Over a hundred activists protested President Joe Biden’s commencement address at Morehouse College on Sunday morning, decrying the Democratic administration’s complicity in what they charge is a ‘genocide’ by Israel against the Palestinian people in Gaza.
The demonstrators rallied at West End Park, also known as Malcolm X Park, at 9 a.m., then marched to the perimeter of Morehouse’s campus while Biden was speaking, around 10:30 a.m. A light police barricade of Atlanta Police Department officers on foot and bicycles — none in riot gear – prevented access to the campus. Most of the crowd did not appear to be students.
“I support peaceful, non-violent protest. Your voices should be heard. I promise you, I hear you,” Biden told Morehouse’s 2024 graduating class, while the protesters at the campus’s perimeter chanted, “Biden, Biden you can’t hide. We charge you with genocide.”
“What’s happening in Gaza and Israel is heartbreaking,” Biden continued. The president acknowledged the “horror” of Hamas’ attack on Israel on Oct. 7, when the militant group seized over 250 hostages. About 100 of the remaining 130 hostages in captivity are thought to still be alive.
Biden also acknowledged the “humanitarian crisis” in Gaza and the thousands of “innocent Palestinians” caught in the conflict. Half the population of Gaza – 1.1 million people – were projected to face “imminent famine” by mid-May, according to a March UN report.
“That is why I call for an immediate ceasefire. … Stop the fighting, bring the hostages home,” the president said. “I’m also working around the clock for more than just a ceasefire. I’m working to bring the region together… [and that] we finally get a two-state solution,” he added.
The pro-Palestinian protestors represented several groups, including the Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL), and Community Movement Builders — a local Black activist group — as well as some students and alumni from Morehouse and Spelman colleges.
Atlanta’s historically Black colleges “were the first to divest from apartheid South Africa, so we don’t understand,” said Amel Mohdali, a Spelman freshman who spoke at Sunday’s rally at West End Park.
Many of the protestors on Sunday viewed Biden and the Democratic establishment with disdain and disappointment over their handling of the crisis.
“[Israel] is a murderous settler-colonial state” said Kamau Franklin, Community Movement Builders’ founder. Franklin said there’s no room for compromise when what he termed a genocide is going on: “Nothing else matters when over 30,000 people are being wiped off the earth in our name, with our money, and with our resources.”
While Biden spoke, the protestors chanted slogans like “Biden, Biden, you’re a liar — We demand a ceasefire,” and made noise for about an hour outside the Morehouse campus. There were no altercations with law enforcement before they returned to West End Park and dispersed around noon.
Protests against Biden over his administration’s handling of the Israel-Gaza conflict could signal fractures among more left-leaning voters ahead of the November presidential election.
“We’re out here building an alternative,” said Monica Johnson, an organizer with the PSL. That party is fielding presidential candidate Claudia De la Cruz, who advocates for ending Israel’s occupation in Gaza. So does Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential candidate (who has yet to make it onto the ballot in Georgia). Small shifts towards third-party candidates could challenge Biden’s ability to win crucial swing states like Georgia where the margin in 2020 was a razor thin 11,779 votes.
When asked if he would vote for Biden, Daxton Pettas, a Morehouse junior, declined to comment. He criticized the president for his administration’s support for Israel, as well as his past support as a U.S. senator for the crime bill of 1994 and other policies that have disproportionately affected communities of color. “They are using our institutions as pawns and the oppressions of Black people here -– and Brown and Black people abroad,” Pettas said.
Meanwhile, Morehouse issued a post-commencement statement Sunday afternoon that appeared to take credit for Biden’s call for a ceasefire.
“After many facilitated conversations with the White House amongst students, faculty, staff, and alumni, we are moved that President Biden chose the Morehouse stage to announce another $16 billion investment in HBCUs, as well as call for an immediate and permanent cease-fire in the Israel-Gaza war,” the statement said.
“We appreciate the partnership of President Biden and the White House staff for listening and, most importantly, applying what our community and the global society have requested,” it added.
Claire Becknell contributed to this report.
