Student attitudes towards Israel and the Palestinians at a major USA campus: A survey at MIT in Cambridge, Massachusetts Irwin

J. Mansdorf, PhD1 and Dalia Leibowitz2 Summary of major findings: We used a random convenience sample of 89 students at MIT. We had 46 men, 43 women divided between about 65% undergraduates and 35% graduate students. Average age was 21.7 years, 68.5% identified as either "democrat" or "liberal", 11.2% as "republican" or "conservative" and the remainder as "other." Caucasians were the majority ethnic group (57.3%) and 11.2% identified themselves as "international" students. We asked a number of questions on "foreign policy" that did not identify the purpose of the survey as one whose intent it is to gauge opinion specifically about Israel and the Palestinians. After all questions were asked, we asked the respondents whom they sympathize with to a greater degree, Israel or the Palestinians. Among the questions asked were items that concerned United States policy towards Europe, the Koreas, China, Russia and the Middle East. We also sought to understand the impact of the ideology of Prof. Noam Chomsky (of MIT) on the thinking of these students.

Our findings were as follows: Students have little awareness of Prof. Chomsky and are generally not familiar with his ideology. When asked "How familiar are you with the ideology of Prof. Noam Chomsky?", the average rating, on a scale of 1-10, was 2.9. When asked "how much would you say his ideology has affected your thinking on foreign policy?" the score was even lower, with an average rating of 1.8 (also on a scale of 1-10). We can conclude that the impact of Prof. Chomsky of this particular sample of students at his own university was negligible at best. In general, student support for Israel is strong. When asked to rate a group of 10 countries in terms of who can be considered a reliable ally of the United States, Israel scored 7 out of 10 on a scale of 1-10, with only England scoring higher (8.6). The Palestinian Authority scored lowest of all the countries, with a "reliable ally" score of 4.3. The other countries were China (5.1), Egypt (4.5), South Korea (6.6), Turkey (5.7), Russia (4.7), Saudi Arabia (5.3) and Mexico (6.6). When asked which country the United States should lean towards supporting more, the students consistently chose Israel over other Arab countries by a wide margin. When pairing Israel and the Palestinians, 75.2% of the sample chose Israel, 19.1% chose the Palestinians and 10.1% chose "both." Similar percentages were found when pairing Israel with either Jordan or Egypt. The differences between these percentages were statistically significant at a level of p< .01. A number of "talking point" statements were tested with the student sample. One involved asking how much they agree (on a scale of 1-10) with the following: "Palestinian refusal to negotiate with Israel is an obstacle to peace." This was followed by asking for a similar rating of this statement, "Israel is a colonial state and practices apartheid-like policies." The student sample appears to feel that Palestinian refusal to make peace is a more credible idea than that of Israel as a colonial state with

apartheid-like policies. We found that agreement with Palestinian refusal to negotiate as an obstacle to be rated 6.9, while agreement with the statement on Israel as a colonial state with apartheid policies at 5.2. The difference here also was statistically significant, with a t=5.442 (p<.01). The sample also found Israel's settlement policy equally an "obstacle to peace", rating the following statement with a score of 6.2, ""Israeli settlement activity is an obstacle to peace." The student sample did not appear to accept the notion of Palestinians as solely indigenous to the area. On the statement "Palestinian Arabs are the only indigenous people of Palestine", the average student rating was 3.2 on a scale of 1-10. The Israeli "talking point" statement of "Israel has repeatedly attempted to make peace" rated 5.2. The students surveyed appear to identify both Israelis and Palestinians as needing to make concessions. While for Israelis, the sample felt (6.7) that "Israel needs to make more concessions for peace with Palestinians", they equally saw the need for "the Palestinians to recognize Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state" (6.9). Despite the generally strong and consistent support for Israel, student sympathies appear to still be greater for Israel but somewhat more balanced. When asked "With whom are your sympathies greater in the Israel-Palestinian dispute?", 56.1% chose Israel, 33.7% chose the Palestinians and 10.1% said "both." Conclusions: This brief survey appears to show rather solid support for Israel among a young academic population that leans heavily towards liberal ideas. However, despite this support, there appears to be at least a moderate amount of "sympathy" for the Palestinians, despite not strongly buying into some of the arguments presented by Palestinian groups. The notion of Israeli settlements as an "obstacle to peace" appear to be as strong as that of Palestinians refusing to negotiate. Students see the need for Israeli concessions no differently from the need for Palestinians to recognize Israel as a "Jewish" state. The conventional wisdom that certain key faculty members have an influence on student thinking is not supported by our results. It appears that students form their opinions based on information obtained outside of the campus as well. Here, Prof. Noam Chomsky of MIT, one of Israel's foremost critics in academia, was barely known and even less seriously considered an influence on student thinking at his own university. The other conventional wisdom of strong criticism of Israel on campus and strong support for the Palestinians is not supported by the results of this survey. However, the sense of sympathy towards the Palestinians, a moderate level of around 33% of the sample, may indicate that an emotional factor may be operating here and responsible for the gap between feelings of what policy should be (favoring Israel with percentages in mid-70's) as opposed to personal feelings of sympathy for Israel (which range only in the mid-50's). Further investigation would be needed to look at this phenomenon and to determine if it represents an isolated finding or if it is indeed a trend.

1 2

Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Actual survey items

Importance of Issue
10 8 Rating 6 4 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 Issue 7 8 9 10

Series1 6.011 7.966 6.921 6.629 5.472 6.798 5.506 5.753 4.506 4.862

President Obama is beginning his second term in office. We are interested in learning how students feel about some of the foreign policy issues that he will be facing and would appreciate if you could spend a few minutes answering some questions. First can you tell me, on a scale of 1-10, how important you feel the following are, where 1 is not important at all and 10 is extremely important.

1. Relations with Russia 2. Relations with China 3. Ending the war in Afghanistan 4. Solving the Israeli-Palestinian dispute 5. Developing relations with Egypt 6. Preventing Iranian nuclear capability 7. Improving North-South Korea relations 8. Solving the civil war in Syria 9. Spreading democracy in the world 10. Improving relations with Venezuela

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Talking points-issues 8 6 Rating 4 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Talking points-issues 7.03 5.35 4.38 6.72 6.94 5.36 5.31 6.27 5.23 5.51 Specific talking point

Now I would like to ask you about your personal opinion on a few foreign policy matters. How much would you agree or disagree with the following statements, using a scale of 1-10 where1 is totally disagree and 10 is completely agree.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

The current government in Syria is committing genocide and human rights violations We should unequivocally support the Egyptian government, now democratically elected We should actively try to bring democracy to North Korea Israel needs to make more concessions for peace with the Palestinians The Palestinians need to recognize Israels right to exist as a Jewish state Pres. Hugo Chavez of Venezuela is a danger to peace and stability

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

The USA needs to use any and all measures, including military, to prevent an Iranian nuclear bomb _____ The USA needs to pressure Pakistan to eliminate all Islamic terror groups operating in its borders Russia is reverting back to the undemocratic ways of the communist era The USA should completely disengage from Iraq and Afghanistan _____ _____ _____

Reliable ally of the USA 10 8 Rating 6 4 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Country 5.1 4.5 8.6 6.6 7 5.7 4.3 4.7 5.3 Reliable ally of the USA 6.6

Please rate the following as to whether they can be considered a reliable ally of the USA, on a scale of 1-10, where 1 is definitely not an ally of the USA and 10 is definitely a strong and reliable ally of the USA.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

England China Egypt South Korea Turkey Israel Palestinian Authority Russia Saudi Arabia Mexico

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Talking points-issues II
8 6 Rating 4 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Series1

Series1 5.4 3.82 4.22 6.29 6.99 5.25 5.28 3.26 6.52 4.84 Specific talking point

How much would you agree or disagree with the following statementsplease rate on a scale of 10 where 1 is do not agree at all and 10 is completely and totally agree.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

European interests need to be coordinated with USA policy Immigration has endangered European identity It is critical to safeguard Western Europe from Russia Israeli settlement activity is an obstacle to peace Palestinian refusal to negotiate with Israel is an obstacle to peace Israel is a colonial state and practices apartheid-like policies Israel has repeatedly attempted to make peace Palestinian Arabs are the only indigenous people of Palestine The Iranian potential for a nuclear bomb is a threat to peace and stability The USA should intervene in Syria to topple the Assad regime

_____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____ _____

Sympathies
60 Number of students 50 40 30 20 10 0 1 2 Israel-Palestinians-Both 3 50

30

Sympathy with Israel or Palestinians 9

% age sympathizing with

Percentage "sympathy" for Israel/Palestinians 60 40 20 0 Percentage "sympathy" for Israel/Palesti nians 1 56.1 2 33.7 56.1 33.7 10.1 3 10.1 Percentage "sympathy" for Israel/Palestinians

Israel-Palestinians-Both

With whom are your sympathies greater in the Israel- Palestinian dispute? Israel Palestinians (Both)

Chomsky impact 12 Rating on 1-10 scale 10 8 6 4 2 0 1 2 3 Familiarity--Affect on thinking 2.966292135 1.887640449 Chomsky impact

10

(Bar 3 is a simulation of the maximum score possible. Bar 1-2 are actual ratings)

How familiar are you with the ideology of Prof Noam Chomsky? (1-10) _____ How much would you say his ideology has affected your thinking on foreign policy? (1-10) _____

USA should lean towards supporting

100 %age support 80 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 Israel/PA Israel/Egypt Israel/Jordan 19.1 3.4 21.3 1.1 22.5 75.2 77.5 77.5 Israel PA-Egypt-Jordan Both

For each paired entry, choose the country that the USA should lean towards supporting more:

England-Russia Mexico-Venezuela Israel-Palestinians Egypt-Israel Turkey-Egypt

France-Turkey England-Argentina Turkey-Greece Israel-Jordan Iran-Saudi Arabia