President Joe Biden was interrupted by a pro-Palestinian activist during a speech at a human rights dinner on Saturday evening.
The protester chanted “Let Gaza live” and “ceasefire now” as the president addressed the crowd at a Human Rights Campaign dinner in support of LGBT rights.
Biden paused briefly and said, “I don’t know who’s yelling down there, but I can’t hear you.”
The president then asked the crowd, “I can’t hear her, what is she saying?” before continuing his speech. Cameras captured the protester’s screams, but he was not seen in live broadcasts of the event and was not identified.
At the dinner in Washington, Biden linked the humanitarian crisis in Gaza to various forms of hate that he said must be stopped.
President Joe Biden was interrupted by a pro-Palestinian activist during a speech at a human rights dinner on Saturday evening
Biden paused briefly and said, “I don’t know who’s yelling down there, but I can’t hear you.”
Biden then continued that “the humanitarian crisis in Gaza – innocent Palestinian families and the vast majority who have nothing to do with Hamas – are being used as human shields.”
“A week ago, we saw hatred manifest itself in a different way in the worst massacre of the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Biden said, citing the 1,300 deaths in Israel and “children and grandparents kidnapped and held hostage by Hamas “.
“Yesterday I spent an hour speaking on a Zoom call with the family members of the Americans who are still missing.”
“They endured an ordeal without knowing what was happening.”
Biden then continued that “the humanitarian crisis in Gaza – innocent Palestinian families and the vast majority who have nothing to do with Hamas – are being used as human shields,” he said.
Adding: “We must reject hate in all forms.”
“Anti-Semitism, Islamophobia, homophobia, transphobia – they’re all connected. “Hate towards one group that goes unanswered opens the door to more frequent hatred towards more groups.”
Biden’s comments come as Israel faces an expected ground attack on Gaza following deadly Hamas terror attacks this week.
Since the Hamas invasion, the bloodiest day in Israel’s 75-year history, the Israeli military says it has mobilized 360,000 reservists.
BREAKING: Biden was just interrupted by a Jewish activist @hrc Dinner. “Let Gaza live” and “ceasefire now.” Biden couldn’t understand what she said, but I was told that’s what she said. pic.twitter.com/6Vr9IZbTFm
— Waleed Shahid 窱 (@_waleedshahid) October 14, 2023
A fireball erupts during an Israeli bombardment in the northern Gaza Strip on Saturday
Troops remove the bodies of victims killed in an attack by Hamas terrorists in Kfar Aza on Tuesday
Soldiers from the IDF Lotar unit slowly check Kibbutz Kfar Aza, going from one house to another to clear them of any ammunition or threats. Here, Hamas terrorists massacred families in their homes
A house is completely destroyed after it was burned down by Hamas terrorists during the attack on Kibbutz Be’eri near the Gaza border on October 11, 2023 in Be’eri, Israel
On Saturday, two US sources told CNN that a second strike group of aircraft carriers is moving to the region after the first – led by the USS Gerald R. Ford – arrived off the coast of Israel earlier this week.
The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower strike group will join the Ford after it changed its plans to turn to U.S. European Command and deploy to the Middle East instead, leaving its base in Norfolk, Virginia, on Friday.
The US warships are not intended to join the fighting in Gaza or Israeli operations, Pentagon officials emphasize.
But the presence of two of the Navy’s most powerful ships is intended to send a deterrent message to Iran and its proxies in the region, such as Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Israel has ordered the evacuation of 1.1 million people in the northern Gaza Strip to move south.
Martin Griffiths, the U.N. humanitarian chief, said he feared “the worst is yet to come” and warned that the humanitarian situation in Gaza was “rapidly becoming untenable.”
The statement added that “the past week has been a test for humanity and humanity is failing.”
The World Health Organization called Israel’s evacuation order for hospitals in the northern Gaza Strip “a death sentence for the sick and injured.”
Daniel Hagari, Israel’s military spokesman, said the country should expect “challenging weeks” as the military operation escalates.
The goal, he said, was “the defeat of Hamas and the elimination of its leaders.”