University of Arizona professor who told ‘MAGA’ and ‘Zionists’ to ‘F—k Off’ faces termination calls

An American Sign Language lecturer at the University of Arizona is facing calls to step down after posting “F—k Israel” on social media, and telling his followers to “F—k off” if they are “MAGA” or “Zionists.”  

“If you are MAGA, if you are a Zionist, or you are anti-human rights, this is not your space,” Jason Gervase said in a video on Dec. 18, 2025 to his more than 100,000 followers on TikTok.

Liora Rez, the founder and executive director of StopAntisemitism — a US based advocacy group — said jewish members and influencers of the ASL community flagged Gervase’s comments, prompting her to send a letter to the university Tuesday morning demanding his termination. 

“As a parent myself, I thought to myself, if I had a deaf child, what would happen if he or she was in their classroom with these kind of biases and this hatred and this rhetoric,” Rez told The California Post. “I wouldn’t want my child there. I wouldn’t want to be paying tuition for my child to be in these kinds of situations.” 

In separate social media posts, Gervase told followers to “F—k Israel,” and appeared to agree with another comment that claimed the terror attack on Bondi Beach in December was a “false flag operation” conducted by the Mossad. 

“I know. This was posted before that information came to light,” Gervase replied.

In the letter sent to the university and obtained by The Post, Rez called Gervase’s conduct “deeply disturbing and fundamentally incompatible with the responsibilities of a university educator.” 

“StopAntisemitism is respectfully calling for the termination of Jason Gervase from his position at the University of Arizona and for a clear public reaffirmation of your institution’s commitment to protecting Jewish students and staff from discrimination and hate,” the letter reads. 

Mitch Mieczyslaw, a spokesperson for UofA, told The Post that Gervase’s comments “do not represent the university’s position.”

“As a public university, the University of Arizona recognizes that employees have the right to express personal views, even when those statements fall short of our values of respect and civil discourse,” Mieczyslaw said. “Messages shared on personal social media do not represent the university’s position.”

Gervase responded to calls for his termination in a post on Threads, citing the First Amendment and saying “criticism of zionism, a political movement and ideology, is not an attack on a people or a faith.” 

“I am a dedicated professor, and I will not allow a coordinated digital mob to litigate my private, protected speech,” Gervase said. “I am grateful for the principles of academic freedom that protect all of us from the reach of those who wish to silence others.” 

The university’s Political Activity Policy states that “employees must not allow their interest in a particular party, candidate, or political issue to affect the objectivity of the performance of their University duties.” 

In the letter, Rez argued Gervase “targeted expressions of hostility toward a core component of Jewish identity,” and told The Post there is a difference between protected speech and hate speech. 

“Often individuals like him, who express hateful rhetoric, like to use the First Amendment and freedom of speech as a tool to justify their speech,” she said. “Individuals who do not agree with them also have those same rights to call him out, and hateful speech often comes with consequences.” 

Roz said whenever there are high-profile incidents — like the assassination of Charlie Kirk or the recent US-Israel joint attack on Iran — antisemitism and hate speech tend to resurface. 

“With this join US-Israel attack, we’re now seeing educators, individuals, siding with Ayatollah and the Iranian regime versus a Democratic West trying to put a stop to fanatics screaming death Israel and threatening to nuke us.”