Four in 10 Britons would consider ending friendships over views on Israel-Palestine
As the Israel-Palestine conflict continues to divide the country, almost half of Britons say they would consider ending a friendship over the issue.
Researchers from the think tank More in Common UK said surveys showed that people with strong views had become more entrenched in the two years since the October 7 Hamas attacks on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.
Of nearly 2,000 adults surveyed in Great Britain last month, nearly four in 10 (43 percent) who sympathized with Palestine said they would consider ending a friendship with someone who posted in support of Israel on social media. A similar share of those sympathetic to Israel (46 percent) said they would consider doing the same for a pro-Palestinian post.
The results overwhelmingly showed that most Britons do not approach the conflict from a ‘sides’ perspective; Many people think that the issue is complex and that there are good and bad people on both sides.
Three-quarters of Britons feel uncomfortable talking about the Israel-Palestine conflict on social media, while nearly three in 10 said they are either somewhat or very uncomfortable talking about the issue with friends.
About 67 percent of people said they either strongly or somewhat agreed that some protests related to Palestine and Israel are so disruptive that they should not be allowed.
The researchers said: “Public patience with protest is wearing thin; two-thirds of Britons now believe some protests are too disruptive to be allowed; persistent demonstrations over Gaza contribute to a wider backlash against activist movements.”
Polls have shown that sympathy for Israel has declined over the past two years, falling to 14 percent compared to 16 percent in November 2023. Meanwhile, the proportion of people who say they have more sympathy for Palestine has risen from less than one in five (18 percent) two years ago to more than one in four (26 percent).
Nonpartisanship continued to be a significant figure, with 27 percent saying they did not take sides, 18 percent saying they sympathized with both Israel and Palestine, and the rest saying they were undecided.
Many of those with strong views have become “more negative about those with opposing views” over the past few years, the researchers said.
Surveys conducted in the days following the synagogue attack in Manchester in October revealed rising tensions between religious groups in Britain, with Islamist extremism topping the list when it comes to respondents’ concerns about the disparate impact of conflict in the Middle East on the UK.
Some 44 per cent of respondents to the latest poll thought Britain was an unsafe place for Jews, while 37 per cent said it was unsafe for Muslims.
Adrian Daulby and Melvin Cravitz were killed in an attack on the Heaton Park Hebrew Congregation Synagogue in Crumpsall on Yom Kippur last month. The attacker, Jihad al-Shami, was shot by armed police.
Luke Tryl, director of More in Common UK, warned that “divisions over the conflict are seriously undermining trust in Britain’s media organisations, institutions and politicians”.
He added: “As people with strong views about the conflict move away from the mainstream media, there is a risk they will turn to their own sources of information online, making it much harder for them to have shared fact-based conversations.
“People also assume that those on the other side of the debate have bad intentions, for example, that people support Israel because they are anti-Muslim, or Palestine because they are anti-Semitic.
“The majority of Britons, shocked and appalled by the conflict, are caught up in it all, not taking sides on either side, especially the Jewish communities and Muslim communities in Britain who are bearing the brunt of the growing hatred.
“The government, civil society and those most concerned about the conflict need to do more to find ways out of the growing cycle of polarization that risks leaving lasting scars on social cohesion in the UK.”
