The antisemitic protests and student camps began at Columbia University, where even the daughter of Congresswoman Ilhan Omar participated, and quickly spread to other campuses throughout the country. However, with the authorities now in control of the situation, voters were not very convinced of the "Palestinian cause."
The University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) and the University of Texas at Austin were some of the other venues where some students demonstrated against Israel. There were even scenes of maximum tension between the protesters and the local authorities in this last educational institution.
Have Campus Protests Backfired?
If the goal of students in recent campus protests was to make American voters more sympathetic to Palestinians, they’ve clearly failed.
More At Rasmussen Reports:https://t.co/h0oQREHpkX pic.twitter.com/MkVH5gvX6s
— Rasmussen Reports (@Rasmussen_Poll) May 8, 2024
Days later, between May 2 and 6, Rasmussen Reports evaluated the impact of the protests on public opinion. The pollster asked four questions to its sample of likely voters, among which the following stood out: "Have the university protests made you sympathize more or less with the Palestinians? Or have the protests not changed the way you see the Palestinians much?"
According to their findings, a plurality of respondents, 42%, said the protests made them "less sympathetic to Palestinians." On the other hand, 37% said that the demonstrations did not make much difference to them. Therefore, between those who became more hostile towards the Palestinian cause and those who did not give much importance to the situation, there are 79% of those surveyed. In turn, only 15% responded that the demonstrations made them "more understanding of the Palestinians."
It is estimated that more than 2,000 people were arrested due to the protests and camps at universities, of which at least 200 occurred at UCLA.
