Joe Biden, until now silent on the mobilization against the Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip which has shaken American universities for two weeks, estimated this Thursday, May 2 that “order must prevail”.
“Violent demonstrations are not protected, peaceful demonstrations are,” said the American president, who will seek a second term against Republican Donald Trump in November. “Vandalism, forceful intrusion, breaking windows, blocking campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes or graduation ceremonies, none of this falls within the scope of peaceful demonstration,” listed the Democrat from 81 years old. “It’s against the law.”
“As president, I will always defend freedom of expression and I will defend the law just as forcefully,” he said. “Anti-Semitism and threats against Jewish students have no place on campus or in America,” the American president said. Joe Biden also said that he was not in favor of sending the National Guard, an army corps which depends on the states on the front line, to campuses.
Biden facing the young and progressive electorate
The American president had to react to the wave of mobilization and the police interventions to dislodge demonstrators, at Columbia University in New York or at the University of California (UCLA) for example. This mobilization places the democrat in an extremely delicate political position.
His policy of support for Israel has earned him strong criticism from young, progressive and Arab-American voters, while Republicans accuse him of allowing anti-Semitism to flourish on campuses. Joe Biden also assured that “no”, this protest movement would not change his strategy in the Middle East. “We are not a nation that silences people,” the American president declared again during a short speech.