As colleges across the United States continue to witness pro-Palestinian protests, data shows that only about 7% of younger Americans are strongly in favor of the United States providing military aid to Israel in its war against Hamas, while 29% are strongly opposed to it.
About 30% of American adults age 65 and older strongly favor providing military aid, while about 9% strongly oppose it, according to the Pew Research Center.
According to the Pew Research Center, there is not a large age gap among American adults on whether the country should provide aid to Gaza, with 25-33% strongly in favor of doing so.
President Joe Biden on Wednesday signed into law a $95 billion aid package that includes $26 billion for Israel.
Student-led protests against Israel’s war in Gaza have intensified across the United States, as House Speaker Mike Johnson suggested bringing in the National Guard and police in riot gear arrested dozens of young people at the University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin) and the University of Southern California (USC).
Wednesday’s arrests in the cities of Austin and Los Angeles came as students at Harvard University and Brown University on the East Coast also defied threats of action and set up camps in solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza.
The movement, which began at Columbia University in New York last week, calls on universities to cut financial ties with Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling its brutal war in Gaza. At least 34,300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli attacks on the defeated enclave since October 7, when Hamas fighters attacked southern Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking dozens captive.
Student protests against the war have been peaceful and largely respectful, but have been met with a heavy-handed response from many universities amid accusations of anti-Semitism.