Dear Colleagues and Friends,
I am pleased to share with you two timely items, based on our recent Critical Issues Poll.
The first item is analysis of polling data on how Americans view the campus protests over the war in Gaza. Last month, I probed American public perceptions of the Trump administration's actions toward universities, finding that most Americans say these actions were more aimed at confronting critics of the Trump administration or critics of Israel than at confronting antisemitism. But what do Americans say is driving the university protests in the first place? Our latest round of the University of Maryland Critical Issues Poll probed that question.
As I note in the analysis here, more Americans say the campus protests reflect anger with Israeli actions in Gaza than say the protests reflect antisemitic attitudes. Not surprisingly, over a third say they "don't know." While there is a partisan divide with more Republicans saying the protests are driven by antisemitism than by anger with Israeli policy, it is notable that Republicans under the age of 35, unlike older Republicans, see anger with Israel as a bigger driver of protests than antisemitism. In fact, the gap between younger and older Republicans on this issue is more than twice as large as the national gap between younger and older Americans.
The poll also found that, in reaction to the Trump administration's actions toward universities over the campus protests, more Americans express increased support for the protesters than increased support for the critics of the protesters.
The study included the impact of question-ordering when questions are likely to impact each other, with enlightening findings, particularly on the impact of what I call "the Trump factor."
The second item is an article, "Trump Made Clear He Wants a Deal with Iran. Most Americans Agree," that analyzes our recent poll on the Iran nuclear issue which found only 14% of Americans prefer military action against Iran's nuclear program, in the context of President Donald Trump's recent visit to the Gulf region and in light of recent reports and statements by Trump and administration officials. You can find the article here.
Sincerely,
Shibley Telhami