Outrage in New Orleans: ‘Biden can’t condemn terror while funding it abroad’

New Orleans, Jan. 6 — Joe Biden visited New Orleans today to commemorate the victims of the New Year’s morning mass killing by a U.S.-born military veteran from Texas that left 14 dead and 30 more injured in our city. Biden’s visit is a slap in the face to the people of the city. How can Biden come here to condemn terrorism when he’s one of the biggest terrorists on earth?

A New Orleans Palestinian community member told Struggle-La Lucha: 

“Biden has overseen a number of Israeli military assaults on Gaza since taking office, culminating in a genocide on the Palestinians in Gaza. The fact that he came to New Orleans in the wake of the terror attack when his administration is responsible for the current terror in the Middle East is an insult to anyone who is aware of what’s happening in the world.” 

Through his unconditional support for Israel’s genocide against the Palestinian people — the whole thing being carried out in the interests of Washington — he is responsible for burning children alive in refugee camps. 

Just like Netanyahu, he is responsible for the recent murder of civilian doctors, nurses, and patients at Kamal Adwan Hospital. That was the last functioning hospital in Gaza. Biden and Netanyahu destroyed all the rest. How can someone who destroys hospitals — leaving premature babies to die in incubators — come to offer condolences to grieving New Orleans families and “condemn terror”? 

The New Year’s attacker took the life of Kareem Badawi, an 18-year-old Palestinian American from Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Biden’s visit is a slap in the face to Badawi’s grieving family and the 10,000 Palestinian community members in the New Orleans area and others around the state. 

As one of his last acts in office, Biden is providing another $8 billion in weapons to the Israeli regime. That’s on top of the record $17.9 billion in military aid since 2023. The Israeli regime uses these weapons to kill young people, just like Kareem Badawi. 

Some of that money that Biden spent to kill kids in Palestine could have helped the people of New Orleans. The U.S. Census says that the city’s poverty rate is a staggering 22.6%. Median household income is only $55,330 per year, but a recent Zillow report found that New Orleans households need to make $64,000 a year to afford rent. 

The New Orleans working class never recovered after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. There was only a recovery for the rich. What did Biden do for New Orleans when he served as vice president under Obama for two terms post-Katrina? What has he done for New Orleans for the past four years?

New Orleans resident Kevin Ericksen stressed the importance of continuing to hold the city responsible for its participation in Israel’s genocide (via multiple economic ties), writing to Struggle-La Lucha:

“Hundreds of New Orleanians for over a year now have repeatedly asked our city council to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, effectively demanding an end to the mindless, senseless, hate filled violence that is being perpetuated against the people of Gaza, with America’s backing. And with the backing of the New Orleans city council, because their answer to our request for a ceasefire resolution, that would end the terror in Gaza, has been a loud ’No.’ For many of us the New Orleans city council’s refusal to demand a ceasefire in Gaza has lent legitimacy to Israel’s mindless, senseless, hate filled violence, a violence that from the point of view of its hundreds of thousands of victims in Gaza can only be described as terrorism. The New Orleans city council must reverse its decision and demand an end to the slaughter of innocents in Gaza.”