Biden condemns ‘antisemitic protests’ — and absence of Palestinian empathy, too
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President Joe Biden on Monday gave his first public remarks on anti-Israel protests roiling college campuses.
But in condemning the actions of demonstrators who he deemed “antisemitic,” Biden also chastised those who didn’t empathize with the suffering of those in Gaza.
“I condemn the antisemitic protests,” the president told reporters en route back from a speech he had delivered to commemorate Earth Day. “That’s why I have set up a program to deal with that. I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”
Asked a second question about whether Columbia University’s president should resign, Biden said he wasn’t sure. “I will have to find out more about that,” he said.
Biden’s remarks came less than a day after he put out a statement commemorating the oncoming Jewish holiday of Passover, in which he warned about the persistence and rise of antisemitism, including on college campuses. In that statement, he did not address the issue of Palestinians or the situation in Gaza.
Those protesting the Israel government actions in the conflict have criticized the White House for having a one-sided approach to those groups it condemns, including similar statements in the early weeks and months of the Gaza war that made little mention of Palestinians and their suffering. Biden’s comments on Monday appear to be a nod towards their angst.
Even as Biden has sought to better calibrate his response on the conflict in recent months and has ratcheted up his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the spiraling conflict, which risks expanding to a broader conflict throughout the Middle East, continues to be a political pain point for the president just months ahead of November’s election.
His advantage over former President Donald Trump with younger voters is much smaller than it was at this point in the 2020 campaign, largely due to frustration over the Gaza war and Biden’s hesitation in calling for a ceasefire.
