LOS ANGELES.–President Joe Biden, 81, finally spoke from the White House Roosevelt Room after Pro-Palestine protests raged on college campuses around the U.S., protesting U.S. support for Israel’s War in Gaza following the Oct. 7, 2023 Hamas massacre that raped, tortured killed 1,200 Israelis, many of whom teenagers at a Negev Desert music festival. Biden let the protests get out of hand before speaking out about the difference between the Constitutional right of Free Speech and the recent actions of protester to takeover private property, hurl anti-Semitic slurs, raise Palestinian flags, intimidate and harass Jewish American students. “We all seen the images and the put to the test two fundamental American principles,” Biden said. “The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard. The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld,” Biden said.
Biden told reporters that the nationwide pro-Palestine protests would not change U.S. policy to support Israel in its war against Hamas, now entering its seventh month, leaving Gaza in ruins with, according to the unverified Hamas body count, over 34,000 Palestinians dead, mostly women and children. Biden’s statement condemns the unlawful actions of pro-Palestine protesters and put campus protesters on notice, like a Columbia University or across the country at UCLA, that unlawful protests would be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Columbia President Minouche Shafik and UCLA Chancellor waited way to long before calling in law enforcement to stop the unlawful assembling, trespass and vandalism going on college campuses. Biden’s brief speech intended to signal to various anarchy groups now fomenting unrest that law enforcement would do its job.
Biden’s message told protesters that the free speech and the right to assemble peacefully in only designated areas does not include trespass and seizing property, buildings and vandalism. “Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is. It’s against the law when violence occurs,” Biden said. “Destroying property is not a peaceful protest. It’s against the law. Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduation—none of this is a peaceful protest. Threatening people, intimidating people, instilling fear in people is not a peaceful protest. It’s against the law,” Biden said, laying out the obvious for protesters raising the Palestinian flag on U.S. properties. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said he was particularly offended watching protesters raise the Palestinian flag over Columbia’s Hamilton Hall.
Biden responded to reports of Jewish American students threatened, intimidated and left uncomfortable on U.S. college campuses while pro-Palestine protesters took out their rage on American citizens of Jewish background. Biden’s Atty. Gen. Merrick Garland, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other in his administration are of Jewish background. “Let’s be clear about this as well. There should be no place on any campus, no place in America, for anti-Semitism or threats of violence against Jewish students,” Biden said, setting the exact right tone for pro-Palestine protesters looking to advance their cause in America. Anarchists, rabble rousers and other radicals have an easier time on American college campuses where there’s more permissiveness seen than in other parts of the world. Yet the rise of anti-Israel protests has gone over the top with intimidation, harassment and hate speech, calling for “Intifada” or chants of “from the desert to the sea.”
Many pro-Palestine protesters demanded that colleges reengage in the BDS [Boycott, Divest, Sanction] movement started in 2005 by Omar Barghouti and Ramy Shaat. Protesters seized college property, pitching homeless tents and demanding the college officials reengage in BDS or protesters would stay put indefinitely. Listening to protesters today at UCLA howling, chanting and screaming at Los Angeles law enforcement for dismantling their encampment in the heart of UCLA campus was a sickening reminder of how protests can easily spin out of control if administrators don’t act more quickly on unlawful assembly. Trespassing, vandalism and violent resistance are not part of the First Amendment. Protesters can’t hold colleges hostage threatening more violence if demands are not met, no matter what the causing, including civil rights.
Asked by a reporter in the Roosevelt Room whether he would change his policy toward supporting Israel, Biden said, “no.” When it comes anti-Semitism, the House of Representative passed a bill [320-91] broadening the definition of anti-Semitism, but, more importantly, making it unlawful to oppose the State of Israel as a Jewish homeland. Biden, only six months out from reelection, finds himself placating young voters and Muslims in battleground states, tending to side with Palestine. “I understand that people have strong feelings and deep convictions,” Biden said. “In America we respect the right and protect the right for them to express that. But it doesn’t mean anything goes. It needs to be done without violence, without destruction, without hate and within the law,” Biden said. Putting out his message today, Biden left no room for confusion where he stands.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
