Three times as many people born after 1980 support the Palestinian cause than those born before, a researcher at the Arab Centre for Research and Policy studies said today.

Speaking at the Palestine Media Forum in Istanbul, Turkey, Osama Abu Rasheed said that although 40,000 voters in the US put Israel on their voting agenda, support for Palestinians is growing on the whole.

“Zionists convinced parts of America that their needs are the same and are one. That Israel is the ‘anchor of stability’ in the area.”

In spite of this, he explained, “there are objections to what Israel is doing today. Universities and churches have voted to boycott Israel.”

Palestine through the lens of the media A two-day conference hosted by the Palestine Media Forum in partnership with MEMO pulls together activists from over 50 countries to look at how we can unite organisations to provide a true image of the Palestinian struggle and their sarifices. Click to see the opening ceremony >>

In a world where “Palestinians are always the suspects”, “we have to tell people what happened without treating one group as suspects,” Editor-in-Chief of Opera Mundi, Rafael Targino said.

“We work in an anti-Palestine environment, Brazil is highly pro-Israel and it’s a challenge.”

“Palestinians are always the suspects, the guys that did something wrong. Every time something happens you hear from the Israeli army only and nothing else.”

This must be countered, he explained. “We can tell what really happened. We have to tell people what happened.”

Both Abu Rasheed and Targino were taking part in a discussion on tackling Zionist myths as part of the two-day event. They shared the stage with academic Munir Shafiq who spoke of his experience of speaking to German journalist Martin Lejeune in the build up to the conference. Lejeune explained how Germany did not allow criticism of Israel following the events of the past.

“Generation after generation is paying the price for a historical crime. It doesn’t make sense. Will you pay the price forever?” he asked. “This is something future generations shouldn’t accept.”

Tune in to the live tweeting session from Istanbul @Middleeastmnt.