White House calls protests ‘blatantly antisemitic, unconscionable and dangerous’
The White House condemned “in the strongest terms” the ongoing anti-Israel protests at colleges across the U.S., including at Columbia University in New York City, on Sunday, saying they have no place anywhere in the U.S.
“While every American has the right to peaceful protest, calls for violence and physical intimidation targeting Jewish students and the Jewish community are blatantly antisemitic, unconscionable and dangerous – they have absolutely no place on any college campus or anywhere in the United States of America,” White House deputy press secretary Andrew Bates said. “And echoing the rhetoric of terrorist organizations, especially in the wake of the worst massacre committed against the Jewish people since the Holocaust, is despicable. We condemn these statements in the strongest terms.”
Anti-Israel agitators occupied the university’s south lawn for hours on Wednesday while the school’s president, Minouche Shafik, testified before congress about the antisemitism on Columbia’s campus.