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So heres what we know when it comes to the antiwar protests on college campuses and electoral politics. President Biden has a problem with young activists. And the disapproval, particularly from the left, has only intensified in the days after the president spoke critically about the protests. But whether or not he has a problem with the young electorate at large remains to be seen, which is why one response from a more mainstream organization really caught my attention, the College Democrats of America, who said last week, the White House was on a, quote, mistaken route, unquote, that could make it harder to win young voters.
The statement turned heads in political circles, because the College Democrats are closely aligned with national party leadership. Leaders of the group are delegates to the Democratic Convention. And its pretty rare to see them say anything bad about a Democratic president.
And as I soon learned, the statement also divided the groups leadership. So over the past few days, we reached out to a bunch of the groups members, including members of the executive board, the head of its Muslim caucus, and the chair of its Jewish caucus, to get the inside story of what happened and why.
Today, how the College Democrats of America came to break with the Democratic president and what it could mean for the fall. From The New York Times, Im Astead Herndon. This is The Run-Up.
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Hey, how are you?
Good, how are you, Astead.
Good. Good, thanks for chatting with us.
Yes. No, thank you for having me on. How have you been so far?
Im doing OK. My Friday is kind of just largely starting. How about yours?
Im trying to finish up my senior thesis, which is like 30 pages.
Oh, whats it about? Tell me.
Its about populism, actually. Im doing a comparative study on populism in Brazil and Turkey.
Hasan Pyarali is a senior at Wake Forest University in North Carolina. Hes also the chair of the College Democrats Muslim caucus. And he helped craft the statement that the College Democrats put out last week.
Growing up, I really wasnt into politics that much, not because I didnt find it interesting. Of course, I did. I just never thought there was a place in there for me. You can ask some of my friends in middle school and high school. I always talked about being a prime minister of Pakistan thats where my familys from because I never thought I had a future in politics here.
Why did you feel that?
I guess because there was no role models out there for me. Obama had been elected when I was a little kid. And I saw the backlash that he had gotten as the first Black president. And people were saying, this will never happen again.
Where things changed for me on that score was 2018. And then I saw people like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, people who proudly wore their Muslim identities and told the world who they were. And they got elected for that.
So seeing them win was just so heartening. And it made me feel like I had a chance, too, because growing up, post 2001, post 9/11, that generation that I was part of, the only thing I saw was the rejection of Islam, the rejection of Muslims. And so that was really inspirational to me.
Eventually, Hasans interest in politics led him to volunteer for Bernie Sanders in his bid for the 2020 Democratic nomination.
Let me tell you, I was spending all my free time and my friends can tell you, in high school, I was spending all my free time knocking doors, calling people, saying, you got to vote for Bernie. Come on, you got to do this. I was posting on my Instagram, posting on Snapchat.
Its so funny, because I would consider myself a fairly political high-schooler. And the idea of me spending my free time knocking on doors for a political candidate is wild.
Yeah. No, literally, I would go to farmers markets and be like, hi, would you like to vote. And I would be the only one there passing out flyers. And I would just talk to and me being a high-schooler, so that was just how I spent my free time. Seeing that not work out, though, was a little bit of a hit to me. I was like, dang.
Seeing the Bernie campaign not working?
Yeah. Yeah, because it represented everything we wanted in terms of economic policy, social policy. The change was real. The energy was there. We just about had it. And then, for that not to have worked out was a little bit of a blow to me personally.
But when Joe Biden ultimately became the Democrats nominee, Hasan was impressed with his outreach to young voters and got on board.
He adopted $15 an hour. He was talking about canceling $10,000 in student debt, which isnt everything, but its still a lot. He talked about bringing a new revolution in terms of public transportation. And I was like, wait, there is some good here. There is some things I can latch on to. So it was actually purely policy-driven, my willingness to work on his campaign.
Mm-hmm, so Biden goes and wins in 2020. And in the first couple of years, Im curious how you felt about the administration and also how your involvement in College Democrats developed.
In terms of Biden, in the first couple of years, I was elated. I was like, rah, rah, rah, Biden, I love him, because he did the Child Tax Credit, the American Rescue Plan, the checks. They werent quite $2,000, but they were pretty good, right, opening things back up in a pretty efficient manner, I think.
And the biggest thing for me was the withdrawal from the Afghanistan war, because I had seen so much devastation for so many years. And being antiwar was also one of those things that a lot of people in my community, a lot of Muslims were antiwar. But that was a very non popular view.
And that was a big deal. So seeing that happen, I was on the moon. I was like, wow, hes really delivering. I think, at least in the first couple of years, I was very happy.
How did you come to be the Muslim Caucus chair?
Yeah, it was the beginning of my senior year. And before that I hadnt really seen too much outreach on the behalf of the Democratic Party towards Muslim Americans, I dont think, besides the occasional Happy Ramadan and things like that. So I was like, yeah, theres a lot of work here to be done. It sounds like actually a really cool position. And then, this year has been my [INAUDIBLE] of being Muslim Caucus chair.
And what a year. I mean, I am partially I mean, this is what were here to talk about is the ways that chair seat has put you in the center of some big developments with College Democrats. I guess I wanted to start on October 7 or around that time. Thats when, obviously, Hamas launched their attack in Israel, killing 1,200 people, according to officials there. I mean, what did you think when you saw the events unfold? And what was the immediate conversation among the College Democrats of America?
Right, so first of all, just to start off with, yeah, youre right. That chairmanship was supposed to be vote on things when votes are brought up and advocate for the Happy Ramadan posts. Thats all. It turned out to be a lot more.
So on October 7, when that all went down, it was like, OK, we need to appoint people on this. We need to have a stance on this. And my feelings on that day were, I couldnt see a good way out. But also, this is not a new issue.
The problem didnt start on October 7. I remember going to the mosque. I think it was 10 years old. And halfway through the prayer, the imam, who is supposed to keep a solemn tone, just read the verses, and then move on, he broke down halfway through and started crying.
And this never happens. Ive never seen it. And after that, too, Ive never seen it in my life. And he started crying about Gaza. And so, on October 7, I was like, this has been happening for so long.
Did you say that?
I did. I did. And I not only said that, I wrote a piece in the Old Gold and Black about it, talking about how this is not a new thing, this has been going on since I was a kid.
Thats the campus newspaper.
Yes.
in Wake Forest.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Thats our campus newspaper. And I wrote a piece saying, I so sympathize with your pain because youre so devastated. And Ive been devastated, too. We have to come together now and stand with each other in our pain.
So when we had a vigil here for the Jewish lives lost, I went there with my Jewish friends and stood with them. And Im so glad to say that, when we had our Muslim vigil, when the retaliation started, and I think at the time, 5,000, 8,000 people were killed, a lot of my Jewish friends came and stood with me at that Muslim vigil. So I knew I had a heightened role.
I personally have put out a lot of statements in terms of me and my personal capacity, right, both on Instagram, in the Old Gold and Black, and I was trying to keep things tame on our campus. And I talked about it a lot with people in College Democrats. And the culmination of my role really came around November and December, where I was like, OK, Ive been in these conversations. Something needs to be said. We need to take a position and call for a ceasefire.
How were you received?
Very well, actually. Everyone who I talked to was like, Ive been looking for someone to do this and I havent done it yet. but Im so glad that you did, because it takes a lot of courage to do this. And nearly everyone I talked to put their name as co-sponsors.
Then I got to talk to the Jewish Caucus chair, who was the last person who I hadnt spoken with, and talked to her for the first time Allyson, very nice person. And we got working together. And she also cosigned that ceasefire resolution. And when we put it up for a vote, it got unanimous consent.
And if I read the resolution, it says, The College Democrats of America, spearheaded by the Muslim Caucus and Jewish Caucus, unanimously called for a ceasefire in the Middle East and denounced the rise of anti-Semitism and Islamophobia on college campuses across the country.
Yeah.
And I see a lot of the main chairs here, of the College Democrats of America, signed it. And you said the resolution was passed unanimously.
Thats right.
Now, question I have, though, is, Rashida Tlaib, Ilhan Omar, politicians you have mentioned here, were calling for the Biden administration to do that also around this time. And you werent really seeing that get big traction among national. Why did you all feel that you had to go ahead of where the main Democrats are?
So in December, it was actually a very rare and tough position to take, which is why I was so hesitant for so long. But I just felt like a moral compulsion that I had to at least try. And if I tried and failed, that would be OK. But at least I tried. And I thought our position as a part of the DNC gave us a platform that no one really else had. Of course, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, were calling from them from the outside. But it will be huge for the party itself to rebuke the president and say, we are calling for a ceasefire. And thats what we
The youngest members of the party and members of the DNC to call for it itself. I do think its unique. I mean, one question I have for you is, around that time, there was an explosion of youth activism, people interrupting the president and vice president, particularly at their public events. We spoke to some protesters who interrupted President Biden at Mother Emanuel in South Carolina.
At the church, yeah.
In the church, some of those actions were controversial. What did you think of those tactics that others were using to push the administration from the outside?
Oh, I thought they were amazing. I have so much respect for those activists who interrupted him at the church and everywhere else, because I think when politicians take a contra not even controversial. When they take a morally wrong stance, they shouldnt be given any peace. Everywhere they go, they should be yelled at. And I got to do some of my own yelling to politicians here at Wake Forest.
They had invited President Bush to come on. And when Bush came, and he started talking about how the Iraq war was justified, I dont know what came over me. But I got up in my seat and just started yelling at him, you liar, you lied to the American people, youre lying now.
Im kind of curious as to your embrace of these tactics, considering youre someone who exists both in a insider-y and outsider-y space. I think about your work with Biden campaign, while at the same time saying that you believe that politicians who take stances that are deemed morally reprehensible should face no peace. I mean, do you see any tension in the worlds that you exist in?
Oh, theres so much, yeah.
Yeah, I guess Im saying, how do you untangle that?
Its tough to be in this space because I think it takes both. I think it takes people on the inside pushing the envelope and calling for change internally. I think, when that message comes from someone like me, who has worked on the Biden campaign, who has worked in local congressional races, I think it has a little bit more meaning to it because Ive done the work and Ive been there. And also, I think they need to feel the public pressure, too. If its just me saying it with no public pressure, it falls flat because they dont feel the need to listen.
Mm-hmm, well, lets talk about the last couple of weeks, because those have really exploded this issue even further, particularly the liberated zones or encampments that we have seen across college campuses and in places like Columbia University, where university presidents called in the police after students forcefully took over a building. I mean, when you see actions like that, is there any uncomfort with students taking over a building, some folks where weve seen individual instances of anti-Semitism, how do you separate the larger agreement with the moral cause, with an alignment with some protesters that have become increasingly controversial within the Democratic Party?
Thats right. I think theres a parsing that we can do thats pretty easy for me to do personally. I can say, at the same time, yes, theres bad actors here and that youre going to have that in any movement. But I think, as long as the majority of people are doing the right thing and standing there in a morally just cause, I think thats something that we should stand with. And I dont think its worth condemning an entire movement, which is what weve seen.
Mm-hmm, I was going to ask about what you thought about the White Houses response to the encampments. What were you hoping that the president said versus what he actually did say?
Yeah, I was hoping he would say, I hear you, I stand with you, its time to change, and call for a ceasefire. I hope he would see that theres a wide swath of people all across the country crying out, what were doing is morally wrong and it needs to change. But also politically, if I saw my own voters coming out there and protesting, I would change course. And thats what I was hoping for.
What I saw was a condemnation of all the protesters as anti-Semitic and no support for them. They were given the cold shoulder in both his press conference yesterday and his statement that he released beforehand. And that was just it was saddening, it was shameful, and I think it was just disgraceful the way he went about it.
The last thing I wanted to say, and then I want to get to the actual statement you all put out in the last couple of days, is about Bidens response. You said that you felt that he was just painting everyone with a full brush of anti-Semitism or things. But he also did affirm the larger right to protest.
Hes talked about his own involvement in movements previously. But he tried to make a distinction between what he felt was happening in these verses more peaceful protests. Why isnt that the right tone for a president to strike, in your opinion?
Yeah, and I think, of course, that distinction needs to be made. But you have to look at the majority of what people are doing is painting them with a broad brush and saying, yeah, but the few of you who are peaceful have a right to protest. I think that approach paints the majority of people as violent. It paints the majority of people as anti-Semitic, too, when theyre not.
And so I think that its important to draw a distinction. And at the same time, you can recognize what the majority of people are calling for. And if he really wanted to get things toned down on college campuses, he would change course.
Well, take me through the steps. You all decide to take the very unique action of criticizing the administrations response. But logistically, did you write the statement alone?
Yes.
Did you write the what happened.
So, yeah, logistically, this what happened. So we were talking about it. They said, guys, we have to write something on this. And I was like, this is what needs to be said. From there, it took a few drafts.
If you look at my Google Docs right now, theres like draft 1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 4. Different people are shared on it. I got to work with Allyson Bell, our Jewish Caucus chair, as well, because she made it very clear that she wanted to see the denouncement of anti-Semitism. And I stood with her in that and said, yes, there needs to be the case.
Were there other red lines that people had? What did you have to include?
Yeah, no, that was one of the biggest red lines is that we had to include a condemnation of anti-Semitism. The other red lines people had mentioned to me was we have to stand with the cause for divestment and an immediate recognition of a Palestinian state, which is what we were able to do.
And so thats an interesting point. You all would more than say, we affirm the general rights of protest.
Oh, yeah.
You said, We stand with their specific policy goal of asking these campuses to divest from companies that make money off of whats happening in Gaza and to affirm the existence of a Palestinian state. Did that cause backlash internally?
No, actually, I was very surprised, because at first, I was like, I dont know how this statement is going to very similar to my ceasefire thing, I was like, I dont know how this is going to go. I dont know how well-received its going to be. And they said, we think its great. Lets put it up for a vote. And it passed by 8 to 2, which is amazing. I think I wasnt really expecting that wide of a margin. And I was so glad that they gave me the room, space, and leadership to do that.
Mm-hmm, Ive seen some of your colleagues criticize the statement, saying that they didnt feel like they were fully a part of the process. What have you made of some of the criticism? And I have read that some people had said that other drafts had gone further in terms of a denouncement of anti-Semitism.
Yeah.
I guess Im saying, I know that you got enough support for it to be 8 to 2, should have been 10 to 0.
Yes, I would have loved it to be. And in terms of one of the reasons why it wasnt, I think, it was Josh who said it didnt condemn Hamas. Well, this is about college campuses and whats going on there and their demands. And I think we did say we want to release the hostages.
We did say we want a peaceful two-state solution. And I think people forget that ceasefire means ceasefire for Hamas, too. We want them to stop shooting as well. So I tried to address those criticisms.
I hear where theyre coming from. And they all have valid points. There was earlier drafts that took the overwhelming approach of denouncing anti-Semitism.
What we were trying to do here is stand with the majority of college students. And the majority of college students are not anti-Semitic. The majority of people protesting are not hateful and violent and Hamas supporters. So thats the approach we ended up taking. And obviously, we didnt go 10-0. I wish it had been 10-0.
This week, right after President Bidens press conference, when asked whether the protests had had any material effect on his Middle Eastern policy, he said no. And I guess Im wondering, as someone who helped get this worked to get this person elected, how does that feel?
Its a little bit disheartening, Id say. Its tough to hear someone and I work so hard not only did I work so hard, young people worked so hard. And I think growing up, especially in the Democratic party, we had this idea of a coalition of the ascendant. Im sure youve heard the term, where as theres more and more young people, more and more progressives, more and more people of color, the countrys getting more diverse, eventually youre going to have a point where Democrats are just running away with it.
Thats kind of what we were hoping for. But for some reason, they found a way to break up that coalition and give us the cold shoulder. But at the end of the day, were still out here. Were still trying to talk with them and see if we can change things. And I do see a future where I would love to be right there knocking doors again for Biden in 2024.
Thats what I was going to ask. Are you going to vote for Biden in November? Or do you plan to organize for Biden in November?
I would sure hope to. And I think that question rests more with him than it does with me, because it matters on how he goes about this. If he continues on this path, if he continues to go harder, the genocide becomes worse and worse and worse, thats going to make it tougher for me.
But Im saying, if six months from now, if Joe Biden is continuing to back Netanyahus government, are you voting for Joe Biden?
Thats a tough question. And Im struggling with that every day. I havent really quite come to it. I think, at the end of the day, I probably would is the tough thing. But the fact that its a real tough question for me, I think should show that its probably a no for a majority of young people.
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Inside the College Democrats' Rebuke of Biden - The New York Times