President Joe Biden condemned the “ferocious surge of antisemitism in America and around the world” during a Tuesday ceremony to remember victims of the Holocaust at a time when the Hamas attack on Israel and controversy over the war in Gaza have sparked new waves of violence and hateful rhetoric toward Jews.
“We’re at risk of people not knowing the truth,” Biden said of the horrors of the Holocaust, when 6 million Jews were systematically killed by Nazi Germany and its collaborators. “This hatred continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world.”
Biden’s remarks at the Capitol played out out as pro-Palestinian protests — many of which have involved antisemitic chants and threats toward Jewish students and supporters of Israel — rock college campuses across the country.
“This hatred continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world,” Biden said of antisemitism, saying that on Oct. 7, Hamas “brought to life” that hatred with the killing of more than 1,200 Israelis, mostly civilians.
“Not 75 years later, but just seven and a half months later, and people are already forgetting, they’re already forgetting, that Hamas unleashed this terror that it was Hamas that brutalized Israelis, that it was Hamas that took and continues to hold hostages,” Biden said. “I have not forgotten, nor have you. And we will not forget.”
Biden, whose relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has grown strained over his government’s push to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, said American support for Israel is “iron clad…even when we disagree.”
Biden steered clear of the upcoming presidential election in his speech. But his address comes as former President Donald Trump has criticized the incumbent for not doing more to combat antisemitism.
The Capitol event, hosted by the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, also featured remarks from House Speaker Mike Johnson and House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries.
Biden said “There’s no place on any campus in America” or any place in America for antisemitism or threats of violence. He added, “We’re not a lawless country — we are a civil society.”
In conjunction with Biden’s speech, his administration was announcing new steps to combat antisemitism on colleges campuses and beyond. The Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights was sending every school district and college in the nation a letter outlining examples of antisemitism and other hate that could lead to federal civil rights investigations.
The Department of Homeland Security was moving to educate schools and community groups about resources and funding available to promote campus safety and address threats. And the State Department’s special envoy to monitor and combat antisemitism was meeting with technology companies on how to combat the rise in hateful conflict online.
On Monday, Doug Emhoff, the husband of Vice President Kamala Harris and the first Jewish spouse of a nationally elected American leader, met with Jewish college students at the White House about the administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism. He heard students describe their own experiences with hatred, including threats of violence and hate speech, his office said.
Trump’s campaign on Monday released a video on Yom Hashoah, Israel’s Holocaust remembrance day, that aimed to contrast the 2024 presidential candidates’ responses on antisemitism.
The video shows images of Trump visiting Israel and speeches he has given pledging to stand with Jewish people and confront antisemitism, while showing footage of the protests on campuses and clips of Biden responding to protesters upset with his administration’s support for Israel in its war against Hamas.
One of the clips shows Biden saying, “They have a point,” but does not include the next sentence in which Biden said, “We need to get a lot more care into Gaza.”
Biden campaign spokesman James Singer said in response that “President Biden stands against antisemitism and is committed to the safety of the Jewish community, and security of Israel — Donald Trump does not.”
(AP)
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6 Responses
Pandering. You can’t condemn antisemitism when you tell Israel what to do while they’re fighting for their survival.
That’s what he says at a largely Jewish audience at a Holocaust memorial program.
He needs to make the same speech at a predominantly WOKE/”Progressive”/pro-Hamas audience. The concept of a “Sister Soulija Moment|| (as opposed to “pandering”) is to go to a group and tell them to their face that you don’t approve of them.
Similar, telling a Black audience he opposes racism is pandering. Telling the Ku Klux Klan that he opposed racism, is meaningful. Biden is not very good at being meaningful.
He’s so full of it! He talks from both sides of his mouth.
Lakewhut – Biden could have easily withheld or delayed weapons, as was done in the Sinai war. There are thousands of Jews who are living because of his help. And you want him to be a marionette of Israel instead of thinking independently. Unbelievable.
Hello. Too little. Too late. Biden and his ilk are out to destroy Jews the world over, here, in Israel, the world over. He panders to his far left base but keeps the rest of us on a hook. Re Barzilai’s post here, the post could not be more incorrect. The USA didn’t supply any arms to Israel until well after the 6 day war. Biden is holding back valuable arms. His entire administration is micromanaging Israel and seeks to depose a legally elected government. He equates antisemitism which is real and huge with Islamophobia which is infinitesimal at most, is in comparison. He’s a mockery. No less.
while he is stalling shipments of arms to Israel in the middle of a war?