Encouraging Trendlines From New Poll
Voices for Justice in Palestine recently hosted Jim Zogby, founder of the Arab American Institute and pollster, about his recent poll conducted in late May. The findings confirm that American attitudes toward the Israel-Palestine conflict are moving in the direction of seeking a more balanced policy. There remains a deep partisan divide: when asked if the U.S. should be a fair and impartial broker or always side with Israel, Democrats overwhelmingly support the U.S. being a fair and impartial broker (63%) to only (20%) for always siding with Israel. Republicans are evenly divided at (40% / 40%). Most views that Democrats favor, Republicans do not favor. But it is worth noting that Democrats have moved, while Republican views remain largely unchanged.
Democrats now view Palestinians more favorably than they do Israelis (51% to 46%). Democrats are more likely to say that Israel "used too much force" in the recent Gaza crisis, that Israel is wrong to evict Palestinian homeowners from E. Jerusalem. A plurality of Democrats (52%) also believe that the U.S. should have held up sale of $735 million in additional weapons to Israel, and that, in general, the U.S. should condition aid to Israel if they continue to expand settlements (62%). A majority of Democrats (58%) believe that boycott is a legitimate form of protest.
There were 2 additional findings that especially interested me. A large bipartisan majority (80%) of Democrats and (67%) of Republicans believe that Israelis and Palestinians are "equal people deserving of equal rights." Second, there were sharp differences between older and younger white evangelicals: white evangelicals under 45 had a) increased sympathy for the Palestinian people, b) higher favorability ratings for the Palestinian people, c) greater willingness to hold Israel accountable for illegal settlement expansion and the condition military aid as a consequence, and d) supported boycott as a legitimate form of protest. This suggests that the new generation of white evangelicals, unlike their parents, will be more likely to support social witness when it emphasizes equal rights, upholds the right to boycott, and calls for conditioning U.S. military aid to Israel.
The Black Lives Matter Movement and Palestinian Solidarity
The Black Lives Matter movement has embraced Palestinian rights and the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice, and equality. On Black heritage eyewitness tours of Palestine, Black Americans have said, "We've seen this before." The young Black scholar-activists that we have sent to Israel and the West Bank came back newly empowered and inspired by the Palestinian freedom fighters they met, like Issa Amro, and young activists like Ahed Tamimi, and Muna and Muhammed al-Kurd. The BLM platform makes clear that the human rights struggles of all oppressed people are interconnected. The anti-racist work white progressives have been doing, especially in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd, learning Black history, confronting their own white supremacy and privilege, working to change systemic racism in social institutions, has provided a new lens for connecting with the plight of the Palestinian people.
The Movement for Black Lives has also impacted Democratic Party politics. In the 2020 election, we would have had 4 more years of Trump were it not for Black, Brown, and Indigenous voters in swing states. It's also true that the emphasis on representation – "Nothing about us without us" – has impacted party platforms and media coverage. Palestinian voices are more regularly engaged in the media, speaking for themselves instead of being spoken about or ignored. There have been several surprisingly accurate and substantive news stories from bastions of pro-Israel sentiment such as the New York Times and the Washington Post. Showing the faces and the names of the 64 Palestinian children who were slain in the Gaza assault was definitely a step in the right direction. As white America stumbles to come to terms with the darkest corners of its racist history, it is developing exactly the kind of sensibilities needed to grasp the plight of the Palestinians. As white Americans seek to become anti-racist allies of Black, Brown, and Indigenous communities, they are gaining an awareness that sensitizes them to Palestinian yearnings for freedom and dignity.
Another factor stemming from the political power of BIPOC communities is an increasing number of pro-Palestinian voices in Congress like Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, AOC, Cori Bush, Jamaal Bowman, Andre Carson, Ayanna Pressley, and white allies like Mark Pocan, Betty McCollum, and Marie Newman. For decades in Congress, it was virtually unheard of to have strong, passionate speeches advocating Palestinian rights. No more. The cause of Palestinian freedom, justice, and equality has a group of friends in Congress.
We have also found in our advocacy work with Voices for Justice in Palestine that we are stronger and harder to dismiss when we link liberation struggles and build diverse and interfaith alliances. A congressman who is slow to hear our concerns about Palestinian rights is less likely to cold-shoulder us when he sees that Black, Muslim, and Jewish advocates are on the same call.
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