By WILL WEISSERT, MICHELLE L. PRICE and CHRIS MEGERIAN (Associated Press)
NEW YORK — Student protests over the war in Gaza have created a new and unpredictable challenge for President Joe Biden as he resists calls to cut off U.S. support for Israel while trying to hold together the coalition of voters he’ll need for reelection.
The protests at Columbia University in New York and other campuses have captured global media attention and resurfaced questions about Biden’s lagging support from young voters. His handling of the Middle East conflict is also being closely watched by both Jewish and Arab American voters in key swing states.
At best for Biden, the protests are a passing distraction while the White House presses forward with negotiations over a cease-fire and the release of hostages held by Hamas while pushing Israel to limit casualties with more than 34,000 Palestinians dead. At worst, they build momentum toward the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August, potentially triggering scenes of violence that could recall the unrest of protests against the Vietnam War during the party’s convention there in 1968.
“If it ends with Columbia, that’s one thing,” said Angus Johnston, a historian focused on campus activism. “If this sends the national student movement to a new place, that’s a very different situation.”
Already, Biden’s aides have had to work to minimize disruptions from antiwar protesters, holding smaller campaign events and tightly controlling access. Demonstrators forced his motorcade to change routes to the Capitol on his way to deliver the State of the Union, and they’ve thrown a red substance intended to symbolize blood near his home in Delaware.
The president could face more confrontations with students this spring. Morehouse College said Tuesday that Biden would appear at the iconic historically Black campus in May to deliver a commencement address that could draw protests.
FRUSTRATION AT COLUMBIA
More than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators camped out at Columbia were arrested Thursday, with dozens more people arrested at other campuses. Many now face charges of trespassing or disorderly conduct. The protesters have demanded that their universities condemn Israel’s assault on Gaza after the Oct. 7 Hamas attack and divest from companies that do business with Israel.
Some people have reported antisemitic chants and messages at and around the Columbia campus, and similar concerns have been reported at other universities. Some Jewish students say they’ve felt unsafe on campus. The White House, in a message Sunday to mark the Passover holiday, denounced what it called an “alarming surge” of antisemitism, saying it “has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.”
Four Jewish Democratic members of Congress toured Columbia’s locked-down campus on Monday with members of the school’s Jewish Law Students Association. They condemned that things had escalated to where Jewish students felt unsafe and the university canceled in-person classes Monday. Columbia said it would use mix of both remote and in-person learning until the end of the spring term.
Rep. Kathy Manning of North Carolina urged the Education Department and Justice Department to collaborate with the White House to ensure the safety of Jewish students and faculty at all universities.
She stated, “This discrimination is not acceptable and must be stopped.”
On Monday, Biden sought to maintain his position of supporting Israel's military actions with weapons while also urging them to reduce civilian casualties and increase humanitarian aid in Gaza, where the United Nations has warned of an upcoming famine..
The president condemned the antisemitic protests at an Earth Day event, and also criticized those who do not understand the situation with the Palestinians.
At the same event, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, a prominent progressive figure, emphasized the influence of young people in shaping the country and praised the leadership of the peaceful student-led protests.
WHAT IS THE EXTENT OF BIDEN'S RESPONSIBILITY?
Former President Donald Trump, Biden’s likely Republican opponent in November, used the headlines and images from Columbia to shift attention away from his criminal hush money trial in New York. He asserted that Biden is to blame for the unrest, stating, “If this were me, you’d be after me. You’d be after me so much. But they’re trying to give him a pass. But what’s going on is a disgrace to our country, and it’s all Biden’s fault and everybody knows it.”
Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana planned to visit the school to meet with Jewish students, indicating the political significance of the situation at Columbia.
Joel Rubin, a former State Department official and Democratic strategist with experience in Jewish politics, dismissed critics who blame Biden for all the problems, but stated that the president must justify why his policies are the right ones and face the consequences.
Rubin said, “If it were purely politics and polling, it would be a very hard one. But I think Biden is making these decisions based on national security.”
Biden graduated from Syracuse’s law school in 1968, avoiding the campus upheavals during the Vietnam War. He distanced himself from that protest movement twenty years later during his initial presidential campaign.
“I was married, I was in law school, I wore sports coats,” Biden said in 1987. “You’re looking at a middle-class guy. I am who I am. I’m not big on flak jackets and tie-dyed shirts. You know, that’s not me.″
Biden has gained support this year from
numerous leading youth activist organizations and centered his campaign around crucial social issues, including protecting abortion rights addressing climate change, and eliminating student debt for millions — issues that they believe can rally voters under 30 who are more concerned about his approach to Gaza. He was in Florida
on Tuesday to take advantage of the movement against nationwide abortion restrictions and criticize a state law set to go into effect soon that will forbid abortions after six weeks, before many women realize they're pregnant. A day earlier, Vice President Kamala Harris held an event promoting abortion rights in swing state Wisconsin. Safia Southey, a 25-year-old law student at Columbia who is Jewish, has been participating in the protest and sleeping at the encampment on the university’s quad since Thursday. She thinks anger over the war will reduce Biden’s chances against Trump because strong supporters of Israel are more likely to support the expected Republican nominee.
“I think Biden has tried to be very strategic and it’s backfired in a lot of ways,” she said.
However, Southey said she’ll vote for Biden “pretty much no matter what” in a matchup with Trump.
“The students who are upset, especially at these kind of universities, are smart enough to not stay home,” she said. “I think that they’re going to go out and vote, and they’re going to go for the most strategic option, even if they’re not happy for Biden. I think that they would do anything to make sure that Trump’s not in office.”
Democratic pollster Cornell Belcher was doubtful that campus demonstrations over Gaza would prove to be politically influential.
“What percentage of Americans are really in those narrow spaces, and how representative are they of a broader American audience, or even a broader youth audience?” he asked.
Johnston, the historian on student activism, said the current protests don’t approach the size or intensity of demonstrations in the 1960s, when school officials were held hostage and campuses were vandalized.
But over the years, he said, “there’s a lot of times where student protests have shaped the national debate.”
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Student protests over the war in Gaza have created a new and unpredictable challenge for President Joe Biden. The Democratic president is resisting calls to cut off U.S. support for Israel while trying to hold together a coalition of supporters he’ll need for reelection. The student protests have seized attention and resurfaced questions about Biden’s lagging support from young voters and his handling of Israel’s war with Hamas. At best for Biden, the protests are a passing distraction while the White House presses forward with negotiations over a cease-fire. At worst for Biden, the protests build momentum toward mass protests at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August.
