Police are investigating who is responsible for fliers around the campus at Arizona State University that read “Love Not Hate,” with a swastika for the “O” in “love” and a Star of David for the “A” in “hate.”
The Arizona branch of the Anti-Defamation League blasted the posters.
“We are very concerned by the placing of fliers on the Arizona State University campus with a swastika over the weekend. Use of this hate symbol is not normal. We condemn its use to promote hate and divisiveness. We are in contact with law enforcement to find out more to ensure the safety and security of students,” posted ADL Arizona on Facebook.
ADL Arizona added that it has been in contact with Hillel and Chabad on campus. “We are deeply concerned about the recent anti-Semitic fliers posted around campus, some depicting references to the Holocaust. The fliers trivialize one of the darkest periods in history in which more than six million Jews were killed,” posted ASU Hillel on Facebook. “Like you, we believe this message has no place on our campus. We are proud to work with you to make Jewish life on campus stronger every day, and an isolated incident such as this one will not deter us.”
“We are disturbed and bothered by the recent anti-Semitic flyers on campus,” Rabbi Shmuel Tiechtel, director of the Rohr Chabad House at ASU, told JNS. “We’ve spoken with dozens of students since the incident, and many are frustrated and concerned, and we share their feelings. We are here to listen to and to support the students at all times.”
In a statement, ASU said it knows about the posters as first reported on Friday by a student.
“Ensuring the safety and security of our students is our top priority, and the university undertakes extensive efforts to ensure student safety is not compromised,” said the statement. “ASU is a place where open debate can thrive and honest disagreements can be explored, but not when hateful rhetoric is used. That is not who we are.”
Out of a total student body of 51,585, there are an estimated 3,800 Jewish students at ASU, or 7.4 percent of the population, according to Hillel International.
