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Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has claimed that the ignorance of young people and their consumption of content on social media is responsible for their opposition to Israel and its genocide in Gaza, blaming “made up” propaganda on Tuesday while speaking at a conference held by a far right Israeli publication.
In remarks on Tuesday, Clinton said that the sentiments among young people following the October 7, 2023, attack are a “serious problem for democracy” in Israel and the U.S. alike, and lamented that Israel has the “worst PR of any group.”
Immediately following the attack, as Israel committed genocide against Palestinians in Gaza, there was an “organized effort” to spread anti-Israel sentiment, Clinton said — perhaps ignoring Israel’s documented, multi-million dollar propaganda campaign organized with major corporations and the United States government.
Speaking of students she taught and engaged with at Columbia University, she said “it was very difficult” to discuss the issue “because they did not know history.”
“They had very little context. And what they were being told on social media was not just one-sided, it was pure propaganda,” Clinton said, later adding that many are watching “short form videos, some of them totally made up.”
Those wishing to target people with Israeli PR should target young people, Clinton said. “It’s not just the usual suspects. It is a lot of young Jewish Americans who don’t know the history, and don’t understand.”
Clinton delivered her remarks in a New York City summit put on by the far right Israeli publication Israel Hayom, whose publisher is Donald Trump megadonor Miriam Adelson. Other speakers included figures like Trump’s ambassador to the UN, Mike Waltz.
Clinton has a long history of taking action to violate Palestinians’ humanity and human rights and repress those in the U.S. who speak out for Palestinian rights. As a senator, she backed numerous pieces of legislation seeking to further entrench Israel’s occupation of Palestine, including a resolution opposing supposed “Terrorism” by Palestinians passed in 2006. That same year, she praised Israel’s bombardments of Lebanon and Gaza, which together killed over a thousand civilians and deepened Israeli control in the regions.
As secretary of state under Barack Obama, she helped to enforce his policy of “no daylight” between Israel and the U.S. And in 2015, amid her failed presidential run, she wrote a letter to AIPAC megadonor Haim Saban condemning the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement and seeking his advice on how to “make countering BDS a priority.” Then, in 2016, she gave a speech to AIPAC touting her moves to “deepen America’s ties with Israel.”
Clinton’s assertions about a “generational divide” on Palestine are misleading at best. While polls show that young people are most likely to side with Palestinians and express negative views of Israel and its actions in Gaza, polling has found that every demographic has shifted against Israel since the genocide began. This has led to record lows in Israel’s favorability among Americans.
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