WASHINGTON – White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby condemned anti-Israel and pro-Hamas protests on college campuses as “the definition of unacceptable” on Friday after shocking incidents in New York and Washington DC this week .
“Over the past week we have seen protests and statements calling for the annihilation of the State of Israel and the genocide of the Jewish people,” Kirby said at a news conference.
“We have seen Jewish students attacked. We have seen them bullied on their own college campuses. “It is disgusting and is the absolute opposite of what we are supposed to stand for as a nation.”
Kirby added: “Delegitimizing the State of Israel, praising Hamas killers who massacred people, attacking Jewish students, that is, frankly, the definition of unacceptable and of anti-Semitism, frankly.”
White House National Security Council spokesman John Kirby condemned the anti-Israel and pro-Hamas protests on college campuses as “the definition of unacceptable.” Getty Images A protester holds a sign reading “Keep the world clean” in Washington Square Park on Wednesday. .James Keivom
How celebrities, schools and companies have reacted to the Hamas terrorist attack against Israel
It was the White House’s highest-profile denunciation of anti-Jewish hatred on college campuses after Hamas killed more than 1,400 people and kidnapped about 200 more in a surprise attack Oct. 7 in southern Israel.
On Tuesday night, student activists projected the words “Glory to our martyrs” and “Free Palestine from the river to the sea” on the Gelman Library at George Washington University, five blocks west of the White House.
The library is named after a Jewish couple.
Students at George Washington University projected “Glory to Our Martyrs” in the university library.
Follow The Post’s live blog for the latest on Hamas’ attack on Israel.
Follow the Post’s coverage of Israel’s war against Hamas
On Wednesday, widely circulated footage showed Jewish students at Cooper Union in Manhattan taking shelter in the library as protesters carrying signs reading “Zionism Don’t Touch Our Universities” pounded on the doors. Inside were about 50 students, at least 11 of whom were Jews.
Protesters had planned to march to the school president’s office in the same building before focusing on the library.
Violence has erupted at some demonstrations, including Thursday at Tulane University in New Orleans.
White House spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement Thursday to the Times of Israel that “there is an extremely disturbing pattern of anti-Semitic messages being conveyed on college campuses,” as administration spokesmen backed away from previous statements. who expressed support for freedom of expression when asked about pro- Palestinian demonstrations as the Israeli army bombed Hamas-ruled Gaza.
Kirby also said at Friday’s news conference that there was also “no place for Islamophobia” and claimed that the “conservative media” had launched a “smear campaign” that made “bigoted and baseless accusations” against “Muslim-Americans, Arab -Americans.” [and] Palestinian-American employees who are “members of this administration.”
The White House did not provide the Post with examples of attacks on Biden administration advisers and it is unclear what exactly Kirby was referring to, although recent reports, including from non-conservative outlets Politico and The Huffington Post, noted that some Muslims felt who were treated unfairly by fellow Biden staffers.
Politico reported that “some Muslim, Arab and Palestinian Americans working in the Biden administration” felt that “their grief” over the civilian casualties in Gaza was taken less seriously than the grief of Jewish advisers over the Hamas surprise attack.
The Huffington Post reported that Biden’s Muslim advisers “worry about retaliation at work for questioning Israel’s conduct.”
Kirby denounced anti-Israel protests as organizers prepare a “National March on Washington for Palestine” on Nov. 4 to oppose U.S. support for Israel’s invasion of the Gaza Strip to remove Hamas from power.
Cooper Union students clashed with anti-Israel protesters in the university library on Wednesday. X / @thislouis Baruch College and other CUNY students and their supporters demonstrated in New York on October 13, 2023.ZUMAPRESS.com
War between Israel and Hamas: how we got here
2005: Israel unilaterally withdraws from the Gaza Strip more than three decades after seizing the territory from Egypt in the Six-Day War.
2006: The terrorist group Hamas wins the Palestinian legislative elections.
2007: Hamas takes control of Gaza in a civil war.
2008: Israel launches a military offensive against Gaza after Palestinian terrorists fire rockets at the city of Sderot.
2023: Hamas launches the biggest attack on Israel in 50 years, in an early morning ambush on October 7, firing thousands of rockets and sending dozens of militants into Israeli cities.
The terrorists killed more than 1,400 Israelis, wounded more than 4,200 and took at least 200 hostage.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was quick to announce: “We are at war” and promised that Hamas would pay “a price it has never known.”
Health officials in Gaza, which is controlled by Hamas, report that at least 3,000 Palestinians have been killed and more than 12,500 wounded since the war began.
Earlier this week, White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was forced to deliberately repudiate anti-Semitism after going viral on Monday when she mistakenly launched a denunciation of anti-Muslim sentiment in response to a question about the prejudices against Jews.
Biden has requested $14.3 billion in US military aid for Israel after pledging $100 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinians during a trip to Tel Aviv last week, where he referred to himself as a Zionist.
Biden faces a left-wing challenge in next year’s election from theologian and university professor Cornel West, who on Thursday joined a protest at UCLA, tweeting images of himself there and writing“It is important to realize that love for the Palestinian people does not imply hatred towards the Jewish people, only hatred towards Israeli domination and occupation!”
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