Despite concerns ahead of time, Biden graduation speech uninterrupted by anti-Israel protesters

US President Joe Biden’s much-anticipated address at the graduation ceremony of Morehouse College in Atlanta concludes without any interruptions from pro-Palestinian protesters after concerns that far-left activists would mar the speech.

The pro-Palestinian protesters have shaken up campuses across the country with anti-Israel encampments and other demonstrations, including at graduation ceremonies.

Biden made a point of addressing the issue in his address.

“Some of you have asked, ‘What is democracy? If we can’t stop wars that break our hearts?’ But in a democracy, we debate and dissent about America’s role in the world. I want to say this very clearly. I support peaceful, non-violent protests. Your voices should be heard, and I promise you I hear them,” Biden says, noting that he has appointed more Black Americans to senior positions than any other US president.

In the past, Biden has spoken more critically of the anti-Israel protests, highlighting their sometimes antisemitic motivations and tactics and their ignoring of Hamas’s crimes.

While there are no interruptions to the address, a few graduates and faculty staff wear Keffiyeh scarves and a lone graduate continues to stand with his back turned to Biden and his right fist raised.

Turning to the Israel-Hamas war more directly, Biden says, “What’s happening in Gaza and in Israel is heartbreaking. Hamas’s vicious attack on Israel, killing innocent lives and holding people hostage. I was there nine days after and saw pictures of them tying a mother and daughter in a rope, pouring kerosene on them, burning them and watching as they died.”

Biden’s voice then elevates. “Innocent Palestinians caught in the middle of all of this — men, women and children, killed or displaced, in desperate need of food, water and medicine.

“There’s a humanitarian crisis in Gaza. That’s why I call for an immediate ceasefire to stop the fighting [and to] bring the hostages home,” he says, reiterating his long-held stance to applause from the crowd.

“I’ve been working on a deal as we speak, working around the clock… to get more aid into Gaza.”

“This is one of the hardest, most complicated problems in the world. There’s nothing easy about it.”

“I know it is angering and frustrates many of you, including my family,” Biden says. Last month, The New York Times reported that First Lady Jill Biden has been pushing the president hard to bring an end to the war.

“But most of all, I know it breaks your heart. It breaks mine as well.”

“Leadership is about fighting through the most intractable problems. It’s about channeling anger, frustration, and heartbreak to find a solution. It’s about doing what you believe is right, even when it’s hard and lonely,” he says, apparently referring to his policies on the war that have exposed him to harsh criticism from the far-left flank of his party over his support for Israel but also Republicans who have increasingly turned on him as he has intensified his criticism of Israel over the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.