A protester with red paint on his hands and face is seen behind police barricades during a pro-Palestinian demonstration of the Israel-Hamas war at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, Saturday, May 27 April 2024, in Washington.
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A protester with red paint on his hands and face is seen behind police barricades during a pro-Palestinian demonstration of the Israel-Hamas war at the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner, Saturday, May 27 April 2024, in Washington.
Terrance Williams/AP
WASHINGTON — The war in Gaza prompted massive protests outside a glitzy barbecue with President Joe Biden, journalists, politicians and celebrities Saturday that were all unpopular with the protesters. Inside participants mentioned, Biden instead uses the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner to make jokes both grim and cruel. warning about the fight to regain the US presidency by Republican opponent Donald Trump.
An evening typically spent with presidents, journalists and comedians riling each other about political scandals often seems to illustrate the difficulty of brushing off the upcoming presidential election and its troubles. troubles in the Middle East and elsewhere.
Biden opened his set with a direct but joking focus on Trump, calling him “Sleepy Don,” a reference to the nickname Trump had previously given the president.
Biden said that despite being the same age, the two presidential candidates have very little in common. “My vice president actually endorsed me,” Biden said. Former Trump Vice President Mike Pence has refused to endorse Trump’s re-election bid.
But the president quickly turned to a grim speech about what he believes is at stake in this election, saying another Trump administration would be more harmful to America than his first term. grandfather.
“We have to take this seriously – eight years ago we could have written it off as ‘Trump talk’ but not after January 6th,” Biden told the audience, referring to to the Trump supporters who stormed the Capitol after Biden defeated Trump in the presidential election. 2020 Election.
Trump did not attend Saturday’s dinner and has never attended the annual banquet as president. In 2011, he sat in the audience and glared at then-President Barack Obama about Trump’s reality TV celebrity status. Obama’s subsequent sarcasm was so harsh that many political observers linked it to Trump’s subsequent decision to run for president in 2016.
Biden’s speech, which lasted about 10 minutes, made no mention of the ongoing war or the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
One of the few mentions came from Kelly O’Donnell, president of the reporters association, who briefly mentioned the roughly 100 journalists killed in Israel’s six-month war against Hamas in Gaza. In an evening largely dedicated to the press, O’Donnell cited journalists who have been detained around the world, including Americans Evan Gershkovich in Russia and Austin Tice, who was reportedly detained in Syria. Both men’s families were present as at previous dinners.
To get inside Saturday’s dinner, some guests had to rush past hundreds of protesters angry at the growing humanitarian disaster for Palestinian civilians in Gaza. They condemned Biden for supporting Israel’s military campaign and Western news agencies for what they said was undercover reporting and distortion of the conflict.
“Shame on you!” shouted protesters dressed in traditional Palestinian keffiyeh, running after men in tuxedos and suits and women in long dresses holding purses as guests rushed inside for dinner.
“Western media, we see you and all the horrors you hide,” the crowd chanted at one point.
Other protesters lay motionless on the sidewalk, next to bulletproof vests with “press” badges.
Protesters called for “Free, Free Palestine.” They cheered when at one point someone inside the Washington Hilton hotel – where the dinner has been held for decades – hoisted a Palestinian flag from a top-floor hotel window.
Criticism of the Biden administration’s support for Israel’s military offensive in Gaza has spread across American college campuses, with students setting up camps and resisting police raids in the effort forcing their universities to divest from Israel. Protest the Israeli attack and complain about anti-Semitism.
Biden’s motorcade on Saturday took an alternative route from the White House to the Washington Hilton compared to previous years, largely avoiding crowds of protesters.
President Joe Biden, right, and host Colin Jost attend the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Washington.
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President Joe Biden, right, and host Colin Jost attend the White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner at the Washington Hilton, Saturday, April 27, 2024, in Washington.
Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP
Saturday’s event attracted nearly 3,000 people. Celebrities include Oscar winner Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Scarlett Johansson, Jon Hamm and Chris Pines.
Both the president and comedian Colin Jost, who spoke after Biden, made criticism of the ages of both presidential candidates. “I wouldn’t say either candidate is old,” Jost said. But you know, Jimmy Carter is out there thinking, ‘maybe I can win this thing.’” “He’s only 99.”
Law enforcement, including the Secret Service, have instituted additional street closures and other measures to ensure what Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said will be “a level of safety.” and the highest security for attendees.”
Protest organizers said they aimed to draw attention to the large number of Palestinian and other Arab journalists killed by the Israeli military since the war began in October.
More than two dozen journalists in Gaza wrote a letter last week calling on their colleagues in Washington to boycott the dinner altogether.
“The cost to us simply for fulfilling our journalistic obligations is staggering,” the letter stated. “We were detained, interrogated and tortured by the Israeli military, all for ‘crimes’ of journalistic integrity.”
One organizer complained that the White House Correspondents’ Association — which represents hundreds of journalists who cover the president — has been largely silent since the first weeks of the war on the killing of Palestinian journalists. WHCA did not respond to a request for comment.
According to a preliminary investigation released by the Committee to Protect Journalists on Friday, nearly 100 journalists were killed while covering the war in Gaza. Israel has defended its actions and said they targeted militants.
“Since the Israel-Gaza war began, journalists have paid the ultimate price – their lives – to protect our right to know the truth. Every time a journalist dies or is injured, we lost part of that truth again,” CPJ Program Director Carlos Martínez de la Serna said in a statement.
Sandra Tamari, executive director of the Adalah Justice Project, a U.S.-based Palestinian advocacy group that helped organize the letter from journalists in Gaza, said “it is shameful that the media typically dine and laugh with President Biden while he enables Israel to devastate and starve.” of Palestinians in Gaza.”
Additionally, the Adalah Justice Project began an email campaign targeting 12 media executives at various news organizations — including the Associated Press — expected to attend. dinner, who had previously signed a letter calling for the protection of journalists in Gaza.
“How can you still go when your colleagues in Gaza ask you not to go?” one protester asked the entering guests. “You are an accomplice.”
