Nearly two-thirds of people surveyed in a new national poll said the campus protests this spring for pro-Palestinian causes had “no impact at all on their level of sympathy for Palestinians in Gaza.”
The poll, conducted by the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, found that Americans surveyed were as likely to say the campus protests made them sympathize less with the Palestinians as they were to say the protests made them sympathize with them more.
Also among the findings: 72% of those surveyed said students who participated in encampments should be punished in some form, with varying percentages supporting options ranging from written warnings to full expulsions.
FIRE, a nationwide organization, focuses on free speech issues on both sides of the political spectrum. The group previously condemned the University of Arizona for temporarily banning two education professors for their comments against Israel in class last fall.
Two encampments took place on the UA’s campus this spring, led by a group called Students Against Apartheid. Both times the group began camping out, UA Police, alongside law enforcement officers from several other agencies, responded with rubber bullets, tear gas and pepper ball guns.
Multiple students, faculty and community members were arrested at the encampments.
The campers demanded that the UA divest from all companies doing business with Israel, despite the fact it’s illegal under Arizona law for state agencies to divest. The UA, a public university, is privy to that law.
Max Thomas, a PhD student at the UA who was one of the student encampment organizers, told the Arizona Daily Star he wasn’t too concerned about the survey results. “This encampment and these protests and actions are not intended to garner sympathy from the community,” Thomas said, but were intended to show those in positions of power that “things cannot continue as usual.”
The FIRE poll, conducted with NORC at the University of Chicago, surveyed 1,309 nationally representative Americans, the organization said.
Pro-Palestinian protestors at the University of Arizona retreat after arrests.
Photos: Police break up second pro-Palestinian encampment on University of Arizona campus
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Demonstrators retreat along University Boulevard in a cloud of teargas and taking hits from pepper balls as several area law enforcement agencies use chemical ammunition to clear an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators off the University of Arizona campus, May 10, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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Demonstrators use homemade shields to fend off some of the pepper balls fired at them by law enforcement as pro-Palestinian protestors are pushed off the University of Arizona campus and west on University Boulevard, May 10, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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A demonstrator carries a street barricade, one of several protestors took to buttress the walls of their encampment of pro-Palestinian protestors on the University of Arizona campus, May 9, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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Law enforcement officers toss and kick away obstacles on Park Avenue left by retreating demonstrators as several area law enforcement clear an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators off the University of Arizona campus, May 9, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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A line of demonstrators form a line to confront the area law enforcement agencies marching towards them near the intersection of Park Avenue and University Boulevard, May 10, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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Demonstrators retreats in a cloud of tear gas as several area law enforcement agencies clear an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators off the University of Arizona campus, May 10, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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Arizona Department of Public Safety officers stop and don gas masks and riot helmets as they prepare to clear an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators off the University of Arizona campus, May 9, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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A law enforcement officer pulls the pin on a tear gas canister while clearing an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators off the University of Arizona campus, May 10, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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An officer fires a chemical ammunition round into a cluster of demonstrators while clearing an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators off the University of Arizona campus, May 10, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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A line of several area law enforcement agencies stands at the intersection of University Boulevard and Park Avenue after ejecting a small group of pro-Palestinian demonstrators off the University of Arizona campus, May 10, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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A demonstrator claps to music in an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the University of Arizona campus, May 9, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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Demonstrators hold a sign for traffic along Park Avenue outside an encampment of pro-Palestinian protestors on the University of Arizona campus, May 9, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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A demonstrator hauls in a pair of barricades appropriated to help reinforce the walls of an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the University of Arizona campus, May 9, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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A demonstrator shines a laser into the faces of photographers watching an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the University of Arizona campus, May 9, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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Officers from several area law enforcement agencies form a line and advance on an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on the University of Arizona campus, May 9, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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A demonstrator watches one line of law enforcement advance on the encampment of pro-Palestinian protestors at the University of Arizona, May 9, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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Demonstrators form a line as they prepare to face off with hundreds of law enforcement officers pushing them out of their encampment at the University of Arizona, May 9, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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Demonstrators lock arms after retreating out of their encampment as law enforcement officers push them down Park Avenue and off the University of Arizona campus, May 10, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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A demonstrator yells towards the law enforcement officers clearing an encampment of pro-Palestinian protestors at the University of Arizona, May 10, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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An organizer speaks to an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators preparing to face off with law enforcement on the University of Arizona campus, May 9, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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A couple walks past graffiti on the wall of a Main Gate Square business after law enforcement forced a knot of pro-Palestinian demonstrators off the University of Arizona, May 10, 2024, Tucson, Az.
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Two pro-Palestinian protesters organized set up a barrier to an encampment on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024. Police broke up the camp hours later.
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A woman takes photos of pro-Palestinian protesters as they march on the University of Arizona campus and set up an encampment in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters organized push back on University of Arizona police as staff tried to set up flood lights on an encampment on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024. Police broke up the camp hours later.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters set up tents for an encampment at the olive grove on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024. Police broke up the camp hours later.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters organized by Students Against Apartheid march down University Blvd. to the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024. Protesters set up another encampment which police broke up hours later.
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A single pro-Palestinian protester walks down University Blvd. towards other marchers as they make their way to the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024. The protesters set up another encampment, but it was broken up by police hours later.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters organized by Students Against Apartheid gather in Catalina Park then marched to the University of Arizona campus and set up an encampment in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters stand along a wall at the olive grove on the University of Arizona campus and set up an encampment in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024. Police broke up the camp hours later.
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An organizer speaks to pro-Palestinian protesters gathered at the olive grove on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters bring in supplies to set up an encampment at the olive grove on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024. Police broke up the camp hours later.
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A University of Arizona police officer yells out to pro-Palestinian protesters that they will be arrested for trespassing as they set up an encampment at the olive grove on campus in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024.
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A pro-Palestinian protester stands along Park Ave. near the olive grove at the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters organized by Students Against Apartheid gathered in Catalina Park then marched to the University of Arizona campus and set up an encampment in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024.
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Pro-Palestinian protesters set up an encampment at the olive grove on the University of Arizona campus in Tucson, Ariz. on May 9, 2024. Police broke up the camp hours later.
