An AI-generated “all eyes on Rafah” graphic was shared more than 44 million times on Instagram recently, with pro-Palestine content also proliferating on TikTok. Critics have argued that the Chinese social media platform has deliberately promoted anti-Israel content, which TikTok has denied, citing the existing attitudes of its young user base.

These attitudes are reflected in further UnHerd polling, which asked young Britons about their level of interest in wars around the world. It found that Britons aged 18-24 are far more interested in the war in Gaza than they are in the Russia-Ukraine conflict or in US-China tensions. Among this group, 38% were very interested in Gaza and 28% were somewhat interested, compared with 19% and 44% who were very or somewhat interested in the war in Ukraine, respectively.

As the Israeli war enters its eighth month, public opinion has slowly shifted in Palestine’s favour. Historic polling shows that popular support for Israel was at its highest shortly after the 7 October attacks at 21%, but this figure has since fallen. Although young people were most sceptical of Israel before the attack, the overall level of support for the Jewish state over the same time frame has plummeted to 16%, according to YouGov figures.

As of this week, a new ceasefire proposal is on the table, and the US is pushing Israel to accept it. The deal would involve the exchange of prisoners for hostages and would pave the way for negotiations. A ceasefire has strong majority support in the UK.

Sadly it's no surprise. Britain has a big problem with racism and xenophobia. People say it is better now that it was, it really isn't. If you try to engage you get a lot of whataboutery, and defensiveness. The average Brit does not understand the issues or history between Palestine and Isreal.

itsgettingweird · 05/06/2024 20:04

My DS is 19.

He doesn't believe Israel shouldn't exist.

But he also doesn't agree with what the IDF is doing in Palestine.

He said he feels for both sides equally based on history.

He agrees with a ceasefire and 2 state solution.

Guavafish1 · 05/06/2024 20:03

The war conducted broke multiple international laws to protect citizens from war and lead to war crime allegations toward Isreali PM.

Destruction of
Water
Food
Hospitals
Even so called safe zones we're bombed

Over 35,000 killed the majority are children and women. Over 1 million people displaced and unable to leave or get help.

Hell on earth

Pixiesgirl · 05/06/2024 19:59

Not sure if my dd would agree with the statement about not existing, but she certainly feels a strong anti Israeli government sentiment (as do I tbh). Neither of us are Hamas sympathisers either.

CornflakesOnTheSolesOfHerShoes · 05/06/2024 19:56

That’s absolutely terrifying. I hope it’s not true, but if Israel wasn’t really on their radar before and they’ve now had eight months of being told it’s an oppressive colonial power perpetuating apartheid and genocide, that might well be how they see it.

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