sStudent protests over the ongoing conflict in Gaza have become a thorny issue for President Joe Biden and many Democrats, drawing attention to his administration’s stance on Israel and highlighting divisions within the party.
The protests, which erupted on campuses including Columbia University and UCLA, represent a delicate balancing act for Biden as he navigates the complexities of US foreign policy in the Middle East while also seeking to maintain support from key voting blocs. – including young progressives – ahead of his re-election bid in six months.
“We are divided,” Rep. Jamaal Bowman, a New York progressive, told TIME of the Democrats. “We have many party members who are unequivocally pro-Israel and others who take a more balanced and nuanced approach.”
While the White House has affirmed its commitment to Israel’s security, it has also called for containment and humanitarian assistance in Gaza, where thousands of Palestinians have been killed. But Biden has yet to publicly endorse calls from progressive lawmakers to cut U.S. support for Israel or express solidarity with student protesters calling on his administration to take a stronger stance against its military operations in Gaza.
See more information: Why Colleges Don’t Know What to Do About Campus Protests
Some prominent progressive lawmakers have taken notice. “I think he could say this is an incredibly important moment, and people feel very strongly about it,” Rep. Pramila Jayapal, a Washington Democrat and chair of the Progressive Caucus, told TIME. “They are protesting this war and the involvement of the United States. And we have a long history of doing that in this country with students on campuses, and I think it would be great if [Biden] raised this story, while also making sure people understand that anti-Semitism is wrong.”
For Biden, there is no easy policy solution. On one side of the Democratic Party are those who advocate a more assertive stance against Israel’s actions, calling for sanctions and divestment from companies that do business with Israel – some even visiting pro-Palestinian camps at universities to show support. On the other side are those who emphasize Israel’s right to defend itself and warn against actions that could harm US-Israel relations.
As pro-Palestinian protests erupt at colleges across the country, Biden remains largely silent on the issue. He has yet to address the protests in a speech and has not made any public comments in more than a week. “I can understand why he doesn’t want to comment on it,” says Jayapal.
White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was repeatedly pressed Wednesday about why Americans hadn’t heard from Biden regarding the protests. “The president is kept regularly updated on what is happening,” she said. “He is monitoring the situation closely.”
In its messaging during the Israel-Hamas war, which began when Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, the Biden administration has emphasized the need for diplomacy and continued to provide military aid to Israel, while also expressing concerns about casualties. civilians and calling for de-escalation. Jean-Pierre added that Americans have the right to protest peacefully, but that “taking a building by force is not peaceful.” Biden’s team has spoken out strongly against the illegal actions of student protesters, with a spokesperson last week condemning an organizer of the Columbia protests for saying that “Zionists don’t deserve to live.”
Tensions came to a head at Columbia University and the City College of New York on Tuesday night, where almost 300 protesters were arrested. The NYPD was seen entering a window in a building occupied by the anti-war group, which demanded that the university condemn Israel’s actions and divest from companies linked to Israel. Hours later at UCLA, groups of dueling protesters beat each other with sticks throughout the night after pro-Israel protesters tried to tear down barricades surrounding a pro-Palestine camp. Fifteen people were injured and one was hospitalized during the clash, university administration saidleading the school to cancel classes.
Reports of anti-Semitic chants and messages at the protests have raised concerns about the safety of Jewish students on campus, prompting calls for intervention from lawmakers.
See more information: ‘Why are police wearing riot gear?’: Inside Columbia and City College’s darkest night
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a progressive Democrat from New York who visited the camps in Columbia last weekend, told TIME that it would not be enough for the Biden administration to simply express solidarity with the protesters. “It’s not even about solidarity,” she says. “This is about free speech protections… The worst thing you can do is send the police to violently escalate what is happening.” Chuck Schumer of New York, the top Democrat in the Senate, said Tuesday that “smashing windows with hammers and taking over university buildings is not free speech. It is illegal and those who did it must immediately face consequences that are not just a slap in the face.”
Bowman also says he wants to hear more from Biden about protesters’ rights. “This is America… we are not a police state,” adds Bowman. “We must be the beacon of liberal values, the beacon of free speech… And so I would love for the President to use his bully pulpit to lean on who we are and the structure of our country and our democracy.”
“The president believes that making his voice heard and participating in our democracy is fundamental to who we are as Americans,” a Biden campaign spokesperson told TIME. “He shares the goal of ending violence and a just and lasting peace in the Middle East. He is working tirelessly toward that end.”
The protests at Columbia and UCLA have become a focal point for political debate, with Republicans seizing on the unrest to criticize Biden’s handling of the crisis. Former President Donald Trump sought to capitalize on the issue, blaming Biden for the protests and accusing him of weakness toward Israel. “What’s happening is a disgrace to our country,” Trump said last week, “and it’s all Biden’s fault and everyone knows it.”
The House voted Wednesday to pass the bipartisan Antisemitism Awareness Act, which supporters say will help combat antisemitism on college campuses. The legislation would require that when the Department of Education enforces federal anti-discrimination laws, it uses a definition of anti-Semitism put forward by the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Twenty-one Republicans and 70 Democrats voted against the legislation, with many arguing that the definition is overly expansive and could threaten free speech.
How Biden handles the escalation of protests could shape the political landscape in the coming months. His ability to navigate divisions within his own party and forge a coherent strategy on Israel-Palestine relations could be crucial in determining his re-election prospects. If Biden chooses to take a stronger stance in support of protesters’ rights, he could provide ammunition for Trump and Republicans, who have sought to link the President to disorder and lawlessness on campus. But if you don’t, you risk alienating key groups of young progressive voters.
Biden’s advisers do not believe that the Israel-Hamas conflict is young people’s top priority in this election. A recent Harvard Institute of Politics Youth Survey shows Gaza ranks 15th on the list of top issues facing young voters, well below the economy and immigration. The same poll concluded that 51% of young Americans support a permanent ceasefire in Gaza.
The conflict in the Middle East could also hurt Biden politically with other voters, including Muslim Americans, especially in swing states like Michigan, where more than 100,000 people voted “non-committal” in February in protest against the president’s handling of the war. Israel-Hamas. “Our government is not just an accomplice [in] In this genocide, we are actively participating,” Representative Rashida Tlaib, a progressive from Michigan and the first Palestinian-American woman to serve in Congress, said on the House floor Wednesday.
For now, Democrats are struggling to negotiate their party’s complicated policies on this issue. “I am heartbroken that we did not have a vigil to honor the lives lost in Gaza,” says Bowman. “We held a vigil on October 7th, as we should, but we did not hold one for the lives lost in Gaza. And what we communicate is that the lives lost on October 7th are much more important, more valuable or more precious than those that have been lost in Gaza since October.”
“This is not how we want to govern,” adds Bowman.
This story originally appeared on Time.com read the full story
