More than a quarter of undergraduates in the United Kingdom believe that Hamas's 7 October 2023 attacks on Israel were defensible, according to a new poll released by the Higher Education Policy Institute, known as HEPI. The findings, set out in a policy note examining how young students view controversial and divisive issues, were discussed on GB News and have drawn sharp reaction.
According to HEPI, just over one in four undergraduates, around twenty-eight percent, said the October 7 attacks could be justified or defended. That figure stands in stark contrast to the wider adult population, where support for such a view runs at only around four to five percent, the institute said, marking one of the largest gaps between students and the public in the research.
Hamas is a proscribed terrorist organisation in the United Kingdom. HEPI chief executive Nick Hillman stressed that the great majority of students did not endorse the attacks, noting that while the share was far higher than among the public as a whole, it still represented a minority of just over one in four of those who took part in the survey.
Hillman said the poll had been conducted simply to find out what students actually think, and that it revealed a more complex political picture than many might assume. He explained that he had expected undergraduates to align closely with the progressive left on most issues, but that the results varied significantly depending on the topic being put to them.
On several questions, students leaned firmly toward progressive positions. They were notably more supportive than the general public of reparations for the transatlantic slave trade, and of unilateral rather than multilateral nuclear disarmament. The Green Party emerged as the most popular political party among the students who were polled.
On other issues, however, student opinion closely mirrored that of the broader population. When asked about capital punishment, undergraduates were split almost evenly, with roughly half supporting its reintroduction and half opposed, a balance very similar to the one found among adults across the country as a whole.
Hillman said the survey produced a much more nuanced picture than a simple progressive stereotype would suggest. The findings have reignited debate over whether university campuses sit at the centre of Britain's culture wars, and over how far student attitudes reflect generational change or the influence of what young people are being taught.