President Joe Biden said Thursday that protests on college campuses across the country are not causing him to reconsider his Middle East policy.
After a press conference highlighting the anti-Israel protests that have been spreading on college campuses over Israel’s war with Hamas and its impact on Gaza, a reporter told Biden, “The protests are forcing us to reconsider our policies on the region.” “Did you do that?” he asked.
Biden answered “no” and left the stage.
I will be giving a speech, so please tune in. https://t.co/zN7LMKaBIf
— President Biden (@POTUS) May 2, 2024
“Mr. President, do you think the National Guard should intervene?” a reporter followed up.
“No,” the President said as he left the room.
Notably, the initial protests that erupted at Columbia University were followed by a $95 billion foreign aid package in which Biden allotted $26 billion in aid to Israel on April 24, including billions of dollars in military aid. It started before I signed the .
Insane!Protesters at Columbia University break windows and barricade themselves inside the building.
Jessica Schwalb, Storyful
In remarks referring to anti-Israel protests, Biden denounced both “anti-Semitism” and “Islamophobia.”
“There is no place for hate speech and violence of any kind, including anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, and discrimination against Arab-Americans and Palestinian-Americans. It is simply wrong,” he said.
He also condemned the violent protests on campus.
“Vandalism, trespassing, broken windows, campus closures, forced cancellations of classes and graduations. None of this is peaceful protest,” Biden said. “Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not peaceful protest. It’s against the law.”
WATCH: Hateful anti-Israel occupation spreads to college campuses across America
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His comments echoed national dedication throughout the Democratic nomination process, where more than 500,000 Americans voted against Biden to protest his handling of the Israel-Hamas war and call for a ceasefire. It was uttered in the course of a great effort.
In April, he called for an “immediate ceasefire” from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after 48,812 voters chose “no directive” in the Wisconsin Democratic primary, but the Pennsylvania Democratic primary a few weeks later. But the dedication continued.
The progressive group Our Revolution held a campaign in Maryland late Thursday afternoon, co-sponsored by the Listen Maryland campaign for the May 14 Democratic primary, with a “vote ‘irresponsible’ deadline. Hold a voting meeting. The effort shows that dissatisfaction with Mr. Biden has not subsided even before his comments on Thursday downplaying the influence of protesters.
