The pro-Palestinian, pro-Hamas protests across America, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and other nations are bewildering, considering that Israel was the one attacked on October 7. But if you look at these protests, you will see that they are dominated by young people—emotionally charged college-age individuals. Why? A recent Harvard caps-Harris Poll shows that a majority of young people actually believe that Israel is to blame for the Hamas attack.

The poll revealed that even though two out of three people aged 18 to 24 saw the Hamas attack as genocidal, 60 percent thought it was justified because of Palestinian grievances.

How can you reason that the rape of young girls and murder of little babies is justified?

The poll found that 67 percent of young people viewed Israel as oppressors who should be treated as such, that 60 percent believe Israel is trying to commit genocide against the Palestinians, and that 50 percent favored Hamas over Israel in the conflict.

When it comes to solving the Israel-Hamas war, a 76 percent of young people think Hamas can be negotiated with to create peace, and 67 percent said a ceasefire that left things as they were and didn’t even release the hostages nor remove Hamas from power was acceptable. Most shockingly, 51 percent would rather see Israel end as a nation and the land given to Hamas and the Palestinians, as compared to 32 percent who want a two-state solution.

A majority also don’t have a problem with calling for the genocide of the Jews. Fifty-three percent said university students should have the freedom to call for the genocide of the Jews on university campuses without any repercussions. A majority of every other age group surveyed said students should face administrative actions for such speech.

These are radical, hateful, historically ignorant positions to take. These are the future leaders and policymakers of America, and they are being educated in nation-destroying thinking. They are being taught to hate the traditional allies of America and even their own history.

One vivid example is the response to this question: “There is an ideology that white people are oppressors and nonwhite people and people of certain groups have been oppressed and as a result should be favored today at universities and for employment. Do you support or oppose this ideology?” While a majority of those 25 and older said they didn’t support it, a very large majority of those 18 to 24 did (79 percent). When asked if that ideology was helpful or hurtful to society, again, the majority of those 25 and older called it hurtful, but 51 percent of those 18 to 24 said it was helpful. How is ideology that favors one race over another helpful to society? Isn’t that the definition of racism? Yet this is how a majority of young people think!

America’s educational institutions have failed our young people. This was evidenced earlier this month when the presidents of Harvard, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of Pennsylvania testified on Capitol Hill. All three women essentially said that their universities support the genocide of Jews in Israel. If you aren’t aware of the details of that testimony, read Trumpet managing editor Joel Hilliker’s article “The Sickness in American Universities Is Worse Than We Thought.” It’s a great article that gives the reason behind why young people believe what they do.

As he wrote, “Having banished absolute truth and God from their reasoning, these academics and intellectuals have become untethered from reality.” This is exactly what we’re seeing in these young people. Facts no longer matter to these young people who hold opinions that are utterly unfounded and demonstrably false. It could be easy to dismiss these stats as “the ignorance of youth,” but can a nation survive when 4 out of 5 of its upcoming generation of leaders believe the racist lie that white people are oppressors?

Terrifying consequences await a society that wholeheartedly embraces such lies. God warns through the Prophet Isaiah that He will take swift action against our nation because we reject the truth (Isaiah 59:18). This is God’s assessment of our society today: “None calleth for justice, nor any pleadeth for truth: they trust in vanity, and speak lies …. In transgressing and lying against the Lord, and departing away from our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart words of falsehood. … [F]or truth is fallen in the street …” (verses 4, 13-14).

Are our young people educated in the truth? Or is it lies thought up in the heart of a human being? These are questions we can and must answer.

There is such thing as absolute truth. And God wants you to know it. Jesus Christ says that the truth is what sets us free (John 8:32). You don’t have to be deceived by lies. God will reveal truth to those willing to accept and obey it. You can learn more about this in Trumpet editor in chief Gerald Flurry’s recent article “‘What Is Truth?’”