In facing off against repression and standing firm against growing autocracy in one place or another, there’s a weird and powerful de facto alliance taking shape that’s worth learning more about: Boomers and Gen Z are at the frontlines.

With the caveat that any survey that is more self-selected than random, The Economist reported a scholarly effort by several researchers at the American University on protestors. They polled 7500 “people who signed up for the ‘Free America Walkout,’ a national protest that took place on January 20th.” Here’s what they found:

“…84 percent of respondents were female, three-quarters were college-educated, and that the media age was 71. Some 99 percent of these aging boomers, said they were supporting nonviolent civil disobedience, and 65 percent of them said they would be willing to take part themselves.”

This conservative journal notes that Republicans have absolutely noticed this phenomenon. They have a name for it: AWFULS, for affluent white female urban liberals.

In recent weeks, the United Arab Emirates has begun to put forward an initiative concerning the management of civilian affairs in the Gaza Strip after the war through organizing economic and service sectors, managing markets and commercial activities, and establishing logistical centers for distributing goods within the Strip.

What is striking about this initiative is that it was not presented within a comprehensive Palestinian or Arab framework but rather through direct talks with the United States and Israel, in a clear attempt to obtain their political and security approval. This suggests that the administration of Gaza is a matter to be decided in consultation with the occupying power and its main ally, not with the people of the land themselves.