Miami Herald: Most Republicans Support the Right to Protest - Unless It's Against Israel
Most Republicans support the right to protest — unless it’s against Israel, according to new polling.
In the latest Economist/YouGov survey, a strong majority of GOP respondents, 73%, said they support Americans’ ability to protest against actions they view as unjust. Just 12% said they oppose this, and 14% said they weren’t sure.
But, when asked if it should be legal or illegal to protest “against Israeli actions in Gaza,” less than half of Republicans, 42%, said it should be legal. Meanwhile, 23% said this kind of public demonstration should be illegal, and 35% said they were not sure.
The poll — conducted March 16-18 with 1,618 U.S. adults — found support for protests was more consistent among Democrats and independents.
Eighty-six percent of Democrats and 81% of independents said they backed the right to demonstrate against actions perceived as unjust, while less than 20% of both groups said they opposed this or were unsure.
When it came to anti-Israel protests, 73% of Democrats said they should be legal, while 5% said they should be outlawed and 22% said they weren’t sure. A majority of independents, 57%, also said they should be legal, while 9% said they should be illegal and 34% said they didn’t know.
The right to protest is enshrined in the First Amendment of the Constitution, which states that no laws shall be made that prohibit “the right of the people peaceably to assemble.”
The poll — which has a margin of error of 3.4 percentage points — also found views on the sympathies of anti-Israel protesters differed greatly by party.
A majority of Republicans said they believe all (13%), most (25%) or half (14%) of the people who protest against Israeli actions in Gaza support Hamas, which is designated as a terrorist group by the U.S.
In contrast, a small fraction of Democrats believe support for Hamas is widespread among anti-Israel demonstrators in the U.S. Just 2% said they believe all of the protestors support Hamas, and 8% said most or all of them do.
A slightly larger share of independents — but still a minority — said they believe all (4%), most (16%) or half (9%) of those protesting against Israeli actions support Hamas.
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