US student protests: Biden calls for 'order', says 'no place' for antisemitism on any campus

United States President Joe Biden on Thursday (May 2) commented on the nationwide campus protests over the war in Gaza. He said that the US was not authoritarian but "order must prevail". 

Biden added that there was "no place" for antisemitism or other hate speech on university campuses as he spoke from the White House in a televised address. 

"We are not an authoritarian nation where we silence people or squash dissent," Biden said, further adding, "But neither are we a lawless country". 

He added, "We're a civil society, and order must prevail." 

Meanwhile, Israel's President Isaac Herzog slammed the violent US universities' demonstrations, saying these institutions were "contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism". 

"We see prominent academic institutions, halls of history, culture, and education contaminated by hatred and anti-Semitism fuelled by arrogance and ignorance ... We watch in horror as the atrocities of October 7th against Israel are celebrated and justified," Herzog said in a statement offering support to Jewish students across these universities. 

Amid the escalating situation in West Asia, a delegation from the Palestinian group Hamas is set to visit Egypt soon for further ceasefire talks. 

The group said in a statement on Thursday that Hamas chief Ismail Haniyeh had affirmed the group's "positive spirit in studying the ceasefire proposal" in a phone call with Egypt's intelligence chief Abbas Kamel.