As protests continue on campuses across the country, most Canadians say that they still support both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel speech, as well as speech that is against both.
According to an Innovative Research Group poll, while the majority of Canadians (60%) don’t have a strong opinion or feel split on the issue, most still support the free speech for both sides of the conflict.
Specifically, 57% of Canadians support speech that advocates for the Israeli state, while the same number supports speech advocating for a Palestinian state. A small minority of Canadians (13% for Israel and 14% Palestine) are against speech for both.
Likewise, a near majority of Canadians support speech that is in opposition to both states, with 42% supporting speech that opposes the Palestinian state and 41% supporting speech that opposes the state of Israel. Roughly a quarter of Canadians (26%) are against both speech critical of the Palestinian state and Israeli state.
Canadians are strongly against ethnicity-specific criticism and calls to violence
While Canadians are broadly in favour of free speech, most are against speech that denigrates both Muslims and/or Jews.
According to the poll, 64% of Canadians are against speech that calls Muslims a threat to Canadian society, while 67% say the same for Jews. However, 14% are okay with speech that calls Jews a threat, and 16% are okay with speech that calls Muslims a threat.
Similarly, three-quarters of Canadians oppose speech that calls for violence against Muslims (76%) and Jews (77%). Roughly 1-in-10 Canadians (9%) are fine with calls to violence against these groups, however.
Lastly, despite widespread protests on campuses, a large proportion (45%) are blissfully unaware of protests sparked by the war in Gaza compared to 51% who are aware of the general issue.
Most Canadians also support peaceful protests, but a majority are against protests that cause disruptions, whether they be pro-Israel or pro-Palestine, especially when they involve blockades of highways or bridges.
