Why Baby Boomers are out of touch on Israel/Palestine

Baby boomers came to intellectual maturity in the 1960s, 1970s and early-mid 1980s. During this time period, (1) Israel abandoned its policy of military rule over Israel’s Palestinian citizens (in 1966), allowing them freedom of movement in Israel; (2) Israel afforded Palestinians freedom of movement within the occupied territories and between the occupied territories and Israel; And (3), Israeli occupation forces killed only 32 Palestinians in the occupied territories every year between 1967-1987.

Young people came to intellectual maturity in the late 2000s, 2010s and 2020s. During this time period, (1) Israel has besieged two million Palestinians in Gaza and entrenched its regime of apartheid in the West Bank. (2) Israel has erected 600+ military checkpoints, roadblocks and obstacles preventing Palestinian freedom of movement in the West Bank or out of Gaza. And (3), Israeli occupation forces killed on average 427 Palestinians in the occupied territories every year between 2008- Sep. 2023 & ~1,900 every year between 2008-present.

In other words, Israel’s regime of domination, control and violence over Palestinians has become dramatically more dominating, more controlling and more violent over the past two decades.

Apparently, Boomers have struggled to evolve their views. Research has shown that “potential for dramatic change [is] possible in late adolescence or early adulthood. [B]ut greater stability sets in at some early point, and attitudes tend to be increasingly persistent as people age.” Even though Israel kill 60X as many Palestinians every year, and even though Israel began locking Palestinians into smaller and smaller enclosed spaces, including in an “open-air prison,” Boomers continue to support Israel, without much reservation.

Boomers also came to intellectual maturity in a world where Palestinians were almost completely absent from the public discourse about Israel and the Palestinians. From 1970 to 2019, The New York Times, Washington Post, The Nation and the New Republic published a lot about Palestinians, but rarely articles by Palestinians:

The numbers are astonishing. For the New York Times, less than 2% of the 2,490 opinion pieces that discussed Palestinians since 1970 were written by Palestinians. In the Washington Post, the average was 1%, while the New Republic did not publish a single article about Palestinians written by a Palestinian. In the words of Edward Said, Palestinians lack “permission to narrate.”

The result has been that Boomers have been fed a diet of half-truths that dehumanize Palestinians. In the past 3 months, three US American podcasters in their 40s+ have asked me to comment about what they described as “a Palestinian culture of hate.” These were not radical or even right-wing US Americans. In fact, all three probably thought of themselves as progressives, and yet all three seemed convinced Palestinians raise their kids to hate Jews and dream of pushing the Jews into the sea. In each case, these beliefs did not seem to come from having met or spoken with any actual Palestinians, as far as I could tell. Instead, these beliefs came from decades of media indoctrination.

By contrast, young US Americans have been watching Israeli occupation, apartheid, siege, ethnic cleansing and now genocide unfold in real time on social media. Muna el-Kurd and Mohammed el-Kurd showed us what forced displacement looks like in Shaykh Jarrah; Basel Adra has reported courageously on Israel’s ongoing ethnic cleansing operations in Masafer Yatta; Issa Amro and Nizar Banat narrated the daily humiliation of Israel’s apartheid in Hebron. Citizen journalists, activists and reporters from Gaza are some of the most heroic people of all, like Walid Mahmoud, Ahmed Hijazi, Motaz Azaiza, Hind Khoudary, Mohmmed Awad, Majdi Fathi, Bisan Owda, Yara Eid to name a few, since they are putting themselves in tremendous harm’s way. They are 10X more likely to be killed by Israel than an average Gazan, and an average Gazan is more likely to be killed than almost anyone else on earth. These kinds of voices were virtually non-existent two decades ago. Now, young US Americans are learning about life in Palestine directly from Palestinians. Turns out, that has made them much more sympathetic to the violence perpetrated against Palestinians.

Finally, demographics. 72% of Baby Boomers are white as compared to 51% of Generation Z. White Americans have been more likely to support Israel’s war on Gaza than people of color (78% compared to 58%). “People with experiences of segregation and colonialism,” says Peter Beinart, “see a connection at a deep level with millions of Palestinians living under the control of a state that does not treat them equally.” Race plays some role, but religion plays an even bigger role. Boomers are more than twice as likely to be religiously affiliated than Gen Z and twice as likely to be Evangelicals. And, needless to say, affiliated Christians and Evangelicals are some of the most pro-Israel US Americans.

If there is some good news to report, it’s that unconditional support for Israel in the United States is, in a word, dying. That’s a wrap for this week.

Much love,

-Zach