WASHINGTON (AFP) – Security was tight yesterday as the annual White House Correspondents’ Association dinner kicked off with United States (US) President Joe Biden to make what is a traditionally lighthearted address amid protests and boycott calls over the conflict in Gaza.
A long list of VIP guests, including journalists and celebrities from Chris Pine to Molly Ringwald, arrived in black-tie attire as more than 100 protesters outside the Washington Hilton hotel chanted “shame on you” and other slogans while confronting attendees. At the banquet, in keeping with long-standing tradition – interrupted during the Donald Trump years – Biden was seated on the dais ahead of the evening’s comedy roast, this year to be delivered by Colin Jost of Saturday Night Live.
Biden’s every move has been shadowed for months by protesters angry over US support for the Israeli military offensive in Gaza. He has been met by shouts of “Genocide Joe” and calls for an immediate ceasefire. Protesters at one point unfurled an enormous, multi-storey Palestinian flag from a window on the hotel’s top floor, as others congregated on the road below holding placards, chanting and shouting from bullhorns.
More than two dozen Palestinian journalists this week issued an open letter urging their American colleagues to boycott the dinner.
“You have a unique responsibility to speak truth to power and uphold journalistic integrity,” said the letter.
