President Joe Biden compared the actions of Hamas to those of the Nazis and condemned the ‘ferocious surge of antisemitism’ rising up around America.
‘I have not forgotten, nor have you, and we will not forget,’ the president said during remarks at a Holocaust remembrance ceremony at the U.S. Capitol.
‘As Jews around the world still cope with the atrocities and trauma of that day and its aftermath, we’ve seen a ferocious surge of antisemitism in America and around the world,’ he noted.
‘I have not forgotten nor have you. And we will not forget,’ Biden told Jewish leaders
Biden’s speech on Capitol Hill on Tuesday came as he tries to balance his support for Israel‘s war with concern for the citizens of Gaza and amid tension in his relationship with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netnayahu.
He spoke at a critical time: Israel has sent tanks into Rafah and taken control of the Gaza side of a crossing to Egypt that is a major conduit for humanitarian aid. And, in the U.S., college campuses have been rocked by pro-Palestinian protests with some schools canceling commencement addresses as the demonstrates grow anti-semitic.
The president, in a forceful speech greeted with several rounds of applause, vowed to support Israel’s right to exist ‘even when we disagree.’
He began his remarks by tracing the rise of Adolf Hitler in Nazi Germany in 1933, noting the dictator rose to ‘power by rekindling one of the world’s oldest forms of prejudice and hate- antisemitism’ through propoganda and ecnoomic hardship.
‘We recommit to heading the lessons of one of the darkest chapters in human history, revitalize and realize the responsibility of never again,’ he noted.
And, he pointed out, ‘the truth is, we’re at risk of people not knowing the truth.’
‘Now, here we are not 75. years later, but just seven and a half months later,’ he added in reference to the October 7th attack on Israel by Hamas – the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust
‘People are already forgetting – already forgetting – that Hamas unleashed this terror,’ he said and vowed: ‘I have not forgotten nor have you. And we will not forget.’
He wore a dark suit and tie during his keynote address at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum’s annual National Commemoration of the Days of Remembrance. The audience was filled with members of Congress, Jewish leaders and survivors of the Holocaust.
President Joe Biden, House Speaker Mike Johnson, House Majority Leader Steve Scalise and House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries hold images of Holocaust victims during the annual Days of Remembrance ceremony for Holocaust survivors at the US Capitol
Smoke rises from shopping center following Israeli airstrike on east of Rafah, Gaza
The president has struggled to balance his support for Israel with his efforts to protect the civilian population of Palestine.
About a million refugees have crowded into Rafah. Biden on Monday warned Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu against a full-scale assault on the area but Israeli forces moved forward anyway.
Progressives have urged the president to do more to help the Palestinian refugees.
And young voters, a key constituency for Biden, have expressed their dissatisfaction with the war.
As the issue grows more contested, some protests on campuses have started to feature antisemitic chants and threats toward Jewish students.
Biden defended Americans’ right to free speech but said violence had no place in the country.
‘There’s no place on any campus in America – any place in America – for antisemitism or threats of violence of any time – whether against Jews or anyone else,’ he said.
‘Destroying property – it’s not peaceful protest. It’s against the law. We’re not a lawless country. We’re civil society.’
‘We know scapegoating and demonizing any minority is a threat to every minority, and to the very foundation of our democracy.’
He then reiterated his committment to Israel.
‘To the Jewish community, I want you to know, I see your fear, your hurt, your pain. Let me reassure as your president, you’re not alone. You belong. You always have and always will. My commitment to the safety of the Jewish people, the security of Israel, and its right to exist as an independent state is ironclad, even when we disagree,’ he said.
‘That’s why I call on all Americans stand united against antisemitism and hate in all its forms.’
About 35,000 people have been killed in Gaza, according to health authorities. And many of the area’s 2.3 million people on the brink of starvation, with the UN worried about famine conditions.
Biden himself has faced protesters at his public events with many of them calling him ‘Genocide Joe.’
He has spoken little on the protesters that follow him and those who have been disrupting college campuses. More than 2,000 people have been arrested on university campuses since April 18.
‘There’s the right to protest but not the right to cause chaos,’ he said last week in his first in-depth remarks on the matter. ‘People have the right to get an education, the right to get a degree, the right to walk across the campus safely without fear of being attacked.’
Israeli tanks cross into Rafah in the Gaza strip
A Day of Rage for Gaza was called in New York City by student groups as campus demonstrations against the war continue
In conjunction with Biden’s speech, his administration is highlighting its actions to combat antisemitism.
The Department of Education is sending every school district and college in the nation a letter outlining examples of antisemitism and other hate that could lead to federal civil rights investigations.
Since the Oct. 7 attack, the department has opened more than 100 investigations into complaints about antisemitism and other forms of discrimination under Title VI.
On Monday, second gentleman Doug Emhoff, who is Jewish, met with Jewish college students at the White House about the administration’s efforts to combat antisemitism.
Additionally, the Department of Homeland Security is working to ‘build an online campus safety resource guide’ to provide ‘financial, educational, and technical assistance’ for campuses, according to a White House fact sheet
And the State Department’s Office of the Special Envoy to Monitor and Combat Antisemitism ‘will convene technology firms to identify best practices to address Antisemitic content online,’ the fact sheet said.
Biden’s Republican rival in the presidential race, Donald Trump, has looked to take advantage of Democratic divisions over Israel’s response to improve the GOP’s chances with Jewish voters, who traditionally vote Democratic.
‘Jewish Americans are realizing that the Democrat Party has turned into a full-blown anti-Israel, antisemitic, pro-terrorist cabal, and that’s why more and more Jewish Americans are supporting President Trump,’ Karoline Leavitt, a Trump campaign spokesperson, told Reuters.
About seven in 10 U.S. Jewish voters support Democrats, while three in 10 are Republican-aligned, according to the Pew Research Center.
A protester is held in the street during demonstrations in New York
A Palestinian man watches as smoke rises after Israeli strikes while Israeli forces launch a ground and air operation in the eastern part of Rafah
In response, Biden’s campaign has issued a lengthy list of Trump’s antisemitic comments and behavior, including reports that Trump has allegedly said that Adolf Hitler ‘did some good things.’
But polls show young voters are unhappy with the president.
A survey by the Institute of Politics at Harvard University’s Kennedy School found that only 18% of young voters approve of Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war.