President Biden said Tuesday that the hatred of Jews “continues to lie deep in the hearts of too many people in the world” while delivering the keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual Days of Remembrance ceremony.
The president spoke in Washington, D.C. as anti-Israel protests have been disrupting college campuses around the country.
“That hatred is brought to life on October 7th, in 2023, on a sacred Jewish holiday,” Biden said. “The terrorist group Hamas unleashed the deadliest day of the Jewish people since the Holocaust.”
Prior to Biden’s remarks, House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said “Today we are witnessing American universities quickly becoming hostile places for Jewish students and faculty” and that they have “succumbed to an antisemitic virus.
“Students who were known for producing academic papers are now known for stabbing their Jewish peers in the eyes with Palestinian flags. Faculty who once produced cutting edge research are now linking arms with pro-Hamas protesters and calling for a global intifada. Administrators who were once lauded by their peers for leadership are now barring Jewish faculty and choosing not to protect their Jewish students. And these Jewish students are physically threatened when they walk on campus as their peers hold posters repeating the Nazi propaganda in the program The Final Solution,” Johnson continued.
“Now is a time for moral clarity, and we must put an end to this madness,” he added. “We understand that this rise in antisemitism comes just after the worst attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust on October 7th.”
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
