(NewsNation) — Only 8% of college students say they’ve participated on either side of campus protests concerning the Israel-Hamas war, while a small portion view the war as an important issue, according to a poll by Generation Lab obtained by Axios.
Students ranked the conflict in the Middle East as the least important issue (13%) facing them out of nine options. Health care reform ranked the top issue (40%), followed by educational funding and access (38%), according to the poll.
In the wake of pro-Palestinian protests that began at Columbia University on April 17 and spread to colleges and universities nationwide, the poll found that 81% of students support universities holding protesters accountable who destroy property, vandalize or illegally occupy campus buildings.
Additionally, the poll found that 34% of students blame Hamas for the current situation in Gaza, compared to 19% who blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and 12% who blame President Joe Biden, Axios reported.
More than two-thirds — 67% — say occupying campus buildings is unacceptable, while 58% say it’s unacceptable to refuse a university’s order to disperse.
Meanwhile, 90% of the poll respondents agreed that blocking pro-Israel students from parts of campus is unacceptable, Axios reported. However, 45% of students support pro-Palestinian encampments either strongly or a little bit, while 24% were strongly or a bit opposed.
The poll surveyed 1,250 college students nationwide from two-year and four-year schools from May 3-6 and has a margin of error of 2.7 percentage points.