Big Lines From Biden's Antisemitism Speech

President denounces 'ferocious surge' in America and the world
By Newser Editors,  Newser Staff
Posted May 7, 2024 12:05 PM CDT
Biden Denounces 'Ferocious Surge of Antisemitism'
President Biden speaks at the US Holocaust Memorial Museum's Annual Days of Remembrance ceremony Tuesday in Washington.   (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

President Biden on Tuesday condemned what he called "a ferocious surge of antisemitism in America and around the world." His speech at a DC ceremony remembered victims of the Holocaust and referenced the ongoing pro-Palestinian protests at college campuses:

  • Ancient hatred: "We're at risk of people not knowing the truth," Biden said of the Holocaust, per the AP. "This hatred continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world." He asked Americans to push back against an "ancient desire to wipe out the Jewish people off the face of the Earth."
    Hamas: "People are already forgetting, are already forgetting that Hamas unleashed this terror," Biden said of the Oct. 7 attack on Israel. "It was Hamas that brutalized Israelis. It was Hamas that took and continues to hold hostages. I have not forgotten."
  • Campuses: "On college campuses, Jewish students [have been] blocked, harassed, attacked, while walking to class," Biden said, per Politico. "Antisemitism, antisemitic posters, slogans calling for the annihilation of Israel, the world's only Jewish state. Too many people denying, downplaying, rationalizing, ignoring the horrors of the Holocaust and Oct. 7. ... It is absolutely despicable, and it must stop."

  • Campuses, II: "I understand people have strong beliefs and deep convictions about the world and America," the president said, per the New York Times. But "there is no place on any campus in America, any place in America, for antisemitism or hate speech or threats of violence of any kind."
  • Israel: "To the Jewish community, I want you to know: I see your fear, your hurt and your pain. Let me reassure you as your president, you're not alone. You belong. You always have, and you always will. My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent Jewish state is ironclad, even when we disagree."
(More President Biden stories.)

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