ATLANTA: US Prez Joe Biden renewed his call for a temporary ceasefire in Gaza in a speech at Morehouse College‘s graduation ceremony, where some participants donned Palestinian colours in protest at Israel’s military incursion. Biden’s address at the historically black school in Atlanta brought him face to face with some of the campus unrest set off by the Israel-Hamas war.”What’s happening in Gaza and Israel is heart-breaking,” Biden said Sunday, referring to the Oct. 7 attack on Israel by Hamas militants and the plight of “innocent Palestinians” caught up in Israel’s military response.
Several students and faculty members at the commencement wore keffiyeh scarfs, which have become a symbol of protest against the war. At least one student draped a Palestinian flag over his graduation gown and a faculty member wore a stole with the Palestinian colours while receiving an award on the podium. Leading up to Biden, class valedictorian DeAngelo Fletcher called for “an immediate and permanent ceasefire” in Gaza during a passionate speech that evoked the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr., a Morehouse alumnus.Taura Taylor, an assistant professor, stood with her fist raised and back turned to Biden during his entire speech. She also wore a keffiyeh. Biden didn’t acknowledge the silent protests and told the ceremony it’s his job to tackle “one of the hardest, most complicated problems in the world.”