Activists supporting the Palestinian cause boycotted US President Joe Biden more than once during a speech he was delivering at an election rally in Virginia on Tuesday.
Biden was forced to stop speaking repeatedly after he was interrupted by chants calling for an end to the war waged by Israel on Gaza.
One of the activists shouted at Biden and asked him how many children he intended to kill, and others raised slogans demanding an end to “American funding of genocide.” The 81-year-old Democratic president responded to the protesters’ chants, saying, “This will continue for some time. They planned it all.”
On the other hand, Biden’s supporters chanted, “4 more years” and “Come on, Joe,” in an attempt to raise their voices over the voices of the protesters who were later removed from the hall by the police.
Biden is campaigning to win a new term in the presidential elections scheduled for next November, and this is not the first time he has been publicly questioned about his position on the aggression that has been going on for more than 3 months, but never before has one of his speeches been interrupted at this frequency.
Activists had boycotted an election speech by Biden in a church in South Carolina on January 8, demanding a ceasefire by Israel in Gaza.
“We demand a ceasefire now,” many in attendance chanted, while one shouted, “If you truly care about the lives lost here, you should honor them and call for a ceasefire in Palestine.”
Biden responded by saying, “I understand your feelings, and I am working quietly with the Israeli government to get it to reduce the size of its forces and withdraw significantly from Gaza.”
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli occupation army has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving more than 25,000 martyrs and about 63,000 injured, most of them children and women, and causing massive infrastructure destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.