Sympathy For Palestinians Among American Millennials Sees Dramatic Rise

Sympathy for the Palestinians among American millennials has seen a dramatic rise over the past 10 years, while that for Israel has remained relatively unchanged, a poll published on Thursday revealed.

According to the Pew Research Center poll -- which surveyed general attitudes of the American public in areas of foreign policy -- sympathy for Palestinians among millennials increased 18 percent between 2006 and 2016. The results, according to Pew, represent "generational differences in sympathies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Older generations tend to be more sympathetic toward Israel than younger generations."

In 2006, nine percent of millennials said they sympathized with the Palestinians. By July 2014, 20 percent expressed sympathy with the Palestinians, increasing further to 27 percent in 2016. Today, only 43 percent of millennials say they sympathize with Israel.

Among the general public, more Americans express sympathy for Israel (54 percent) than for the Palestinians (19 percent). While sympathy for Israel "is little changed" since July 2014, Pew notes, "the share sympathizing more with the Palestinians has ticked up from 14 percent then to 19 percent today."

Politically, Republicans overwhelmingly sympathize with Israel (75 percent) over the Palestinians (7 percent), while the margin among Democrats is narrower, with 43 percent sympathizing with Israel and 29 percent with the Palestinians. Fifty-two percent of Independents express more sympathy for Israel, while 19 percent sympathize more with the Palestinians.

Originally posted at Algemeiner.com - reposted with permission