President Joe Biden took shots at rival Donald Trump at the annual White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, DC, Saturday night, while pro-Palestinian protesters voiced their anger outside.
Demonstrators accused attendees of supporting Biden’s handling of the Israel-Hamas war and decried the killing of 97 journalists in Gaza, including 92 Palestinians. “Every single person in there is choosing to stay on the side of history that sides with profit over freedom,” said Mimi Ziad, a protest organizer from the Palestinian Youth Movement.
Those views have been gaining traction on campuses across the US, and now, Canada. Protesters at McGill University in Montreal set up an encampment and are demanding that the school divest from funds and companies associated with Israel. The move represents an escalation of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions movement inspired by student 1980s protests targeting apartheid that saw 150 schools divest from South Africa.
Will that happen with Israel? On Friday, Portland State University* President Ann Cudd said her school would pause receiving philanthropic gifts from Boeing, which provides equipment to the Israel Defense Forces, until students and faculty hold a debate in May. Other schools, including Harvard, Columbia, and the University of California, have thus far rejected calls for divestment.
* Correction: This article originally listed the University of Portland, rather than Portland State University.
