Should Hamas supporters be fired from their jobs? US voters split

(NewsNation) — Nearly half of Americans don’t believe organizations should fire people who voice support for the Hamas attack on Israel, even though most voters say Hamas is responsible for the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

About 46% of American voters said companies shouldn’t oust workers who have voiced support for the Oct. 7 attack, according to an October NewsNation Decision Desk HQ poll. That sentiment was consistent across age groups and political parties, although Democrats took a slightly firmer stance on the issue.

NewsNation national security contributor Tracy Walder, however, emphasized that expressions of free speech and threats warrant different action, however.

“I’ve done a little research and looked at some of the folks that have been terminated from jobs, and the wording in their tweets, or YouTube videos, or whatever it is they’re communicating, in my opinion, is potentially an exercise in hate speech, or violent rhetoric, which are fireable offenses,” Walder said.

Since the Oct. 7 attacks, the conflict has evolved into a war between Israel and Hamas, the U.S.-designated terrorist organization leading the Israeli-occupied Gaza Strip.

Americans’ sympathies lie more with Israelis than Palestinians, according to the NewsNation/DDHQ poll, although young adults and people of color were more divided in their sympathy. Forty-two percent of surveyed voters agreed Hamas is responsible for the ongoing violence in the Middle East, including Democrats, Republicans and independents alike.

Recent Gallup data underscored shifting views about the Middle East among Democrats belonging to the Millennial or silent generations. The groups now express more sympathy toward Palestinians over Israelis than they did a decade ago, according to Gallup’s findings.

“If you support Palestine, you’re technically supporting Hamas because they’re the governing body of Palestine, so that’s the problem,” Walder said.

Those who didn’t choose Hamas as the responsible party for the war were more likely to feel uncertain about where the blame should lie (22%) or considered Iran to be the root of the conflict (13%).

Iran has longstanding ties to Hamas — a 2020-2021 U.S. State Department report revealed Hamas received funding, weapons and training from Iran. On Wednesday, the Israeli government accused Iran of being involved in the attacks earlier this month.

“It’s interesting to see there’s that much nuance and an issue like this,” Decision Desk HQ Advisor Scott Tranter said. “That might be a function of the news. Maybe if we asked this question two weeks ago, I wouldn’t have been surprised to see Hamas much lower and Iran much higher.”

Americans were split over whether they believed the United States news media has been covering the war fairly and accurately. About 47% at least somewhat agreed the U.S. media was doing a good job, while about 35% thought otherwise. Another 18% were unsure either way.

Despite a plurality of confidence in the U.S. media, nearly 89% of Americans said they were at least somewhat worried about misinformation interfering with their ability to receive reliable information about the war.

Social media could be partially to blame, Walder said, pointing to misinformed TikToks with millions of likes and views.

“There is a lot of factual reporting that’s coming out… But what I am seeing on TikTok or Instagram is a plethora of misinformation,” she said. “I think that’s where that’s coming from, and it’s not misinformation that they’re getting from the news.”