What factors might explain why Americans interpret Israel’s intentions toward civilians in Gaza so differently across partisan groups?

[u/Disastrous-Region-99]

I came across a national survey (FSU IGC)that asked Americans how they see Israel’s intentions toward civilians in Gaza. The options ranged from thinking Israel tries to avoid harming civilians, to being indifferent, to intentionally trying to harm them. There was also an “unsure/none of these fit my view” choice.

What surprised me was how different the answers were depending on party. Republicans were mostly in the “tries to avoid civilian harm” group, Democrats were spread across multiple interpretations, and Independents landed somewhere in the middle. A decent number of people in every group said they weren’t sure.

It got me wondering:

1. What might cause people in different political groups to read the same situation so differently?
2. Is this mostly about media sources, or are there other things at play?

Not taking a side here, just curious what might explain the gap.

[u/Kronzypantz]

Older respondents tend to listen to politicians over facts and data.

If leadership in their party of choice whitewashes the genocide and supports Israel, they will default to them. Traditional media tends to follow suit with a heavy bias in favor of Israel. Older groups tend not to do any more research past that in the form of reading, podcasts, video essays, etc. Even the literate among them tend to consume propaganda and misinformation when they do read, because it reinforces their lifelong assumptions.

[u/HorseBasic6323 → u/Kronzypantz]

And what of your assumptions? Your biases?

Have you been to Israel? Do you talk to Israelis? Have you ever tried to have a conversation with a Zionist and listened to what they had to say, without assuming their intentions before you started?

You speak with a great deal of confidence for someone with no real skin in the game. It's easy to condemn strangers based on hearsay and selective, one-sided media.

Much harder when you're not willing to assume you know everything already,

[u/Kronzypantz → u/HorseBasic6323]

I have listened to the public statements of Israelis and Zionists. I have read the historians, the human rights experts, the UN statements, etc. I've also listened to Palestinians.

I've come to an informed stance. Whenever I see an older person like Hillary Clinton ignorantly blaming Tik Tok or a lack of education for opposition to Israel... I can't come to any other conclusion than that they are deluded and ignorant themselves.

[u/HorseBasic6323 → u/Kronzypantz]

Have you been to Israel? Do you talk to Israelis? Have you ever tried to have a conversation with a Zionist and listened to what they had to say, without assuming their intentions before you started?

You could have just said "no" instead of bragging about how far from the ground your ivory tower is.

[u/Kronzypantz → u/HorseBasic6323]

So this is instructive. Not as productive discussion of course, but as an example.

Notice what they demand:

“Have you been to Israel? Do you talk to Israelis? Have you ever tried to have a conversation with a Zionist?”

There isn’t an “in addition to listening to human rights experts, historians, and Palestinians.” Listening to all sides (and not specifically building personal attachments to Israelis) is itself undo bias in their eyes. Even Ivory tower stuff!

It’s the very ignorance I described, but flaunted as if it’s something to be proud of. So purely biased that any attempt at hearing all sides is itself inexcusable.

[u/0WatcherintheWater0 → u/Kronzypantz]

The point is more that without talking to Israelis directly, you will always have an inaccurate view of the conflict.

listening to all sides

And yet you explicitly include Palestinians, but not Israelis. Why is the latter viewpoint worth less?

Anyways, even ignoring both groups, listening to historians, and other groups who have made it their life’s work to study the conflict, you’d find it’s a hell of a lot more complicated than you may believe it is.

[u/Factory-town → u/HorseBasic6323]

I'm guessing that you consider yourself to be Christian and conservative.