Humanitarianism vs. territoriality: explaining Egyptian public opinion on Palestinian forced migration

The Palestinian question remains one of the most critical issues in international relations, combining humanitarian, security, and normative dimensions. Recent debates in the discipline highlight a “normative turn,” emphasizing that foreign policy is shaped not only by power relations but also by societal values, identities, and public perceptions. Within this framework, this study examines Egyptian public attitudes toward Palestinians through the lenses of ideology, religion, and media consumption. The analysis is based on an online survey conducted in 2025 with 600 participants and employs OLS and binary logistic regression models. The findings indicate that 78.5 percent of respondents support Palestinians’ right to international asylum, while 62 percent believe they should remain in their own territories. These seemingly contradictory views reflect a balance between humanitarian concern and national-ideological sensitivity. Ideological orientation, religious identity, and media consumption emerge as stronger determinants than demographic variables. Conservative respondents tend to endorse the “remain in the homeland” discourse, whereas liberal and centrist participants show greater support for asylum rights. The study provides an empirical perspective on public opinion and the normative turn by examining how societal values and media are associated with humanitarian and sovereignty-related debates in the Middle East.