Anti-Semitism is a “virus that mutates and continues over time” and, for this reason, we must continue to fight it. On the day in which the 6 million people exterminated by the Nazis are remembered, Joe Biden warns that hatred towards Jews is more relevant than ever and warns students, who have been protesting against Israel for weeks, that «in America there is no it is space for anti-Semitism.” The president delivered a speech to Congress before House Speaker Mike Johnson, Democratic Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and dozens of Holocaust survivors. Biden addressed them – “we cannot forget the pain of the survivors” – retracing the horrors of the genocide carried out by Adolf Hitler over 75 years ago. And precisely to keep the memory of the extermination alive, the commander-in-chief insisted that the attacks carried out by Hamas last October 7 are the expression of the same cruelty. “Hatred against Jews has grown ferociously throughout the world and on October 7 Hamas brought it to life with the deadliest attack since the Holocaust,” he underlined. «And seven months later we are already forgetting. I have not forgotten and I will not forget.” As for the demonstrations at universities against the war in Gaza, Biden warned that “there is no place on American campuses and in America in general for anti-Semitism or incitement to hatred or threats of violence of any kind.”
The president reiterated the importance of freedom of speech and respect for “peaceful protests”. This is a delicate issue for the administration which in recent weeks, with the intervention of the police who have dismantled the encampments in various universities and arrested over 2,000 people, finds itself in difficulty with young liberals and fears lose their vote. On the other hand, according to a survey by Generation Lab, only a small portion of students in the United States consider the conflict in the Middle East to be a central issue in their lives. According to the statistic, only 8% of American college students participated in campus demonstrations – on both sides – and among a number of options, the war on Gaza was ranked the least relevant behind healthcare reform, racial justice and human rights. civil rights, economic equality, access to education and climate change. Furthermore, around 34% blame Hamas for the current crisis, 19% blame Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, 12% the Israeli people, and only 12% Biden. Finally, 81% believe that protesters who destroyed or vandalized or occupied buildings should be prosecuted.