US President Joe Biden said Sunday he heard the voice of Gaza war protesters as some students turned their backs on his graduation ceremony speech at the former university of civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr.
A small number of graduates carried out the silent protest, with some holding Palestinian flags and one holding up a fist as Biden spoke at Morehouse College, a historically Black university in Atlanta, Georgia.
Others wore keffiyeh scarves over their gowns in a sign of solidarity with the protests that have roiled campuses across the United States over Israel’s offensive on the Gaza Strip after the Hamas October 7 attacks.
“I support peaceful, non-violent protest. Your voices should be heard, and I promise you I hear them,” said Biden, who wore a maroon and black gown in the colors of the all-male university.
The speech was Biden’s most direct encounter with American students since the Gaza protests engulfed campuses nationwide, causing him political troubles with an election rematch against Donald Trump just over six months away.
“This is one of the hardest, most complicated problems in the world. There’s nothing easy about it,” added Biden about Gaza. “I know it angers and frustrates many of you, including my family, but most of all, I know it breaks your heart. It breaks mine as well.”
He did not elaborate, but First Lady Jill Biden reportedly urged the president in April to “stop it now” as the toll of Palestinian civilians mounted from Israel’s offensive.
A number of Morehouse students had called for Biden’s speech to be canceled over the Gaza war but the ceremony went ahead without disruption.
Biden told the students that Gaza was enduring a “humanitarian crisis” and that he was working for an “immediate ceasefire to stop the fighting, bring the hostages home.”
The 81-year-old Democrat added he was pushing for a “lasting, durable peace” in the wider Middle East that would lead to an independent Palestinian state, which he called the “only solution.”—INP
