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full screen US President Joe Biden in the lectern at George Mason University in Manassas, Virginia. The theme of the speech was abortion rights, but Biden was interrupted by protests against the war in Gaza. Photo: Susan Walsh/AP/TT
“Genocide Joe must go”.
Pro-Palestinian activists made themselves heard when the US president, Democrat Joe Biden, made an election speech in Virginia.
The topic of the campaign meeting was abortion rights, an issue the Democrats want to put high on the agenda before the presidential election in November. But Biden had barely begun to speak when a man in the audience unfurled a Palestinian flag and shouted “Genocide Joe – how many Palestinian children are going to die?”, according to American media.
All told, Biden was interrupted a dozen times by activists who oppose the White House’s support for Israel in the Gaza war against terror-labeled Hamas. The president’s supporters tried to silence the protesters by chanting “Four more years”.
Biden has been interrupted by Gaza protests in the past. At the time, he expressed understanding for the protesters and said he was working with the Israeli government to reduce attacks on civilians in Gaza. On stage in Virginia, he stated that the activists are “deeply committed”.