Arizona State University (ASU) canceled an on-campus event featuring Representative Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), citing procedural issues.
A university spokesperson told The State Press, a student newspaper: “The event featuring Congresswoman Tlaib was planned and produced by groups not affiliated with ASU and was organized outside of ASU policies and procedures. Accordingly, that event will not take place today on the ASU Tempe campus.”
The event, called “Palestine Is an American Issue,” was organized by the Arizona Palestine Network and co-sponsored by ASU’s Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) chapter, per The State Press. The SJP chapter called the university’s decision to cancel the event “unacceptable.” “Rashida Tlaib must be heard on campus as the only Palestinian member of Congress who plans to speak on an American issue at an event,” they said in a social media post, per The State Press. “ASU cannot claim to hold free speech as a principle while denying Palestinians their voices on campus.”
Tlaib did, however, speak virtually through a laptop to a pro-Palestinian protest on campus that afternoon, The State Press reported. She told the protesters, per The State Press: “Do not let the university sway you all. What you are doing is powerful and impactful. People are going to ask you where you were during this moment. And you’re going to say I was focused on saving lives.”
The day before, a bipartisan letter from members of the Arizona House of Representatives urged the university not to use any taxpayer dollars toward the event, noting that Tlaib was recently censured by the House of Representatives “for perpetuating anti-Jewish sentiments that support the destruction of the state of Israel.” The letter later added: “Congresswoman Tlaib is of course free to speak on campus, and we commend our universities for supporting free speech and holding 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 the state of Israel, proudly denies the existence of the United States.”
In a rare bipartisan news release by Arizona House of Representatives Michael Carbone (R-25), Alma Hernandez (D-20), Alexander Kolodin (R-3), and Consuelo Hernandez (D-21):
Members of the Arizona House are calling for ASU to not use taxpayer dollars to host Rashida Tlaib, and… pic.twitter.com/1qFjVQ1nij
— Sean Campbell (@scampbellfilms) November 17, 2023
Tlaib’s office did not respond to the Journal’s request for comment.
Tlaib was censured on November 8 by a vote of 234-188, with 22 Democrats voting in favor and four Republicans against. The censure resolution accused Tlaib of “promoting false narratives regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel” and “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.” The resolution specifically criticized Tlaib for promoting the slogan “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free,” which many have interpreted as being a call for the destruction of Israel. Tlaib claimed on the floor of the House that the phrase is “an aspirational call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence, not death, destruction or hate” and maintained that she has only criticized the Israeli government, not Israelis as a whole, according to The New York Times.
