Hamas supporters disrupted the Arizona State University (ASU) student government meeting on Tuesday, hurling rocks and, allegedly, death threats at Jewish students.
The protestors’ physical and verbal disruptions prompted an early end to the meeting. ASU Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) led the pro-Hamas protest to demand a boycott, divestment, sanctions (BDS) proclamation at the Undergraduate Student Government (USG) meeting.
ASU Chabad posted personal testimonies from Jewish students who experienced the rocks thrown at the windows and death threats directed at them. The students were escorted back to their residence by police.
“We are very disturbed by what happened and the clear anti-Semitism and rocks thrown at the windows where the meeting was held,” stated the group.
Chabad at ASU gave an update on IG live last night as Jewish students were escorted from a student government meeting back to Chabad and Hillel under police protection: pic.twitter.com/oy4lsZMg7q
— Israel War Room (@IsraelWarRoom) November 15, 2023
ASU police are investigating the protest to determine whether charges for disorderly conduct or criminal damage may be warranted.
Arizona State University – Jewish students were targeted at a USG Senate meeting on campus and had to be escorted home by police.
The antisemites threw rocks at the window and made death threats to the Jewish students.
This is life for American Jewish students in 2023.
— StopAntisemitism (@StopAntisemites) November 15, 2023
Student live streams obtained by Sean Campbell, an independent video journalist, documented the pro-Hamas chants disrupting the meeting. ASU SJP’s chapter president, Finn Howe, also spoke at the meeting; he accused the university of condoning genocide and ethnic cleansing by not approving a BDS policy.
Howe also called for an end to all study abroad programs based in Israel.
Despite the rising tensions and alleged targeting of Jewish students, Howe rejected the claim he and others siding with the Hamas government were antisemitic. The activists maintain that Israel isn’t a legitimate country, just a “settler colonial state.”
Video from @ASU student government meeting @Ann_Atkinson_AZ @SethLeibsohn https://t.co/FR5iFqfz80
— Arizona Women of Action (@azwomenofaction) November 15, 2023
ASU President Michael Crow denounced the protestors the following day. In a full statement published by his office, Crow called the coordinated protests “insidious” due to their alleged “intent to provoke, incite, agitate or inflame” the public.
“Let it be clear that ASU will not tolerate acts of intimidation or violence,” said Crow. “
.@ASUPolice is investigating last night’s disruption of a USG meeting on the Tempe campus. Let it be clear that ASU will not tolerate acts of intimidation or violence. We are committed to inclusion and respect, and to providing a safe environment for civil dialogue and learning. pic.twitter.com/EDtqIONihM
— Michael Crow (@michaelcrow) November 15, 2023
On Wednesday, ASU SJP issued a statement dismissing the actions of protestors among them as “misinformation” and claiming that no violence or antisemitic rhetoric was espoused. ASU’s Young Democratic Socialists of America and MECHA de ASU signed onto the statement as well.
“The university is an active participant in America’s imperialistic project, and by extension, the Israeli colonial project in Palestine,” stated ASU SJP.
The group also created a coalition to end financial support for Israel on campus, “Students Against Apartheid,” beginning with a boycott on Thursday at the Memorial Union Starbucks.
In a joint statement, ASU Chabad and ASU Hillel said that they would stand up for the Jewish students on campus.