Biden, White House Did Not Expect Morehouse Students to Show Solidarity W/Gaza

 Via ScheerPost (by way of Common Dreams):

Advisers for U.S. President Biden reportedly saw Morehouse College, a historically Black men’s college in Atlanta where he gave the commencement address Sunday, as a school where the president was unlikely to face protests over his continued support for Israel’s assault on Gaza, which has been the subject of mass demonstrations led by students at universities across the country over the past month.

But students and faculty made clear at the ceremony that many of them, like others in higher education, are intent on sending Biden a strong message of disapproval over his Israel policy.

A number of faculty members and students wore keffiyehs, the traditional scarves worn in parts of the Middle East including Palestine, and by some supporters of Palestinian rights to show solidarity with civilians in Gaza. Others displayed the Palestinian flag on their graduation gowns.

ABC News White House correspondent Selina Wang reported that while most of the alumni present at the graduation stood up when Biden was introduced, all but a few of the students remained seated.

The war in Gaza, where Israel has killed more than 35,000 Palestinians since October while receiving billions of dollars in military aid from the Biden administration, was directly mentioned by valedictorian DeAngelo Fletcher, who had placed a Palestinian flag motif on his graduation cap.

“It is my stance as a Morehouse man, nay, as a human being, to call for an immediate and permanent cease-fire in the Gaza Strip,” said Fletcher as Biden sat behind him and applauded. “From the comfort of our homes, we watch an unprecedented number of civilians mourn the loss of men, women, and children, while calling for the release of all hostages.”

Some students and faculty turned their backs when the president gave his address, in which he said he supports “peaceful, non-violent protest.” Other students walked out of the ceremony, but Biden’s speech was not disrupted like the last time he addressed a group of college students at George Mason University, when protesters interrupted him 10 times.