Members of the Jewish community and other faiths gathered on the Tempe campus Wednesday for an event inspired by former Fox News pundit Glenn Beck.
“Restoring Courage at ASU,” hosted by the University’s chapter of the American-Israeli Alliance, held the event in conjunction with Beck’s pro-Israel rally “Restoring Courage” in Jerusalem.
The goal of the ASU event was to show why Israel deserves every person’s support in a bipartisan manner, AIA President and political science junior Boaz Witbeck said.
Witbeck said he assembled the event because Beck’s message correlated with AIA’s goals.
“We want to inform the community and ASU as a whole why Israel has a courageous spirit to the whole world,” he said.
Several guest speakers came to the ASU event at the W.P. Carey School of Business, including Rep. Trent Franks, R-Ariz., co-founder of the Israel Allies Caucus.
In his address, Franks said Israel is under constant attack from terrorists and the U.S. needs to stand behind the country.
“Israel is the most critical ally that America (has),” Franks said.
Franks’ said he would not support leaders from countries, such as Iran, which terrorize Israel.
Economics senior Danielle Back, public relations chairwoman of ASU’s chapter of the Students for Justice in Palestine, said she attended to bring a different perspective to the event.
Back said the event was very biased and one sided — a view shared by her friend, global health senior Nahid Hiermandi, who also attended.
“I noticed not once that they mentioned the interest of Palestinians,” Hiermandi said. “They presented them as terrorist groups, but there are Palestinians that are willing to work toward peace.”
Before Franks left the event, the two students confronted the congressman. The conversation started off friendly but soon evolved into a tense discussion about the Israel-Palestine border.
Following the conversation, Franks invited the students to sit down and talk with him at his office.
Reach the reporter at shurst2@asu.edu
