The result of ‘s survey is clear. The majority of Finns do not approve of Israel’s military actions in Gaza.
Media researcher Anu Koivunen considers the result very surprising. In his opinion, public opinion and the Finnish media’s coverage of the Gaza war do not match.
– The news coverage has been very cautious and muted. There hasn’t been much room for it. When the war in Gaza has been discussed, it has been handled with restraint. The brutal attack by the terrorist organization Hamas and Israel’s right to self-defense have been emphasized, Koivunen tells .
According to Koivunen, who works as a professor at the University of Turku, the western political perspective has been strongly reflected in the Finnish media.
Other opinions have also been presented. For example, one of the most prestigious newspapers in Switzerland Neue Zürcher Zeitung already wrote in December that in the Finnish media, above all, researchers who are on the side of the Palestinians are vocal.
Koivunen uses Sweden, where he lived and worked before, as his point of comparison. In his opinion, the number of Swedish radio and television correspondents, assistants and connections to Gaza and Israel surpasses the Finnish media. It can be seen in the versatility of the reporting.
– In Finland, there is no such relationship with reporting from the Middle East, he states.
The majority of women do not approve of Israel’s military actions
‘s survey reveals a large gender difference in attitudes towards Israel’s military actions. Women’s attitude is clearly stricter than men’s.
Professor Anu Koivunen points out that qualitative data from the survey would be needed for an exhaustive explanation of gender differences. However, he estimates that the difference is explained by the number of civilian victims of the war and especially the number of dead children.
– The result also shows what you identify with. Do we identify with military forces and strategies or civilians. That probably explains that result on some level.
The Ministry of Health under Hamas, the terrorist organization that governs Gaza, says that more than 34,000 people have died and more than 77,000 people have been injured in Gaza during the more than six months of hostilities.
You can read in this story published in early March that the war in Gaza is exceptionally brutal in light of the statistics.
The majority of fundamental Finnish supporters approve of Israel’s actions
In addition to gender, Finns’ attitude towards Israel’s military actions is influenced by party affiliation. asked which party’s candidate the respondents would vote for if the parliamentary elections were held now.
Supporters of the Left Alliance, the Social Democrats and the Greens had the least approval for Israel’s military actions. The only party whose majority of supporters accepted Israel’s military actions was Basic Finns.
– There are always a lot of opinions behind the percentages. The attitude towards the war in Gaza is probably explained by the general attitude towards discipline and order, or on the other hand towards civilians, human rights and suffering, media researcher Anu Koivunen estimates.
He points out that the survey reveals averages about party supporters and that all parties have all kinds of opinions. He would not draw strong conclusions about the differences between supporters of left and right parties.
– I think that government power partly explains such results.
Koivunen means that if Finland were still in power Sanna Marini five-party government, and Marin’s government would have made similar policies in the EU as Petteri Orpon the government, as well as the supporters of the Left Alliance, the Social Democrats and the Greens, could show more understanding of Israel’s actions.
– The biggest explanatory factor for this public opinion is the overwhelming number of civilians and dead children. It cuts through party sympathies. It pushes through the government-opposition arrangement. There is broad public opinion in favor of the fact that this situation is completely unsustainable, summarizes Koivunen.
Opinions were also divided in the shopping center
went to test the results of the survey in the Itis shopping center in eastern Helsinki. A large number of people did not want to say what they think about Israel’s military actions in Gaza. You can see a compilation of people’s opinions from the main image of this story.
– No comments. There are so many crises of all kinds in the world now. I can’t think, he said Daniel Hellsten.
Only one randomly sampled shopping center visitor said he approves of Israel’s actions. He did not want to give his opinion by name. asked why he accepts military measures.
– I can’t really say the exact reason for that, but I accept.
Clearly, the majority of people said that they do not approve of Israel’s military actions in Gaza. Many cited the shocking number of civilian victims, especially child victims, as the reason and accused Israel of human rights violations.
Arsalan Enayati was visibly shocked by the situation.
– Israel is committing genocide. I understand if they want to arrest the Hamas terrorist group, but according to the UN, more civilians, children and women have died there than any soldiers, Enayati said.
– I hope that the world would wake up and this massacre would end. People are literally starving to death in Gaza.