On Monday, pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted US President Joe Biden’s speech at Mother Emanuel AME Church in South Carolina, one of the oldest black churches in the South.
During a stop in Charleston, South Carolina, Biden was interrupted by a crowd of pro-Palestinian protesters, who cut off his speech and continued to chant “ceasefire now”. Biden looked stunned and stopped speaking before those in attendance overpowered the protesters by chanting “four more years.”
Biden attempted to calm the protesters by repeating “that’s alright.” It appears that some protesters were removed while others in the audience tried to fight the chanting for a ceasefire. Biden said as he continued his remarks:
“Look folks, I understand their passion, and I’ve been quietly working with the Israeli government to get them to reduce and significantly get out of Gaza. I’m using all that I can to do that.”
Since the war between Israel and Hamas began on 7 October, Biden and his administration have declared their support for Israel. Biden’s pro-Israel stance has been criticised by members of his own administration, some of whom have resigned, allies and members of his campaign staff.
One senior Biden administration official, Tariq Habash, a policy adviser in the Education Department’s Office of Planning, Evaluation and Policy Development, resigned on 3 January, saying the president “turns a blind eye to atrocities committed against innocent Palestinian lives.” Seventeen anonymous members of Biden’s campaign staff wrote a letter to the president calling for a ceasefire, while warning that his pro-Israel stance was causing volunteers to quit “en masse.” The campaign letter states:
“It is not enough to merely be the alternative to Donald Trump. The campaign has to shift the feeling in the pits of voters’ stomachs, the same feeling that weighs on us every day as we fight for your reelection. The only way to do that is to call for a ceasefire.”
