WASHINGTON — Journalists, celebrities and politicians at the annual White House Correspondents' Dinner on Saturday honored President Joe Biden in an election year and countered growing public discord over the Israel-Hamas war, marking the event. Protests were held outside condemning Biden's response to both parties. Media coverage of the conflict and Western news about it.
Biden, like most of his predecessors, used the annual White House Correspondents' Association gala dinner to attack his rival, Donald Trump. He followed up the joke with a stark warning about what would happen if Trump were elected president again.
Outside the event, hundreds of demonstrators rallied against the war in Gaza, raising concerns about the conflict in Gaza, the humanitarian crisis, and the dangers for journalists covering the conflict. It was floating. But speakers inside made only one word about the conflict, even though some demonstrators were forced to resist. Biden's speech, which lasted about 10 minutes, did not mention the ongoing war or the growing humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
“Shame!” shouted protesters wearing traditional Palestinian keffiyeh cloth as they chased men in tuxedos and suits and women in long dresses carrying clutch bags. I followed the guests as they hurried inside for dinner.
Chants accused American journalists of covertly covering the war and misrepresenting the facts. At one point, the crowd chanted, “Western media, we see you and all the horrors you are hiding.”
Other protesters lay sprawled motionless on the sidewalk next to a model of a bulletproof vest with a “press” insignia.
Rally attendees chanted “Free, Free Palestine” and cheered inside the Washington Hilton, where the dinner has been held for decades, as someone unfurled a Palestinian flag from the hotel's top-floor window. Raised.
Criticism of the Biden administration's support for Israel's six-month military offensive in the Gaza Strip has spread to American university campuses, where students set up encampments to force universities to withdraw from Israel. Counter-protesters support Israeli attacks and call out anti-Semitism.
Biden's motorcade on Saturday took a different route than usual from the White House to the Washington Hilton, largely avoiding crowds of protesters.
Biden's speech to a crowd of about 3,000 people was followed by “Saturday Night Live” entertainer Colin Jost, along with Academy Award winners Davine Joy Randolph, Scarlett Johansson and Jon Hamm. , starring Chris Pines.
Kelly O'Donnell, president of the Correspondents' Association, opened the event by reminding the audience of the important work of journalists and noting that the dinner was being held at “a complex time for our country” and a crucial election year. pointed out.
O'Donnell went on to list a number of journalists who have been imprisoned around the world, including Americans Evan Gershkovich and Austin Tice. Families of these journalists were present, as at previous dinners. She briefly mentioned journalists killed in the war between Israel and Hamas.
Biden began his commentary by focusing directly on Trump, calling him “Sleepy Don,” a nod to Trump's previous nickname for the president. He also noted that despite their similar ages, the two presidential candidates have little else in common.
“The vice president actually supports me,” Biden said. Former Vice President Mike Pence has refused to support President Trump's re-election bid.
The president gave a tough speech about what he thought was at stake in this election, saying the incoming Trump administration will be even more harmful to the United States than his first term. “We have to take this seriously,” Biden told the audience, referring to Trump's supporters who stormed the Capitol after Biden defeated Trump in the presidential election.8 “Years ago, we might have been able to write it off as a 'Trump meeting,' but after January 6, that wasn't the case.” 2020 Election.
Law enforcement agencies, including the Secret Service, have put in place additional road closures and other measures to ensure what Secret Service spokesman Anthony Guglielmi called “the highest level of safety and security for participants.”
Guglielmi said authorities were working with Washington police to protect the demonstrators' right to assembly. However, “we remain intolerant of any violent or destructive behavior.”
Protest organizers said they wanted to draw attention to the large number of Palestinian and other Arab journalists killed by Israeli forces since the war began in October.
More than 20 journalists in Gaza wrote a letter last week asking their colleagues in Washington to boycott the dinner entirely.
“The cost to us of simply fulfilling our duties as journalists is staggering. We are subjected to detention, interrogation and torture by the Israeli military, all of which This is for a “crime'' against journalistic integrity.''
One organizer complained that the White House Correspondents Association, which represents hundreds of journalists who cover the president, has been largely silent about the killings of Palestinian journalists since the first weeks of the war. WHCA did not respond to requests for comment.
About 100 journalists covering the war in Gaza were killed, according to a preliminary investigation released Friday by the Committee to Protect Journalists. Israel has defended its actions, saying it was targeting extremists.
“Since the beginning of the Israel-Gaza war, journalists have paid the ultimate price with their lives to protect the right to know the truth. Every time a journalist is killed or injured, we We lose a piece of the truth,” CPJ program director Carlos Martínez de la Serna said in a statement.
“President Biden is enabling devastation and starvation in Israel,” said Sandra Tamari, executive director of the Adalah Justice Project, a U.S.-based Palestinian advocacy group that helped organize the letters from Gaza journalists. It's a shame that the media eats and laughs with them during this time.” It's about the Palestinians in Gaza. ”
In addition, the Adalah Justice Project has signed a letter calling for protection for journalists in the Gaza Strip and has been involved in an e-mail targeting 12 media executives from various news organizations (including the Associated Press) scheduled to attend the dinner. We started an email campaign.
“How can you still go when your colleagues in Gaza tell you not to go?” the demonstrator asked the guests as they approached. “You are accomplices.”
___ Associated Press writers Mike Balsamo, Amer Madani and Fatima Hussein contributed to this report.
