Joe Biden condemns violence at university protests against the war in Gaza

The president of U.S, Joe Bidenthis Thursday condemned the violence in university protests against the war in Gaza and stated: “Violent protest is not protected, peaceful protest is”.

Biden He made these statements during an urgently called speech at the White House that was not on the official agenda that the press office sent to the media on Wednesday night.

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In statements lasting just three minutes, the president defended the students’ right to demonstrate, but insisted that “order must prevail” in the face of the riots that have occurred in recent days on university campuses across the country, with hundreds of arrests.

“Violent protest is not protected, peaceful protest yes. It is illegal when violence occurs. Destroying property is not peaceful protest, it is illegal. Vandalism, break-ins, breaking windows, campus shutdowns, forcing classes and graduations to be canceled. None of this is a peaceful protest.”, he emphasized.

“Threatening people, intimidating them, instilling fear in them It is not a peaceful protest. It’s illegal”, he stressed.

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Biden stated that “dissent is essential for democracy”but dissent “should never lead to disorder and should never result in the denial of the rights of other students to complete the semester and their college education.”

The president, who in recent days has remained silent about the spread of protests across the country, He stated that on university campuses “there is no place for hate speech or violence of any kind.”be it “anti-Semitism, Islamophobia” or discrimination against students of Arab or Palestinian origin.

At the end of his speech, Biden responded with a dry “no” when a journalist asked him if the university protests had made him reconsider his policies towards Israel.

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He also responded negatively when asked whether National Guard reservists should intervene in these protests, something that Texas governor, Republican Greg Abbott, resorted to to repress protesters at the University of Texas in Austin.

The last time that Biden He spoke about the demonstrations on April 22, when, in response to questions from journalists, he said he condemned “anti-Semitic protests” and “those who do not understand what is happening to the Palestinians”.

Hundreds of students were arrested in protests, camps and occupations of buildings in pro-Palestinian protests across the country, following harsh interventions by riot police in actions that were generally peaceful, but which their critics labeled as anti-Semitic and organized by external agents.

Source: Elcomercio

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I am Jack Morton and I work in 24 News Recorder. I mostly cover world news and I have also authored 24 news recorder. I find this work highly interesting and it allows me to keep up with current events happening around the world.