Biden speaks on campus clashes

[MrDawn]

Your thoughts?

President Joe Biden on Thursday spoke out from the White House on college protests happening across the nation in connection with the Israel-Hamas war.

"We've all seen images, and they put to the test two fundamental American principles," Biden said from the Roosevelt Room. "The first is the right to free speech and for people to peacefully assemble and make their voices heard. The second is the rule of law. Both must be upheld."

It marked the first time Biden directly addressed the issue since his brief comments to reporters on April 22, before the escalation of suspensions and arrests at several campuses. At the time, he said he condemned both antisemitic actions and those who didn't understand the plight of Palestinians in Gaza.

'Violent protest is not protected,' Biden says of college campus unrest

President Joe Biden on Thursday spoke from the White House on college protests happening across the nation in connection with the Israel-Hamas war.

abcnews.go.com

 

[Webster]

(The Guardian) In his brief speech on the pro-Palestine protests on college campuses, Joe Biden cast himself as a defender of free speech rights, but said the demonstrations should not disrupt students’ learning.

“Dissent is essential to democracy, but dissent must never lead to disorder or to denying the rights of others, so students can finish the semester and their college education. Look, it’s basically a matter of fairness. It’s a matter of what’s right. There’s the right to protest, but not the right to cause chaos. People have the right to get an education, right to get a degree, right to walk across campus safely without fear of being attacked,” the president said.

He later added: There should be no place on any campus, no place in America for antisemitism, or threats of violence against Jewish students. There is no place for hate speech, or violence of any kind, whether it’s antisemitism, Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans. It’s simply wrong. There’s no place for racism in America. It’s all wrong. It’s not American.

Biden concluded with: As president, I will always defend free speech. And I will always be just as strong in standing up for the rule of law. That’s my responsibility to you, the American people, my obligation to the constitution.