Biden mum as protests rock campuses

WASHINGTON — US President Joe Biden is staying mum over student protests and police crackdowns as Republicans try to turn campus unrest over the Gaza conflict into a campaign cudgel against Democrats.

Tension at colleges and universities has been building for days as some demonstrators refuse to remove encampments and administrators turn to law enforcement to clear them by force, leading to clashes that have drawn the attention of politicians and the media.

But Biden has so far avoided the contentious subject as it is likely to complicate his reelection campaign.

The 81-year-old Democrat, who will almost certainly face Republican Donald Trump in November's elections, has publicly addressed the demonstrations only once and briefly, when he condemned the "antisemitic protests" and "those who don't understand what's going on with the Palestinians".

Biden's reluctance to weigh in on the biggest and most prolonged unrest to rock US campuses since the Vietnam War protests of the 1960s and 70s has not gone unnoticed by Trump.

"There's a big fever in our country, and he's not talking," the 77-year-old tycoon said on Wednesday during a campaign rally in Wisconsin.

The White House, which has been peppered with questions by reporters, has gone only slightly further than the president. On Wednesday, press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said Biden is "monitoring the situation closely", and that some demonstrations had stepped over a line that separated free speech from unlawful behavior.

Early on Thursday, hundreds of helmeted police muscled their way into the University of California, Los Angeles, in a move to disperse a pro-Palestinian protest camp, about 24 hours after counter-protesters attacked a tent encampment on the campus.

Police detained a handful of people on campus, tying their wrists with zip ties. The law enforcement action came after officers spent hours threatening arrests over loudspeakers if people did not disperse.

"The community needs to feel the police are protecting them, not enabling others to harm them," Rebecca Husaini, chief of staff for the Muslim Public Affairs Council, said in a news conference at the Los Angeles campus on Wednesday.

Speakers disputed the university's account that 15 people were injured and one hospitalized, saying the number of people taken to the hospital was higher.

The UCLA canceled all classes on Wednesday, and classes would be remote on Thursday and Friday.

Some schools have de-escalated protests by using threats of arrest and/or suspension. Yale University said all protesters left their encampment on Tuesday after the school threatened suspensions and arrests.

An Associated Press tally counted at least 38 times since April 18 where arrests were made at campus protests across the United States. More than 1,600 people have been arrested at 30 schools.

"The protests put Biden in a difficult spot because for his coalition of voters from 2020 he relied heavily on young people in addition to Muslims and Arab Americans," said Alex Keena, who teaches political science at Virginia Commonwealth University.

James Zogby, president of the Arab American Institute, said the White House is "apparently convinced that they'll weather this storm and still defeat Donald Trump in November".

"This is a dangerous miscalculation," he said.

Since the start of the Palestine-Israel conflict, which was triggered by the attack by Hamas on Israel on Oct 7, Biden has faced criticism for his unconditional support for Israel.

When Biden travels, he is often met by demonstrators chanting "Genocidal Joe" and demanding a cease-fire.

In 1968, as college campuses convulsed with anger over the Vietnam War, Biden, a law student and centrist, stayed away from the protests.

In a book published in 2007, he describes seeing students occupying a building at his university and thinking, "Look at these assholes."

Ai Heping in New York and Rena Li in Los Angeles contributed to this story.

Agencies Via Xinhua