Pro-Palestinian Group Issues Warning About Joe Biden Commencement Speech

A pro-Palestinian coalition of faculty and staff members across Georgia universities put out a statement Tuesday adamantly opposing Morehouse College's decision to have President Joe Biden give this year's commencement speech.

The White House confirmed earlier Tuesday that Biden would address Morehouse's graduating class on May 19 in Atlanta. The decision presents the president with a platform at one of the country's top historically Black campuses ahead of the November election.

But in a statement shared to Instagram, the Faculty and Staff for Justice in Palestine - Georgia (FSJP) wrote that inviting Biden to speak "will do serious reputational damage to Morehouse and other schools in the Atlanta University Center consortium." The decision by Morehouse comes as pro-Palestinian protests have rocked American colleges across the country, with demonstrators demanding that their institutions cease all activities with businesses in Israel amid its war against Hamas in Gaza.

"It will alienate donors. It will discourage new applications from a youth generation that overwhelmingly supports a ceasefire," the group's statement continued. "It will prompt significant protest among current students and faculty, subjecting them to discipline and, potentially, dangerous confrontations with the police."

Recent pro-Palestinian protests at top universities such as Columbia, New York University and Yale have resulted in dozens of individuals—including many students—being detained by police for breaking campus rules. The over 100 Columbia students who were arrested were also suspended by the university.

The Context

Preliminary polling has indicated the 2024 presidential race is nearly neck and neck between Biden and Donald Trump, and both candidates have focused campaign efforts on swing states like Georgia. Biden narrowly flipped Georgia in the 2020 election, beating Trump by a margin of just 0.2 percent, or around 12,600 votes.

Biden has faced pushback from some key parts of the Democratic electorate—including younger voters—over his handling of the war in Gaza. Some Democrats protested the president's policies by voting "uncommitted" during primary races earlier this spring. Biden has recently taken a harder line with Israel.

What We Know

FSJP Georgia said in its statement that the decision to invite Biden "was made solely by the Morehouse administration" and that faculty members and students were not given an option to weigh in. The group also called for Morehouse to rescind its invitation to the president, "get on the right side of history" and "use its moral authority to call for an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza."

Newsweek reached out to Morehouse via email for comment Tuesday afternoon. A request for comment was also sent to Biden's campaign.

Other FSJP coalitions supported students demanding a cease-fire in Gaza, including the coalition at Columbia University in New York City, where faculty and staff members have led walkouts in response to student arrests and suspensions over establishing an encampment on university grounds as part of their protest.

Faculty members also joined student protesters at an encampment demonstration on the grounds of NYU Monday night before New York City police broke up the rally, arresting several dozen participants.

Views

Several Jewish students have reported facing threats of violence and antisemitic remarks amid the campus protests. A rabbi associated with Columbia urged students on Sunday to leave campus for their own safety until the "reality in and around campus has dramatically improved." Pro-Palestinian student groups have said that they oppose "any form of hate or bigotry" and that student demonstrators have remained peaceful.

Biden issued a statement ahead of the start of Passover on Monday, warning of an "alarming surge of Antisemitism" in the country.

"Silence is complicity," the president said. "Even in recent days, we've seen harassment and calls for violence against Jews. This blatant Antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous—and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country."

White House Deputy Press Secretary Andrew Bates told reporters traveling on Air Force One Tuesday that the president is "aware" of the pro-Palestinian protests, calling it "a painful moment for many communities" and reiterating "every American's right to peacefully protest."

"But as I said, when we witness calls for violence, physical intimidation, hateful, antisemitic rhetoric, those are unacceptable," Bates added, according to CNN's report. "We will denounce them. The president knows that silence is complicity and that's why he uses the platforms he has to try and ensure that our fellow Americans are safe."

What's Next?

Protests have continued at Columbia despite police intervention. Demonstrations have also popped up at campuses around the Boston area, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard and Emerson College. CNN also reported that a handful of pro-Palestinian protesters were arrested at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus Tuesday morning.

Update 4/23/24, 4:21 p.m. ET: This article has been updated with additional information and background.

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