As protests engulf American universities over Israel's response to an October 7 attack by Hamas, a Christian group behind a poll released Monday says it knows why Gen Z has a more favorable opinion of the terrorist group than do others: Israel is more powerful; thus, it's the oppressor.
The poll, commissioned by Summit Ministries and conducted by Scott Rasmussen's RMG Research, asked the question, "Do you believe that Israel's wealth and military power make its campaign against Hamas unjust?"
The poll found that 58 percent of American voters don't believe Israel's wealth and power make their campaign unjust, though only 42 percent of those aged 18-24, who the pollsters refer as Gen Z, agree. The poll shows that 47 percent of the group say Israel is unjust for the reason outlined, while roughly 11 percent said they were unsure.
The poll results dovetail on complaints among conservatives that elite universities focus too much of their attention on the oppressed-oppressor narrative, whereby the latter is boiled down to the group that has more wealth and might.
"We are now seeing the logical outcome of an education system that teaches students to see the world through a lens of racialist resentment," said Dr. Jeff Myers, president of Summit Ministries, which was founded in 1962 as a group to support young adults who "embrace God's truth and champion a biblical worldview."
"Gen Z is so embarrassed about being American that a large swath of them have become terrorist sympathizers," said Myers.
The poll surveyed 1,002 Americans of all race, age, education, internet usage and geography, and an additional oversample of Gen Z. It carries a margin of error of plus or minus 3.1 percentage points overall and 4.4 percentage points for Gen Z.
The release of the poll, which came just hours ahead of Passover, coincides with anti-Israel protests nationwide, most notably at Columbia University, which canceled all in-person classes on Monday.
Last week, more than 100 demonstrators who set up an encampment of tents at Columbia's Ivy League campus in New York City were arrested, though on Monday the makeshift tent city returned.
On Monday, Columbia President Nemat "Minouche" Shafik said: "Over the past days, there have been too many examples of intimidating and harassing behavior on our campus. Antisemitic language, like any other language that is used to hurt and frighten people, is unacceptable and appropriate action will be taken."
She also asked that students who do not live on campus stay away and that professors work remotely, and several news outlets noted barricades and security officers surrounded the campus.
"We cannot have one group dictate terms and attempt to disrupt important milestones like graduation to advance their point of view," Shafik said in her remarks, which were posted on the university's website.
The White House also issued a statement, reading in part: "While every American has the right to peaceful protest, calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly Antisemitic, unconscionable, and dangerous — they have no place on any college campus."
The poll released on Monday also asked whether Israel "has a right to exist as a nation in the Middle East."
Overall, 10 percent of voters believe that Israel does not, though 33 percent of Gen Z voters believe it does not.
The poll also indicated that 81 percent of voters believe that Hamas is a terrorist group, though among Gen Z, the number falls to 61 percent.
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