Biden, speech on university protests: ‘We are not a nation that silences people, but order must prevail’

​US President Joe Biden gave a speech on Thursday about pro-Palestinian student protests that have escalated and resulted in violence, clashes between camps and the intervention of law enforcement.

Faced with allegations of police abuse, Joe Biden says every student is free to protest, but warns that “order must prevail” and destruction of public property is not acceptable.

“Vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, locking down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes or graduation ceremonies, none of this constitutes a peaceful demonstration,” the 81-year-old Democrat listed. “It’s against the law.”

“As president, I will always defend free speech and I will defend the law just as strongly,” he added. “We are not a nation that silences people,” the US president said in a brief speech, adding that “anti-Semitism has no place” on campuses.

Joe Biden also said he is not in favor of sending the National Guard, a military that depends primarily on the states, to campuses.

So far, the US president has remained silent in the face of the wave of protests and police interventions to remove demonstrators, for example at Columbia University in New York and the University of California (UCLA).

This mobilization puts the Democrat in an extremely delicate political position.

His pro-Israel policies have drawn him fierce criticism from young and progressive Arab-American voters, while Republicans accuse him of allowing anti-Semitism to flourish on campuses.

Joe Biden also assured that “no” this protest movement will not change his strategy in the Middle East.

The protests triggered by the war in Gaza have intensified in recent weeks on American campuses and, inspired by the events at the prestigious Columbia University, have included dozens of schools.

More than a thousand demonstrators have been arrested so far, there have been accusations of anti-Semitism, clashes with police who came in force to demolish protest camps and even full-blown violence, notably at the University of California (UCLA) when counter-protesters pro-Israeli attacked the pro-Palestinian crowd on Wednesday evening, Reuters, BBC, Associated Press and New York Times write.

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Who are the protesters?

The pro-Palestinian protests have attracted students and teachers of various backgrounds, including Muslim and Jewish, but certainly not only, according to images from the scene and according to the organizers themselves, writes Reuters.

Groups that have organized various protests include Students for Justice in Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace.

The two decades-old groups, which frequently protest the Israeli military occupation, have branches across the country that have been central to campus protests.

The Columbia protests were organized by Columbia University Apartheid Divest (CUAD), which describes itself as a coalition of over 100 student groups.

It was founded in 2016 and tried unsuccessfully to end Colombia’s investments in arms companies and other companies that support Israel’s occupation of the Palestinian territories.

The students, who include Jews, Muslims and Palestinians, “reactivated” the coalition and its demands after the October 7 Hamas attack and Israel’s Gaza response.

Columbia students held Muslim and Jewish prayers at the camp, and some gave speeches condemning Israel and Zionism and praising the Palestinian armed resistance.

Organizers have denied accusations of anti-Semitism, although some Jewish students have said they do not feel safe on campus and are unsettled by chants they say are anti-Semitic.

This was also noted by politicians and university leaders who called on law enforcement to end the protests.

In many cases, people outside the universities took part in the campus protests. Columbia University said half of the people arrested Tuesday night had no connection to the school.