President Biden Smears Pro-Palestinian Protesters as ‘Antisemitic’

By Dave DeCamp – Antiwar.com

On Monday, President Biden smeared protesters at college campuses around the country opposed to the Israeli slaughter of Palestinians in Gaza as “antisemitic.”

“I condemn the antisemitic protests. That’s why I’ve set up a program to deal with that,” Biden told reporters. “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”

Biden’s comments came as the media is focused on Columbia University in New York City, where students have set up a camp named the “Gaza Solidarity Encampment.” Some of the students involved in the protest were arrested last week and suspended by the university, prompting a walkout by faculty members to show support for the students.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams has also smeared protesters as “antisemitic,” saying, “I am horrified and disgusted with the antisemitism being spewed at and around the Columbia University campus.”

The demand of the protesters is for Columbia University to divest from companies profiting from the Israeli slaughter of Palestinians and the occupation of the West Bank. Al Jazeera reported that the protest is being organized by the student-led coalition Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), Students for Justice in Palestine, and Jewish Voice for Peace. According to the CUAD’s website, the coalition includes 116 organizations.

The situation at Columbia has led some members of Congress to call for the National Guard to break up the protests, including Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR) and Josh Hawley (R-MO).

Critics of the protests have accused the demonstrators of harassing Jewish students, which has been a common claim about recent college protests in general. Peter Beinart, editor-at-large of Jewish Currents, made the point on X that Jews are usually “overrepresented” among pro-Palestinian protesters at colleges. “Sometimes they’re the largest identity group. Maybe folks calling for cracking down on protesters in the name of Jewish safety should consider their safety too,” he said.