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Biden tries to navigate the Israel-Hamas war protests roiling college campuses

Student protests over the war in Gaza have created a new and unpredictable challenge for President Joe Biden as he resists calls to cut off U.S. support for Israel while trying to hold together the coalition of voters he’ll need for reelection.

Quick Read

  • Campus Protests Impact: Student protests over the war in Gaza have emerged as a complex challenge for President Joe Biden, potentially affecting his re-election campaign as he navigates domestic and international responses to the conflict.
  • Election Dynamics: The protests at Columbia University and other campuses highlight Biden’s struggle to maintain support among young voters, crucial for his coalition, amidst heightened scrutiny from both Jewish and Arab American communities in key swing states.
  • White House Strategy: Amidst ongoing demonstrations, the Biden administration continues to support Israel while advocating for reduced civilian casualties and pushing for humanitarian aid in Gaza, reflecting a delicate balance in foreign policy.
  • Political Repercussions: The growing student movement could influence the Democratic National Convention, with potential for significant political fallout reminiscent of past national unrest.
  • Administration’s Response: Biden has condemned antisemitism linked to some protests and has sought a middle path in supporting Israel’s right to defense while emphasizing the need for fair treatment of Palestinians.
  • Trump’s Commentary: Former President Donald Trump has critiqued Biden’s handling of the protests, using the situation to shift focus from his legal troubles and claim Biden is responsible for the unrest.
  • Congressional Involvement: Congressional leaders, particularly from the Democratic party, have visited Columbia to assess the situation and ensure safety for Jewish students, highlighting the national significance of the campus protests.
  • Broader Political Implications: The situation poses a challenge for Biden to articulate and defend his administration’s policies on Israel and Gaza amid significant political and public scrutiny.

The Associated Press has the story:

Biden tries to navigate the Israel-Hamas war protests roiling college campuses

Newslooks- NEW YORK (AP) —

Student protests over the war in Gaza have created a new and unpredictable challenge for President Joe Biden as he resists calls to cut off U.S. support for Israel while trying to hold together the coalition of voters he’ll need for reelection.

The protests at Columbia University in New York and other campuses have captured global media attention and resurfaced questions about Biden’s lagging support from young voters. His handling of the Middle East conflict is also being closely watched by both Jewish and Arab American voters in key swing states.

FILE – Police in Riot gear stand guard as demonstrators chant slogans outside the Columbia University campus, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York. U.S. colleges and universities are preparing for end-of-year commencement ceremonies with a unique challenge: providing safety for graduates while honoring the free speech rights of students involved in protests over the Israel-Hamas war. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)

At best for Biden, the protests are a passing distraction while the White House presses forward with negotiations over a cease-fire and the release of hostages held by Hamas while pushing Israel to limit casualties with more than 34,000 Palestinians dead. At worst, they build momentum toward the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, potentially triggering scenes of violence that could recall the unrest of protests against the Vietnam War during the party’s convention there in 1968.

“If it ends with Columbia, that’s one thing,” said Angus Johnston, a historian focused on campus activism. “If this sends the national student movement to a new place, that’s a very different situation.”

Pro-Palestinian protesters gather in front of Sproul Hall during a planned protest on the campus of UC Berkeley in Berkeley, Calif., on Monday, April 22, 2024. Hundreds of pro-Palestinian protesters staged a demonstration in front of Sproul Hall where they set up a tent encampment and are demanding a permanent cease-fire in the war between Israel and Gaza. (Jose Carlos Fajardo/Bay Area News Group via AP)

Already, Biden’s aides have had to work to minimize disruptions from antiwar protesters, holding smaller campaign events and tightly controlling access. Demonstrators forced his motorcade to change routes to the Capitol on his way to deliver the State of the Union, and they’ve thrown a red substance intended to symbolize blood near his home in Delaware.

The president could face more confrontations with students this spring. Morehouse College said Tuesday that Biden would appear at the iconic historically Black campus in May to deliver a commencement address that could draw protests.

Several hundred students and pro-Palestinian supporters rally at the intersection of Grove and College Streets, in front of Woolsey Hall on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Conn. April 22, 2024. (Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP)

FRUSTRATION AT COLUMBIA

More than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators camped out at Columbia were arrested Thursday, with dozens more people arrested at other campuses. Many now face charges of trespassing or disorderly conduct. The protesters have demanded that their universities condemn Israel’s assault on Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and divest from companies that do business with Israel.

Several hundred students and pro-Palestinian supporters rally at the intersection in front of Woolsey Hall on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Conn. April 22, 2024. (Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP)

Some people have reported antisemitic chants and messages at and around the Columbia campus, and similar concerns have been reported at other universities. Some Jewish students say they’ve felt unsafe on campus. The White House, in a message Sunday to mark the Passover holiday, denounced what it called an “alarming surge” of antisemitism, saying it “has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.”

Columbia University professors rally in solidarity with their students rights to protest free from arrest at the Columbia University campus in New York on Monday April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

Four Jewish Democratic members of Congress toured Columbia’s locked-down campus on Monday with members of the school’s Jewish Law Students Association. They condemned that things had escalated to where Jewish students felt unsafe and the university canceled in-person classes Monday. Columbia said it would use hybrid remote and in-person learning through the end of the spring term.

Rep. Kathy Manning of North Carolina called on the Education Department and Justice Department to work with the White House “to ensure that all universities take steps necessary to keep Jewish students and faculty safe.”

“This discrimination is simply unacceptable and cannot be allowed to continue,” she said.

Biden on Monday sought the same middle ground that he’s staked out for months as he backs Israel’s military operations with weapons shipments while also pushing Israel to limit civilian casualties and get more humanitarian aid into Gaza, where the United Nations has said there is a looming famine.

Tents erected by Pro-Palestine protesters stand in an encampment at the Columbia University campus in New York on Monday April 22, 2024. (AP Photo/Stefan Jeremiah)

“I condemn the antisemitic protests,” the president said at an Earth Day event. He then added, “I also condemn those who don’t understand what’s going on with the Palestinians.”

Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a high-profile progressive who represents parts of the Bronx and Queens, spoke before Biden at the same event. She said it was “important that we remember the power of young people shaping this country” and praised “the leadership of those peaceful student-led protests.”

HOW MUCH IS BIDEN TO BLAME?

Former President Donald Trump, Biden’s presumptive Republican opponent in November, pointed to the headlines and images coming out of Columbia to redirect focus from his criminal hush money trial in New York, telling reporters in the courthouse Tuesday that Biden bears the blame for the unrest.

“If this were me, you’d be after me. You’d be after me so much,” he said. “But they’re trying to give him a pass. But what’s going on is a disgrace to our country, and it’s all Biden’s fault and everybody knows it.”

Demonstrators chant slogans outside the Columbia University campus, Thursday, April 18, 2024, in New York. The protesters were calling for the school to divest from corporations they claim profit from the war in the Middle East. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

In a sign of the political potency of the situation at Columbia, Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana planned to visit the school Wednesday and meet with Jewish students.

Joel Rubin, a former State Department official and Democratic strategist who has worked in Jewish politics for years, rejected critics blaming Biden “for everything that’s gone wrong” but said the president would have to “make the argument for why the policy is the right one and let the chips fall where they may.”

“If it were purely politics and polling, it would be a very hard one,” Rubin said. “But I think Biden is making these decisions based on national security.”

President Joe Biden waves as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, after returning from a trip to Florida where he blamed Donald Trump for Florida’s upcoming abortion ban. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Biden graduated from Syracuse’s law school in 1968, bypassing the campus convulsions over the Vietnam War. He distanced himself from that protest movement two decades later during his first run for president.

“I was married, I was in law school, I wore sports coats,” Biden said in 1987. “You’re looking at a middle-class guy. I am who I am. I’m not big on flak jackets and tie-dyed shirts. You know, that’s not me.″

Biden has been endorsed this year by many leading youth activist organizations and built his campaign around key social issues — such as defending abortion rights, combating climate change and canceling student debt for millions — that they believe can energize voters under 30 who are more likely to be concerned about his approach to Gaza.

He was in Florida on Tuesday to capitalize on the momentum against nationwide abortion restrictions and criticize a state law soon to go into effect that will ban abortions after six weeks, before many women know they’re pregnant. A day earlier, Vice President Kamala Harris held an event promoting abortion rights in swing state Wisconsin.

President Joe Biden waves as he walks across the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, Tuesday, April 23, 2024, after returning from a trip to Florida where he blamed Donald Trump for Florida’s upcoming abortion ban. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Safia Southey, a 25-year-old law student at Columbia who is Jewish, has been participating in the protest and sleeping at the encampment on the university’s quad since Thursday. She believes outrage over the war will deflate Biden’s chances against Trump because staunch supporters of Israel are more likely to support the presumptive Republican nominee.

“I think Biden has tried to be very strategic and it’s backfired in a lot of ways,” she said.

However, Southey said she’ll vote for Biden “pretty much no matter what” in a matchup with Trump.

Several hundred students and pro-Palestinian supporters rally at the intersection in front of Woolsey Hall on the campus of Yale University in New Haven, Conn. April 22, 2024. (Ned Gerard/Hearst Connecticut Media via AP)

“The students who are upset, especially at these kind of universities, are smart enough to not stay home,” she said. “I think that they’re going to go out and vote, and they’re going to go for the most strategic option, even if they’re not happy for Biden. I think that they would do anything to make sure that Trump’s not in office.”

Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher was skeptical that campus demonstrations over Gaza would prove to be politically influential.

“What percentage of Americans are really in those narrow spaces, and how representative are they of a broader American audience, or even a broader youth audience?” he asked.

Johnston, the historian on student activism, said the current protests don’t approach the size or intensity of demonstrations in the 1960s, when school officials were held hostage and campuses were vandalized.

But over the years, he said, “there’s a lot of times where student protests have shaped the national debate.”

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