In the face of massive police repression, protests and demonstrations against the ongoing US-backed Israeli genocide in Gaza continued across the United States over the weekend, including on college campuses and during commencement addresses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Austin, Texas, thousands of people wearing keffiyehs and waving Palestinian flags marched to the statehouse to protest the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Gaza which has officially killed over 35,000, a vast undercount. The march in Austin, like many other protests, was held in part to commemorate the Nakba, or the catastrophe. It marks the genocidal founding of the Zionist state of Israel 76 years ago, when over 750,000 Palestinians were ethnically cleansed and forcibly displaced from their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
While hundreds of riot police amassed outside the Austin statehouse, as of this writing it does not appear any arrests were made.
In Washington D.C. Sunday morning, dozens of students and some faculty walked out of commencement addresses held at Georgetown and George Washington University. Many carried signs calling for their colleges to divest from Israeli weapons companies, while others pointed to the horrendous death toll, including over 15,000 children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n On Saturday, in the Bay Ridge neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York, hundreds of people marched to commemorate the Nakba. The neighborhood is home to a large population of Arabs and Muslims who have been commemorating the anniversary for years. Despite the fact that the most recent peaceful march was smaller than last year\u2019s, police reacted with extreme violence less than 30 minutes after the demonstration began. Smith reported on her X account that police \u201crushed in and grabbed people out of the crowd seemingly at random. Officers tackled multiple protesters to the ground and then proceeded to punch them.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Several videos recorded by Smith and others show police deliberately harming protesters even when they were complying. One video showed a cop stepping on someone\u2019s legs even as they lay on the ground with their arms behind their back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n New York City-based video journalist thizzL recorded multiple instances<\/a> of police grabbing people at random, throwing them on the ground and beating them. Stephen Semler, co-founder of the Security Policy Reform Institute<\/a> and author of the Speaking Security Substack<\/a>, reported earlier this month that since Biden took office, police departments across the United States have received an additional $150 million worth of military-grade combat gear through the 1033 program.
Multiple videos, filmed by independent journalists Katie Smith, Josh Pacheco and others, show police punching and beating protesters, even as they are lying on the ground with their arms behind their backs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On Sunday, the New York Police Department confirmed they had arrested 40 people but have yet to state what they were charged with.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams, a Democrat and long-time cop, has spearheaded the crackdown against anti-genocide protesters. Of the over 3,000 arrested nationwide in the last month, over 600 were seized by police in New York City.
The nationwide crackdown on anti-genocide protesters is being directed and encouraged from the White House. President Joe Biden in multiple speeches has vilified and smeared protesters as \u201cantisemitic\u201d and violent, while remaining silent on police abuse.
Biden spoke Sunday first at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, and later in the evening at an NAACP fundraiser in Detroit, Michigan. At both events Biden cynically postured as a defender of \u201cdemocracy\u201d and \u201cdemocratic rights\u201d and even a proponent of a \u201cceasefire\u201d in Gaza, less than a week after calling for another $1 billion in military arms to Israel.
The speech was littered with lies and distortions. Perhaps one of the biggest distortions was Biden\u2019s declaration that he \u201cwalked the picket line and defended the rights of workers.\u201d The Biden administration has intervened against workers multiple times, including blocking railroad workers<\/a> from striking in 2022.
The war criminal president then declared that he supported \u201cpeaceful non-violent protests,\u201d and that \u201cYour voices should be heard, and I promise you I hear them.\u201d
Biden said nothing about thousands of students who have been arrested for peacefully protesting the imperialist wars led by him and both big business parties. Instead of adhering to the demands of protesters for an end to the genocide, Biden has funded the Israeli massacre in Gaza and stepped up the police repression at home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The 1033 program allows the Pentagon, with a sign-off from the president, to transfer military equipment to police departments at no cost. Semler estimates that as of this year, police have acquired $1.6 billion worth of equipment through the program, some of which have been used against protesters on college campuses.
Semler found that \u201c68 college and university police agencies currently have militarized equipment that they received through the 1033 program.\u201d This includes major colleges with thousands of students, such as Clemson University; Michigan State University; Ohio State University; Purdue University; Texas Southern University; University of Akron; University of Wisconsin-La Crosse; Western Michigan University and dozens of others.
Cognizant of his cratering popularity with virtually the entire population, including large sections of young people outraged over the genocide in Gaza, Biden said it was a \u201chumanitarian crisis\u201d but neglected to assign responsibility for that crisis. Biden is well aware that the destruction of Gaza and the forced transfer of its inhabitants is the joint policy of Israel and the US.
He concluded his remarks on Gaza by calling for a \u201ctwo-state solution,\u201d claiming it is the \u201conly solution for two people to live in peace and dignity.\u201d
During his speech several graduates from the private men\u2019s Historically Black College and University (HBCU) walked out, while several more left after Biden was given an honorary degree from the college. A massive police presence kept a group of about 100 protesters, including some students and faculty, away from the address.
After finishing his speech in Atlanta, Biden flew to Detroit to attended an NAACP fundraiser. Over 200 people protested Biden\u2019s appearance in Detroit, but they were dwarfed by the massive police presence which included hundreds of riot cops and a helicopter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n