By Corinne Murdock |
Arizona State University (ASU) leadership has ignored Meghan McCain’s request to condemn the pro-Hamas protest that occurred on campus last week.
The ASU chapter of Students For Justice in Palestine (SJP) held the protest. The silence from ASU leadership prompted McCain to question the decision to have the name of her late father, Sen. John McCain, associated with a new library at ASU.
“No entity that condones such behavior on their campus has any business hosting my fathers library in his name. Full stop,” said McCain.
One user asked whether foreign students who attended the protest would have their visa status revoked due to their support of a terrorist group. Hamas is a designated Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO).
On Sunday, Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) requested Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to revoke the visa statuses of those who attended any pro-Hamas protests.
SJP of ASU held the rally at the behest of their National SJP, which called for a National Day of Resistance last Thursday. Not all campuses who pledged to participate ended up following through.
University of Arizona (UArizona) President Robert Robbins issued a condemnation of pro-Hamas sentiment from the SJP chapter on their campus, but ultimately allowed the protest to take place on First Amendment grounds.
“The national organization has made statements endorsing the actions of Hamas in Israel, which are, of course, antithetical to our university’s values,” said Robbins.
The SJP of UArizona canceled their protest in response to Robbins’ letter, declaring that the president’s rhetoric endangered them. The chapter denied endorsement of Hamas activity, specifically distancing themselves from the National SJP.
“[O]ur organization is independently run and led specifically by students at the University of Arizona. Associating our chapter with any and all claims made by other SJP affiliates is a gross misrepresentation of our values, clearly designed to misalign our goals and demonize our presence on campus,” said the chapter.
Yet, SJP of UArizona heeded the National SJP’s call to host its protest on the National Day of Resistance.
In their call to action, the National SJP declared in a since-deleted post that Hamas terrorism constituted “a historic win for Palestinian resistance” and encouraged its supporters to engage in “armed confrontation with the oppressors” in addition to rallies. The toolkit provided for hosting the National Day of Resistance included the infamous template depicting a Hamas paraglider.
“This is what it means to Free Palestine: not just slogans and rallies, but armed confrontation with the oppressors,” stated NSJP.
SJP of ASU relied on the other graphic provided by the National SJP for their protest.
SJP of ASU plans to hold another protest at the end of this month.
The chapter also called on ASU to engage in the Boycott, Divest, and Sanctions (BDS) Movement.
Corinne Murdock is a reporter for AZ Free News. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to corinne@azfreenews.com.