Most US college students reject disrupting campus to protest Israel, survey finds

Liberal students were four times as likely as conservatives to say that Hamas was in the right.

By Dion J. Pierre, The Algemeiner

Strong majorities of American college students would not resort to the actions pro-Hamas activists perpetrated last academic year to protest Israel’s war with Hamas in Gaza, according to a new survey conducted by North Dakota State University’s Sheila and Robert Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth.

The responses — amassed for the annually conducted American College Student Freedom, Progress, and Flourishing Survey — showed that most students reject their classmates’ flagrant rule breaking and extreme tactics, which have in many instances included assaulting and harassing Jews on campus.

The findings also revealed how today’s college students feel about free speech in the classroom, capitalism, artificial intelligence, and the future of the world.

According to the survey, 59 percent of 2,159 respondents, drawn from 466 colleges and universities across the US, said students do not have a right to occupy administrative buildings, while 80 percent disagreed that it is appropriate to “shout down” speakers whose opinions about Israel’s war with Hamas are contrary to theirs.

Meanwhile, 73 percent said they would not disrupt classes to protest, and only 13 percent have even participated in campus demonstrations related to the Middle Eastern conflict.

However, the results showed varying opinions according to political ideology.

For example, it found that “liberal/leaning” students are more likely to approve of shouting down speakers, disrupting classes, and preventing people they dislike from entering a venue in which they are scheduled to speak.

More liberal students also reported participating in campus protests — 18 percent — while just eight percent of conservative students did.

Ideological differences emerged as well when students were asked “which side is right in the Israel-Hamas war?”

According to the survey, 63 percent of liberals and 61 percent of conservatives said neither is “right,” but liberal students were four times as likely as conservatives to say that Hamas was in the right.

A higher percentage of conservatives favored Israel. Sex divided opinion too, with women being slightly more likely to approve of Hamas.

The report also found that 72 percent of students who favor Hamas claim the right to occupy administrative buildings for the purpose of staging “die-ins.”

They are, however, divided on the right to disrupt class — 49 percent said there isn’t one.

Other questions revealed that most students do not view either capitalism or socialism favorably.

About one-third worry that the advent of artificial intelligence will cause widespread unemployment.

Pro-Hamas demonstrations on college campuses, which caused an unprecedented crisis in academia last year, have fostered a hostile environment for Jewish students, causing them to feel distracted and unsafe, according to a Hillel International survey published in May.

An astounding 61 percent of Jewish students reported that “antisemitic, threatening, or derogatory language” toward Jewish people was uttered during demonstrations at their schools this past academic semester, while 58 percent said that “Gaza Solidarity Encampments” made them feel “less safe.”

Others reported being unable to focus or sleep well.

The survey — conducted by Benenson Strategy Group on behalf of Hillel International, and to which 310 Jewish college students responded — found that 40 percent have resorted to concealing their Jewish identity to avoid discrimination.

An overwhelming majority, 72 percent, said college administrators should clear encampments from school property and implement measures to prevent the disruption of commencement ceremonies.

“Jewish students, and all students, deserve to pursue their education and celebrate their graduations free from disruption, antisemitism, and hate,” Hillel International chief executive officer Adam Lehman said in announcing the results.

“Our findings demonstrate that a majority of Jewish students surveyed have experienced bias and discrimination in their classroom and academic experiences based on faculty and staff abusing their authority in support of the rule-breaking and unlawful anti-Israel encampments and protests.”

Antisemitismcollege protestsencampmentsjewish students