2 years ago
Biden speaks out against campus protests damaging property
From Jack Birle
President Joe Biden speaks at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum's Annual Days of Remembrance ceremony at the U.S. Capitol, Tuesday, May 7, 2024 in Washington. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
President Joe Biden spoke out against fiery anti-Israel protests on college campuses across the country.
He defended the right for people to peacefully protest but forcefully spoke out against antisemitism or “threats of violence of any kind.”
“Violent attacks, destroying property is not peaceful protest. It’s against the law,” Biden said.
Biden also said he sees the fear of Jewish people and that he stands with them.
2 years ago
Biden takes the stage to deliver antisemitism remarks
From Jack Birle
President Joe Biden speaks at the Wilmington Convention Center, Thursday, May 2, 2024, in Wilmington, N.C., as he announces his administration is providing states an additional $3 billion to replace lead pipes across the country. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)
Biden has taken the stage for his address on antisemitism at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s Days of Remembrance ceremony being held at the Capitol.
The president was introduced by Stuart E. Eizenstat, the chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council.
Biden is expected to tout his administration’s actions against antisemitism, specifically since the Hamas terrorist attacks against Israel on Oct. 7, 2023.
2 years ago
Anti-Israel protests at college campuses continue as Biden prepares to deliver speech
From Jack Birle
Officers with the New York Police Department raid the encampment by pro-Palestinian protesters at Columbia University on Tuesday, April 30, 2024, in New York. The protesters had seized the administration building, known as Hamilton Hall, more than 20 hours earlier in a major escalation as demonstrations against the Israel-Hamas war spread on college campuses nationwide. (Marco Postigo Storel via AP)
Protests at college campuses calling on universities to divest from Israel continue to rage at campuses across the country.
Police have attempted to clear encampments at several institutions, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, San Diego, in the past day, to varying degrees of success.
At MIT, protesters retook an encampment that had been previously cleared. Law enforcement at the University of Chicago cleared an encampment of anti-Israel protesters on Tuesday.
The protests, which made headlines for fiery encounters at Columbia University, have been riddled with reports of hostility and harassment toward Jewish students.
2 years ago
House Speaker Mike Johnson calls on Biden to speak ‘without equivocation’
From Jack Birle
Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., center, is joined by Republican leaders, from left, Rep. Virginia Foxx, R-N.C., chair of the House Education and the Workforce Committee, House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Jason Smith, R-Mo., and Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., chair of the House Republican Conference, to talk to reporters about Republican plans to respond to student protests over the Israel-Hamas war, at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, April 30, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
As President Joe Biden prepares for his address, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said he hopes the president will speak about antisemitism “without equivocation.”
“He needs to call right, right and wrong, wrong, and he’s been unwilling to do that. This is not Islamophobia, as he threw into his speech last week. This is open, blatant antisemitism. And it is driving Jewish students off their campuses, giving them the inability to pursue their education and go peacefully to class,” Johnson said.
“You have to speak with moral clarity, and I’m calling upon the president to do that — without equivocation. He is overdue, and if he had spoken sooner, we might not have all these disruptions,” Johnson added. “We might not have all these commencement exercises being canceled for these poor students. It’s wrong. And I think every leader with any platform should be saying this clearly. And it begins with the president of the United States.”
Cami Mondeaux contributed to this report.
2 years ago
White House touts action to counter antisemitism ahead of address
From Jack Birle
President Joe Biden awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom to 19 former and current politicians, activists, actors, and athletes Friday at the White House.
The White House touted its action combatting antisemitism ahead of Biden’s address, including the implementation of the administration’s strategy against antisemitism, which is in it’s second year.
Some of the points the White House highlighted included new guidance from the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights and action from the Department of Homeland Security to “work with interagency partners to build an online campus safety resources guide.”
The White House said the action “represents the most comprehensive and ambitious U.S. government effort to counter Antisemitism in American history.”
2 years ago
Biden prepares to meet ‘important moment’ with speech on antisemitism
From Naomi Lim
President Joe Biden speaks at the Wilmington Convention Center, Thursday, May 2, 2024 in Wilmington, N.C., as he announces his administration is providing states an additional $3 billion to replace lead pipes across the country. (AP Photo/David Yeazell)
President Joe Biden‘s political sensibilities and public speaking skills will be tested Tuesday when he delivers a highly anticipated speech denouncing antisemitism.
But critics contend the speech, scheduled to take place one week after colleges requested that police respond to student protest encampments over the Israel-Hamas war, could be too little, too late as Biden tries to assure the Jewish community and those sympathetic toward the Palestinian cause that he stands with them both.
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