It was almost impossible to watch the mainstream media coverage of the Israel-Gaza war and not come away with the impression that Israel was the aggressor and that the Palestinians were the victims.
Curtis Houck from NewsBusters highlighted one such biased coverage on X. NBC's Daniele Hamamdjian reported a story in October 2025 about the Israel-Palestine hostage exchange, where Israel would release 2,000 Palestinian prisoners.
“They have nothing to go back to, but they have their land, and for Palestinians, that is what they have fought for decades,” said Hamamdjian.
NewsBusters covered Hamamdjian’s report, pointing out how she kept referring to the Palestinian prisoners as “hostages.” The article said that the definition of it is “far different than what anyone in Israel or someone with basic decency would conceive compared to the Israeli hostages held by Hamas.”
A recent Gallup poll finds that for the first time, support for the Palestinians exceeds support for Israel. According to the report, 41% of Americans sympathize with Palestine while 36% sympathize with Israel. This is a contrast to last year when Israel lead by 12%.
Joseph Vasques of Media Research Center says that support for the true victims in the war is an uphill battle.
“When you have the leftist media here in the United States constantly angling for the pro-Hamas narrative, it's hard for Israel to be able to fight that much propaganda,” says Vasquez.
He informs that it is not just the mainstream media. Social media has been awash in Hamas propaganda, which has a disproportionate impact on younger Americans. This is what, the Gallup poll says, leads the support for the Palestinians.
“You have the rise of anti-Semitic narratives that are circulating on social media, trying to paint Israel as the font of all evil in the Middle East,” states Vasquez.
Vasquez says that support for the terror group is performative since pro-Palestinian Americans have no skin in the game.
“It's a lot easier to say that when you're not the one with people who want to kill you or wipe you out living on your doorstep,” says Vasquez.
