What Netanyahu’s ‘welcome’ tells us about young America

POLICE detain US actress Susan Sarandon and other pro-Palestinian demonstrators near UN headquarters in New York, ahead of the Israeli prime minister’s address to the UN General Assembly.—AFP WASHINGTON: The most striking feature of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s appearance in New York this week was not simply the hundreds of protesters outside the United Nations, or the diplomats who walked out when he began speaking; it was the people standing outside. They included Palestini­ans and other Muslims, but also Jews, Christians, secular Americans, professors, artists and young activists, who all said they could no longer remain silent about the destruction in Gaza. Something fundamental appears to be changing in America. Younger Americans increasingly view Israel and the Palestinians differently from their parents and grandparents. A Pew Research Center survey conducted in May found that only 18pc of Americans aged 18 to 29 had a favourable view of the Israeli government, compared with 47pc among those aged 65 and older. By contrast, 58pc of the youngest Americans had a favourable view of Palestinians, compared with 47pc among those 65 and older. Devastating images from Gaza are reshaping young people’s views of Israel However, only 13pc of young adults view Hamas favourably. That distinction is important because the polling shows that many younger Americans increasingly distinguish between Palestinians and Hamas, while becoming more critical of the Israeli government. Shibley Telhami, a University of Maryland political scientist, notes that the images confronting younger Americans are vastly different from those that shaped earlier generations. Older Americans came of age with memories of Israel’s creation after Holocaust and its early wars. Younger Americans have grown up watching Gaza on their phones — dead children, displaced families and destroyed neighbourhoods. For many, Gaza has become a formative political experience. The shift is also visib