2nd May, 2024
United States President, Joe Biden says order must prevail as students protest in several campuses over the situation of Palestinians in Gaza.
Biden, in a short speech addressing series of protests in American Universities on Thursday said the U.S. is not an authoritarian nation where “we silence people or we squash dissent.”
He said: “In fact peaceful protests is the best tradition but neither are we a lawless country, and order must prevail.”
Biden said he knew that American people were hurt, but frowned against violent protest, which he said is not protected.
“Violent protest is not protected. Peaceful protest is. Destroying property is not a peaceful protest,” he stated.
The president said vandalism, trespassing, breaking windows, shutting down campuses, forcing the cancellation of classes and graduations, were in no way a peaceful protest.
He added that there is “no place in America for anti-Semitism or threats of violence against Jewish students” and no place for Islamophobia, or discrimination against Arab Americans or Palestinian Americans.
Biden also said that the National Guard would not be called out.
The BBC reports that Biden’s remarks come after police officers broke down barricades to clear a pro-Palestinian protest at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA)
Hundreds of people with tents had set up encampments at UCLA – officers told them to move or face arrest. Overnight, hundreds of officers entered the site and by Thursday morning most protesters had gone.
The BBC said its reporters saw dozens of detained protesters with their hands behind their back, being put on buses.
On Tuesday night, a masked pro-Israeli group assaulted a pro-Palestinian student camp, before officers were called to the campus
Demonstrations are continuing at dozens of universities across the US; there have been more than 1,000 arrests in total.