White House condemns Columbia student protest leader who called for Zionists to die
President Joe Biden’s White House waded into the uproar over student protesters at Columbia University, criticizing an organizer of the encampment for past antisemitic comments that resurfaced this week.
“These dangerous, appalling statements turn the stomach and should serve as a wakeup call,” deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said in a statement. “It is hideous to advocate for the murder of Jews. President Biden has been clear that violent rhetoric, hate speech, and Antisemitic remarks have no place in America whatsoever, and he will always stand against them.”
The statement from the White House came after a video resurfaced Thursday night of a January disciplinary hearing of Khymani James, one of the lead student organizers behind the Columbia protests. In the video, James said he believed “Zionists don’t deserve to live.” He also said people should “be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”
The three-month-old footage of James placed an additional layer of scrutiny on the protests that have embroiled the Columbia campus and drawn an immense amount of media coverage and political attention. Several lawmakers have traveled to the college to denounce the demonstrators, accusing them of fostering antisemitism and intimidating Jewish students. Top Republicans have called on the president to dispatch National Guard troops to disperse the encampments where the protesters are staying.
Biden has not traveled to Columbia. And his White House has deferred decisions around National Guard deployment to the governors.
But he has condemned the spread of antisemitism on college campuses while attempting to demonstrate his concern for the people of Gaza amid the humanitarian crisis there.
Campus protesters have called on lawmakers to push for a permanent cease-fire in Gaza and argued that their criticisms of Zionism and Israel are being erroneously framed as antisemitic. The January comments from James, who has led news conferences calling for “Palestinian liberation,” are among the most incendiary to date from protest leaders.
James posted a statement on X Friday morning apologizing for those comments, noting that he said them before becoming involved with the campus protests. “What I said was wrong,” he wrote. “Every member of our community deserves to feel safe without qualification.”
