White House Strongly Condemns Pro-Palestinian Protest at Columbia After Demonstrators Break Into Building: That’s ‘Not Peaceful’

Photo by: Andrea Renault/STAR MAX/IPx 2024 4/20/24

President Joe Biden’s White House released a statement on Tuesday morning strongly condemning the pro-Palestinian student protests at Columbia University after they seized a building.

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates issued a statement that read, “President Biden has stood against repugnant, Antisemitic smears and violent rhetoric his entire life.”

“He condemns the use of the term ‘intifada,’ as he has the other tragic and dangerous hate speech displayed in recent days. President Biden respects the right to free expression, but protests must be peaceful and lawful. Forcibly taking over buildings is not peaceful – it is wrong. And hate speech and hate symbols have no place in America,” Bates concluded.

Tuesday’s statement — which followed a Monday night charge from protesters to take over the Hamilton Hall campus building in which doors were smashed — marked a significant departure from past statements from the White House that offered both sides support. On Monday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was asked if protestors should face consequences from college administrators and punted with her response. “These are institutions – some of them are private, some of them are public – and it is up to their leadership, university leadership and colleges, to make that decision,” Jean-Pierre said.

She also called the current situation “a painful moment” given the high death toll in Gaza and said, “We get that it is a painful moment that Americans are dealing with, and free expression has to be done within the law.”

Last Friday, Bates sent out multiple statements and condemned hateful rhetoric on both sides, saying, “Every American is an American, full stop.”

“It is bigoted and outrageous to suggest that anyone should ‘go back’ anywhere. These kinds of statements degrade all of us, whether it’s telling someone to ‘go back’ to Gaza, or telling someone to ‘go back’ to Belarus and Poland, which was captured in other videos yesterday — countries where Jews were victims of the Holocaust and pogroms,” Bates added, following video of such chants going viral.

“President Biden stands against hateful rhetoric, and believes we must constantly respect the dignity of all people, regardless of disagreements about policy,” Bates concluded.

On Friday, Bates also condemned Columbia student protest leader Khymani James saying that “Zionists don’t deserve to live” and “Be grateful that I’m not just going out and murdering Zionists.”

“These dangerous, appalling statements turn the stomach and should serve as a wakeup call. It is hideous to advocate for the murder of Jews. President Biden has been clear that violent rhetoric, hate speech, and Antisemitic remarks have no place in America whatsoever, and he will always stand against them,” Bates said of James’s statement. James was kicked out of Columbia University over the comments and was seen on Monday night leading the charge to take over Hamilton Hall.