A very recent poll by the New York Times indicated that American youth are more inclined to oppose President Biden’s handling of the Israeli-Hamas conflict in Gaza. For example, the poll noted that voters between 18 and 29 years old, traditionally a heavily Democratic demographic, jump out. Nearly three quarters of them disapprove of the way Mr. Biden is handling the conflict in Gaza. On the other hand, older voters were far more sympathetic to Biden’s efforts. Fifty-two percent of registered voters 65 years and older approve of Biden’s actions on Israel, 12 percentage points more than those who disapprove. Biden’s administration has refused to officially call for a cease fire, while pushing Israel to allow more humanitarian aid into Gaza.
In Canada, the governing Liberal Party under Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has take a more moderate stance, now calling for a cease fire to allow more aid for Palestinians into the devastated region along with the release of the hostages held by Hamas. In either case, there is no win-win scenario for President Biden or Prime Minister Trudeau. Pro-Palestinian protests in both countries are continuing, with a good deal of growing support on university and college campuses. One of the main factors influencing the youth in both countries is the daily rapid access to scenes in the war zone, especially violent imagery of civilian casualties and hospital bombings, often through social media such as TikTok and Instagram. Young people who use social media primarily to get their news find such images as being horrific and merciless.
The same result can be seen in the Ukraine-Russia conflict. Besides mainstream media, social media is also being used by both sides to influence our opinions of the war. In some cases, recorded events are most likely going to be used to support allegations of war crimes against the Russian forces. News media tends to slip between both conflicts, reporting mainly on the most significant and often horrendous events involving loss of life and mass destruction. Everyday, terrible scenes of innocent civilians fleeing the war zone are propelled across our television screens and onto our tablets and cellphones. At no other time in history has so much instant coverage occurred, influencing viewers and policy makers alike. The most affected of course are young people who did not live through 9/11 or the Iraq war.
As more time goes on, the initial causes behind conflicts are often forgotten and become less important than the most recent revelations of atrocities and humanitarian crisis. The longer the conflicts continue, support for current foreign policy positions will take a hit. We see this among European Union countries, most notably Hungary, where support for Ukraine may be waning and opposition growing. The same can be said for the Israeli-Hamas conflict which increasingly is turning into a broader conflict with the Palestinian population, not only in Gaza but also in the West Bank. Israel still retains healthy allegiances in the U.S. However, as the above noted poll indicated, the future of such sentiments is unclear. Among young voters, 46 percent sympathize more with the Palestinians, against 27 percent who favour Israel.
There is little doubt that the opposing parties will continue to use social media in order to win over support their causes. Especially by young people, it’s 24/7 and it’s readily accessible and most often not authenticate or corroborated. Whether or not you think that it’s a form of propaganda, the use of social media will continue to play a very important role.
FROLITICKS 