Grand Canyon Times

A bipartisan group of Arizona state lawmakers are responding to Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP), a radical anti-Israel organization, for hosting Michigan Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib on Arizona State University’s Tempe campus this Friday, November 17.

The State of Arizona is a safe place for Jews, both on and off campus, and the antisemitic rants regurgitated by SJP and others are not representative of Arizona values. Students supporting Israel have been verbally and physically assaulted on campus in recent days, requiring police escort during SJP rallies.

Congresswoman Tlaib was recently censured by the U.S. House of Representatives in a bipartisan vote for perpetuating anti-Jewish sentiments that support the destruction of the state of Israel. She has a history of espousing such a view both before and following the deadly October 7 terrorist attacks against Israel that were perpetrated by the pro-Palestinian Hamas terrorist organization. We believe that such extremist, antisemitic views should be condemned, and they are not welcome in the state of Arizona. 

We ask that Arizonans say a prayer for Abigail Edan and her family. Abigail is a three-year-old girl with ties to Arizona and was taken hostage by Hamas terrorists in Gaza after they murdered her parents. Rather than honor Congresswoman Tlaib for a speaking engagement, SJP should be calling for Abigail's immediate safe release in time for her fourth birthday next week. 

Congresswoman Tlaib is of course free to speak on ASU’s campus, and we commend our universities for supporting free speech and hosting uncomfortable conversations. However, ASU should not use public dollars, collected through student fees, to support SJP – an organization that, in addition to opposing the existence of Israel, proudly denies the existence of the United States (calling America "occupied Turtle Island").