- Young people today are more likely to support Palestine over Israel.
- Gallup polling suggests that younger Americans have always been slightly more pro-Palestine than older generations.
- The gap between younger and older generations has widened significantly.
- Young people are more left-wing and the left are more likely to be pro-Palestine.
- Social media plays a role in shaping young people's opinions, with pro-Palestine content dominating on platforms like TikTok.
- Ethnic diversity also plays a role, as non-white populations are more likely to be pro-Palestine.

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Ever since October 7th, social media has been filled with videos of pro-Palestine protests in city centres and university campuses across the West. In this video, we're going to take a look at how the younger generation's opinions of Israel differ, and the reasons for why that is.

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1 - https://news.gallup.com/poll/472070/democrats-sympathies-middle-east-shift-palestinians.aspx
2 - https://www.axios.com/2023/10/31/tiktok-views-pro-palestine-posts-israel
3 - https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/HHP_Oct23_KeyResults.pdf
4 - https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/HHP_Oct23_KeyResults.pdf
5 - https://www.economist.com/international/2023/11/02/israel-is-more-popular-than-social-media-posts-suggest
6 - https://news.gallup.com/poll/472070/democrats-sympathies-middle-east-shift-palestinians.aspx
7 - https://www.eitanhersh.com/uploads/7/9/7/5/7975685/hersh_royden_israel_paper_060921.pdf
8 - https://d3nkl3psvxxpe9.cloudfront.net/documents/TheTimes_IsraelPalestine_231102_W.pdf
9 - https://www.vox.com/2015/3/2/8130977/netanyahu-speech-explained
10 - https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/HHP_Oct23_KeyResults.pdf
11 - https://harvardharrispoll.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/HHP_Oct23_KeyResults.pdf
12 - https://www.economist.com/international/2023/11/02/israel-is-more-popular-than-social-media-posts-suggest
13 - https://www.economist.com/international/2023/11/02/israel-is-more-popular-than-social-media-posts-suggest
14 - https://www.statista.com/statistics/1299771/tiktok-global-user-age-distribution/
15 - https://www.axios.com/2023/10/31/tiktok-views-pro-palestine-posts-israel
16 - https://www.marketingcharts.com/charts/us-population-distribution-by-generation-and-race-ethnicity
17 - https://news.gallup.com/poll/472070/democrats-sympathies-middle-east-shift-palestinians.aspx
18 - https://news.gallup.com/poll/472070/democrats-sympathies-middle-east-shift-palestinians.aspx

00:00 - Introduction
00:58 - Young People are More Pro-Palestine
04:06 - Why?
04:17 - Young People are More Left-Wing
05:24 - Social Media
06:41 - Diversity
07:36 - Sponsored Content

Ever since the Hamas attack on October 7th, social media has been filled with videos of pro-Palestine protests in city centers and university campuses across the West.

What makes these protests so striking is not just their ubiquity and frequency but also the fact that the protesters are so young.

To a historically unprecedented extent, young people today are way more likely than older generations to support Palestine over Israel.

So in this video we're gonna have a look at how the younger generations opinions of Israel differ not just from today's older generations but also from previous young generations and try our best to explain why this might be.

Before we start if you haven't already please consider subscribing and ringing the bell to stay in the loop and be notified when we release new videos.

So let's start by looking at the polling.

The first thing to say is that the fact that young people are more pro-Palestine than older people isn't an entirely new phenomenon.

Gallup polling suggests that younger Americans have always been slightly more pro-Palestine than their older counterparts, or at least since Gallup started measuring sentiment by generation in 2001.

In 2002, for example, net sympathy for Israel, i.e.

The percentage of people saying they were more sympathetic to Israel minus the percentage of people saying they were more sympathetic to Palestine, was 36 for Generation X, which is 23 to 37 year olds, 43 for Baby Boomers, which is 38 to 56 year olds, and 48 for the Silent Generation, which is anyone older than 56.

In other words, back in 2002, every generation was broadly pro-Israel, but older generations were slightly more pro-Israel than their younger counterparts.

First, the gap between younger and older generations has widened significantly.

While in 2002 there were only a couple of points difference between generations Gallup polling conducted a few months before Hamas's attack found that there's a more than 30 point difference in net sympathy towards Israel between Millennials and Gen X with a nearly 50 point gap between Millennials and baby boomers.

But second, younger people are, for the first time in American history, more likely to be pro-Palestine than pro- Israel.

Gallup polling suggests that Millennials today have a net sympathy towards Israel of minus 2, which implies that more millennials sympathize with Palestine than Israel.

It's pretty safe to assume that Gen Z are even more pro-Palestine given the dominance of pro-Palestine content on Gen Z's favorite social media platforms and the fact that more recent polling by Harvard Caps Harris has found that 18 to 24 year olds are likely to be significantly more pro-Palestine than 25 to 34 year olds.

According to this polling, 52% of 18 to 24 year olds don't think that Israel is justified in trying to eliminate Hamas, compared to just 21% in America as a whole and 64% of 18-24 year olds who say that both sides have equally just causes, compared to just 39% in the wider public.

Interestingly, while 29% of 18-24 year olds back Hamas, way more than any other age group, young people also favour non-involvement more than their older counterparts, with a plurality of 18-34 year olds favouring non-involvement, but a plurality of every other age group advocating standing with Israel.

This isn't just an American phenomenon either.

Polling conducted by The Economist has found that young people across most of Europe are not just significantly less pro-Israel than their older counterparts, but also generally pro-Palestine in the aggregate.

In the UK for example, the latest polling from late October suggests that 18 to 24 year olds are 4 times more likely to be pro-Palestine than pro-Israel, which is pretty astonishing given that the UK has historically been pretty pro-Israel and that Britain as a whole is net pro-Israel.

Well, while a total explanation is probably beyond the scope of a TLDR video, we see at least 3 possible reasons.

The first is that Israel-Palestine has become a left-right coded issue.

Young people are more left-wing and the left are more likely to be pro-Palestine, so young people are more pro-Palestine.

Democrats are far more likely to be pro-Palestine than Republicans.

And support for Israel drops as people become more liberal.

Something similar is also true in the UK.

According to YouGov polling from early November, Labour voters are far more likely to support Palestine than Conservative voters.

And young voters are far more likely to both vote Labour and support Palestine.

This has a lot to do with the fact that at least since the 70s and especially since Netanyahu's return to power in 2009 Israel has become an explicitly right-wing political project.

Netanyahu actively campaigned against Clinton, and even visited Congress to give a pro-Trump speech without Obama's approval in 2015.

Back in the 50s and 60s, Israeli politics was actually dominated by the left, but it drifted right after the 1973 Yom Kippur War.

Young people are far more likely to get their news from social media, and far more distrustful of established media.

A majority of young Americans think that the media is biased towards Israel, and 32% of young Americans even think that the official narrative about the October 7th attacks is false, compared to 17% in the wider public.

Data suggests that social media is significantly more pro-Palestine than traditional media.

Analysis from The Economist found that while pro-Palestine and pro-Israel posts were roughly equal in the immediate aftermath of October the 7th, by October the 20th there were about 4 times as many pro-Palestine posts on social media than pro-Israel ones, with pro-Palestine content dominating on basically every platform.

Interestingly, the UK has by far and away the most pro-Palestine social media, with 6 times more pro-Palestine posts than pro-Israel ones.

More recent data from Axios suggests the disparity is particularly acute on TikTok, which has 1 of the youngest user bases of all social media platforms.

According to Axios, there's been about 10 times more pro-Palestine posts than pro-Israel ones on TikTok, which have received nearly 5 times as many views.

In essence, younger people have a larger non-white population, and non-whites are more likely to be pro-Palestine.

In the US, for instance, Gen Z is 49% white, compared to 72% white for boomers.

According to Gallup polling, non-white Americans are far less pro-Israel, with a sympathy towards Israel of 26% compared to 58% for white Americans.

Similarly, white Americans have a favourable opinion of Israel of 71%, while non-white Americans come in significantly lower at 62%.

So there are 3 tentative reasons that might partially explain why young people are so pro-Palestine.

Again we want to stress that this isn't intended as a complete explanation and we recognize that opinions on the issue are complicated.

If there are any other reasons you can think of, or if you think we've missed anything, do let us know in the comments.

That's unfortunately all we have time for on YouTube today, but if you enjoyed this video and want to support us in making more of this kind of content, then you should check out Nebula.

That's the creator-built and creator-owned streaming service where you can watch all of our videos and podcasts across our channels, totally ad-free.

Plus we post some of our videos on there early and there's a bunch of exclusive content already there waiting for you on the platform.

Now if that wasn't enticing enough, Nebula is also full of incredible content from other creators you know and love, like Johnny Harris, Real Life Law, and Legal Eagle, as well as lots of cool creators you haven't even discovered yet.

And the best thing is that this can all be yours for the price of just $2.50 per month.

So check it out by clicking the link in the description and make sure you use our link so they know you


Speaker 0: This video is brought to you by Nebula. Ever since the Hamas attack on October 7th, social media has been filled with videos of pro-Palestine protests in city centers and university campuses across the West. What makes these protests so striking is not just their ubiquity and frequency but also the fact that the protesters are so young. This bears out in polling. To a historically unprecedented extent, young people today are way more likely than older generations to support Palestine over Israel.

So in this video we're gonna have a look at how the younger generations opinions of Israel differ not just from today's older generations but also from previous young generations and try our best to explain why this might be. Before we start if you haven't already please consider subscribing and ringing the bell to stay in the loop and be notified when we release new videos. So let's start by looking at the polling. The first thing to say is that the fact that young people are more pro-Palestine than older people isn't an entirely new phenomenon. Gallup polling suggests that younger Americans have always been slightly more pro-Palestine than their older counterparts, or at least since Gallup started measuring sentiment by generation in 2001.

In 2002, for example, net sympathy for Israel, i.e. The percentage of people saying they were more sympathetic to Israel minus the percentage of people saying they were more sympathetic to Palestine, was 36 for Generation X, which is 23 to 37 year olds, 43 for Baby Boomers, which is 38 to 56 year olds, and 48 for the Silent Generation, which is anyone older than 56. In other words, back in 2002, every generation was broadly pro-Israel, but older generations were slightly more pro-Israel than their younger counterparts. However, today 2 things have changed. First, the gap between younger and older generations has widened significantly.

While in 2002 there were only a couple of points difference between generations Gallup polling conducted a few months before Hamas's attack found that there's a more than 30 point difference in net sympathy towards Israel between Millennials and Gen X with a nearly 50 point gap between Millennials and baby boomers. But second, younger people are, for the first time in American history, more likely to be pro-Palestine than pro- Israel. Gallup polling suggests that Millennials today have a net sympathy towards Israel of minus 2, which implies that more millennials sympathize with Palestine than Israel. It's pretty safe to assume that Gen Z are even more pro-Palestine given the dominance of pro-Palestine content on Gen Z's favorite social media platforms and the fact that more recent polling by Harvard Caps Harris has found that 18 to 24 year olds are likely to be significantly more pro-Palestine than 25 to 34 year olds. According to this polling, 52% of 18 to 24 year olds don't think that Israel is justified in trying to eliminate Hamas, compared to just 21% in America as a whole and 64% of 18-24 year olds who say that both sides have equally just causes, compared to just 39% in the wider public.

Interestingly, while 29% of 18-24 year olds back Hamas, way more than any other age group, young people also favour non-involvement more than their older counterparts, with a plurality of 18-34 year olds favouring non-involvement, but a plurality of every other age group advocating standing with Israel. This isn't just an American phenomenon either. Polling conducted by The Economist has found that young people across most of Europe are not just significantly less pro-Israel than their older counterparts, but also generally pro-Palestine in the aggregate. In the UK for example, the latest polling from late October suggests that 18 to 24 year olds are 4 times more likely to be pro-Palestine than pro-Israel, which is pretty astonishing given that the UK has historically been pretty pro-Israel and that Britain as a whole is net pro-Israel. So why is this?

Why are young people so pro-Palestine? Well, while a total explanation is probably beyond the scope of a TLDR video, we see at least 3 possible reasons. The first is that Israel-Palestine has become a left-right coded issue. Young people are more left-wing and the left are more likely to be pro-Palestine, so young people are more pro-Palestine. This bears out in polling.

Democrats are far more likely to be pro-Palestine than Republicans. And support for Israel drops as people become more liberal. Something similar is also true in the UK. According to YouGov polling from early November, Labour voters are far more likely to support Palestine than Conservative voters. And young voters are far more likely to both vote Labour and support Palestine.

This has a lot to do with the fact that at least since the 70s and especially since Netanyahu's return to power in 2009 Israel has become an explicitly right-wing political project. Netanyahu actively campaigned against Clinton, and even visited Congress to give a pro-Trump speech without Obama's approval in 2015. This wasn't always the case. Back in the 50s and 60s, Israeli politics was actually dominated by the left, but it drifted right after the 1973 Yom Kippur War. The second reason is social media.

Young people are far more likely to get their news from social media, and far more distrustful of established media. A majority of young Americans think that the media is biased towards Israel, and 32% of young Americans even think that the official narrative about the October 7th attacks is false, compared to 17% in the wider public. Data suggests that social media is significantly more pro-Palestine than traditional media. Analysis from The Economist found that while pro-Palestine and pro-Israel posts were roughly equal in the immediate aftermath of October the 7th, by October the 20th there were about 4 times as many pro-Palestine posts on social media than pro-Israel ones, with pro-Palestine content dominating on basically every platform. Interestingly, the UK has by far and away the most pro-Palestine social media, with 6 times more pro-Palestine posts than pro-Israel ones.

More recent data from Axios suggests the disparity is particularly acute on TikTok, which has 1 of the youngest user bases of all social media platforms. According to Axios, there's been about 10 times more pro-Palestine posts than pro-Israel ones on TikTok, which have received nearly 5 times as many views. The third reason is ethnic diversity. In essence, younger people have a larger non-white population, and non-whites are more likely to be pro-Palestine. In the US, for instance, Gen Z is 49% white, compared to 72% white for boomers.

According to Gallup polling, non-white Americans are far less pro-Israel, with a sympathy towards Israel of 26% compared to 58% for white Americans. Similarly, white Americans have a favourable opinion of Israel of 71%, while non-white Americans come in significantly lower at 62%. So there are 3 tentative reasons that might partially explain why young people are so pro-Palestine. Again we want to stress that this isn't intended as a complete explanation and we recognize that opinions on the issue are complicated. If there are any other reasons you can think of, or if you think we've missed anything, do let us know in the comments.

That's unfortunately all we have time for on YouTube today, but if you enjoyed this video and want to support us in making more of this kind of content, then you should check out Nebula. That's the creator-built and creator-owned streaming service where you can watch all of our videos and podcasts across our channels, totally ad-free. Plus we post some of our videos on there early and there's a bunch of exclusive content already there waiting for you on the platform. Now if that wasn't enticing enough, Nebula is also full of incredible content from other creators you know and love, like Johnny Harris, Real Life Law, and Legal Eagle, as well as lots of cool creators you haven't even discovered yet. And the best thing is that this can all be yours for the price of just $2.50 per month.

So check it out by clicking the link in the description and make sure you use our link so they know you

See all TLDR News Global transcripts on Youtube

Why are Young People so Pro-Palestine?