Will growing pro-Palestinian support lead to policy change?

On Monday, October 18 at 19:30GMT:
Since the Gaza war in May, there has been a marked change in public support for Palestinians.

Last month the United Kingdom’s Labour Party passed a motion labelling Israel ‘an apartheid state’ and backing sanctions against the country for their treatment of Palestinians.

In March a Gallup poll found Americans’ favourable views of the Palestinian Authority rose to a record high of 30 percent. And these numbers are seeing an extra large bump among liberal and progressive young people. During a visit to a college last month, US Vice President Kamala Harris was confronted by a student over the Biden administration’s views on Palestine.

So what’s behind this change of attitudes?

Some political observers say representation in the media through movements such as Black Lives Matter is behind it. Others say it is the growing influence of the Palestinian-led Boycott, Divestments and Sanctions (BDS) movement. Last week Irish author Sally Rooney rejected a bid by an Israeli publishing house to translate her latest novel into Hebrew, citing her support of the BDS movement.

In this episode we look at why attitudes about speaking out against Israel are changing.

On this episode of The Stream, we speak with:
Linda Sarsour, @lsarsour
Executive Director, Mpower Change

Mohammed El Kurd, @m7mdkurd
Writer and poet

Lowkey, @LowkeyOnline
Rapper & Campaigner