It started more than a week ago at a conference on “Life After Capitalism,” held at the City University of New York’s Graduate Center. There, a Canadian author, Naomi Klein, argued that it was in the crowd’s interest to “support the Iraqi resistance,” whom she described as “fearless and courageous.” She wasn’t talking about the resistance to Saddam Hussein, but the “resistance” to American troops who are in Iraq to ensure security as Iraq transitions to a new and democratic government. Ms. Klein’s message was warmly received.

The theme emerged again on August 26 at Martin Luther King Jr. High School, near Lincoln Center. There, the International Action Center held a “War Crimes Tribunal” to try President Bush. There, our Steven Menashi reports, an Iraqi-French documentary filmmaker, Hana Al-Bayaty, said, “I think we really need to support the Iraqi resistance,” which she called “a fight that is opposed to the rule of the market.” She was greeted with applause. “The Iraqis are fighting with weapons when we have the opportunity to fight with words,” she said.

It all made us wonder what the thoughts were of the average protesters against the Republican National Convention. So a half-dozen New York Sun interns, reporters, and editors set out with survey questionnaires during Sunday’s march. We interviewed 253 of the protesters marching in the event organized by United for Peace and Justice. We found that fully 67% of the protesters surveyed said they agreed with the statement “Iraqi attacks on American troops occupying Iraq are legitimate resistance.”

In other words, a large majority of the protesters we surveyed say it is “legitimate” for Iraqis to attack American soldiers. In our view, this goes beyond simply opposing the war in Iraq.

One often-used argument against the war in Iraq is that it was a distraction from the real war against Al Qaeda, the terrorist organization that attacked America on September 11, 2001. But 62% of the protesters we surveyed said they opposed the American war in Afghanistan in 2001, a war against Al Qaeda if there ever was one.

Half the protesters said they favored a complete end to American military aid to Israel. What they are calling for, essentially, is cutting loose our free and democratic ally in the Middle East. Signs distributed at the rally by United for Peace and Justice read “Occupation: Wrong in Iraq, Wrong in Palestine. End U.S. Support for Israel’s Occupation.”

Of those surveyed, 58% bought into a myth with anti-Semitic overtones. They said they agreed with the statement, “A few neoconservatives like Paul Wolfowitz and Richard Perle who have close ties to Israel’s Likud Party manipulated America into going to war in Iraq. “The protesters – by a margin of 52% to 40% – said they agreed with the statement, “America is overall a negative force in the world.”

And here’s the kicker: 76% of the protesters we surveyed plan to vote for Senator Kerry in November. Mr. Kerry has consistently supported aid to Israel and he has not voiced support for Iraqis who are attacking Americans. But if he is elected in November, it will be with the votes of a considerable faction who think otherwise. That is something to think about as the demonstrators prowl the streets of Manhattan this convention week.