President Joe Biden delivered a qualified denunciation of anti-Israel protests on college campuses, voicing support for the Palestinian people as he condemned the wave of antisemitism facing Jewish students.
The president, asked by reporters about a series of disruptive protests sweeping elite universities including Columbia University and Yale University, denounced the tactics of protesters, who have established pro-Palestinian encampments that have led to harassment and intimidation on campus.
“I condemn the antisemitic protests,” Biden said on Monday in Virginia. “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.”
He responded, “I didn’t know that,” when asked about calls for Columbia’s president to resign over her handling of the protests. “I’ll have to find out more about it.”
Biden has started to air his criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the war in Gaza publicly, particularly after seven aid workers from restaurateur Jose Andres‘s World Central Kitchen food relief organization were killed during an airstrike this month. But he has generally maintained support for Israel, even in the face of pressure from his left flank.
“This is a deeply painful moment for many communities impacted by this conflict,” White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre told reporters last week regarding the Columbia protests. “The president and our administration continues to speak out and forcefully condemn antisemitism, and our administration is implementing the first-ever National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism.”
“The president also believes that free speech, debate, and nondiscrimination on college campuses are important American values,” she said. “When students are subject to hostile environments because of their faith or ethnicity, schools must act. Students must be safe to learn. And that’s where we stand on that one.”
Biden added in a separate weekend statement marking Passover that he remained committed “to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state.”
“My administration is working around the clock to free the hostages, and we will not rest until we bring them home,” he wrote. “We are also working to establish an immediate and prolonged ceasefire in Gaza as a part of a deal that releases the hostages and delivers desperately needed humanitarian aid to Palestinian civilians. We will continue to work toward a two-state solution that provides equal security, prosperity, and enduring peace for Israelis and Palestinians.”
Columbia students are now learning remotely because of the prolonged protests, which have included some demonstrators who have expressed support for Hamas’s Oct. 7 terrorist attacks. A protest encampment was earlier cleared by police, with students and staff arrested days after Columbia President Nemat Shafik appeared before Congress concerning unrest on campuses across the country.
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Progressives including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) have defended the protests as “peaceful” in the face of criticism. Meanwhile, pro-Israel Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA) has compared the demonstrations to the white supremacist protests in Charlottesville in 2017. “Add some tiki torches and it’s Charlottesville for these Jewish students,” the senator said in a Sunday night statement, calling on the university president to “do your job or resign.”
Republicans invoked Charlottesville, Virginia, as well on Monday to accuse Biden of a double standard. The president frequently condemned former President Donald Trump for claiming there were “very fine people on both sides” of the 2017 protests.
