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Jewish Students ‘Brutally’ Assaulted at DePaul University in Chicago
Photo of injuries sustained by one of two Jewish students assaulted at DePaul University on Nov. 6, 2024. Photo: Chicago Jewish Alliance/social media screenshot
Two Jewish students participating in a pro-Israel demonstration at DePaul University in Chicago on Wednesday were “brutally” assaulted by two ruffians who concealed their identities with masks.
“We are outraged that this occurred on our campus. It is completely unacceptable and a violation of DePaul’s values to uphold and care for the dignity of every individual,” DePaul president Robert Manuel said on Wednesday in a statement addressing the issue.
Manuel described how “masked attackers punched our students,” who were injured but declined medical treatment.
“We will continue to do everything possible to ensure DePaul is a safe and welcoming space for every member of our diverse university community. We recognize that for a significant portion of our Jewish community, Israel is a core part of their Jewish identity. Those students — and every student — should feel safe on our university campus. Our shared expectations and guiding principles make it clear that DePaul will not tolerate any acts of hatred or violence.”
Manuel confirmed that DePaul officials are working with the Chicago Police Department to bring the perpetrators to justice.
Meanwhile, the Chicago Jewish Alliance (CJA), a local nonprofit which promotes the welfare and civil rights of the city’s Jewish community, vowed to be advocates of the victims and continue raising awareness of antisemitism in the US.
“We are deeply saddened and outraged to report that two Jewish students were brutally assaulted at DePaul University today. This shocking act of violence is a stark reminder of the growing intolerance and antisemitism that cannot be tolerated in our society,” the group wrote on X/Twitter. “This is not just an isolated incident; it is a call to action for all of us. We must united to create a safe space for our Jewish community and stand against prejudice. This will not be the last you hear from us regarding this critical issue.”
Several antisemitic hate crimes have struck major American cities in just the past couple weeks. On Monday morning, an African American male smacked a 13-year-old Jewish boy who was commuting to school on his bike in the Crown Heights section of New York City. Days earlier, a Jewish man in the same neighborhood was stabbed in the face.
According to date complied by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), these attacks are part of a larger disturbing trend spreading across the nation, and it started in the weeks and months which followed Hamas’s Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel. A punishing wave of over 10,000 antisemitic incidents has hit the American Jewish community since that day, the ADL said, a 200 percent increase from the previous year. At least 1,200 of the outrages took place on college campuses, and 30 percent of all incidents happened during anti-Israel protests. Another 20 percent targeted Jewish institutions, including nonprofit organizations and houses of worship. Of these, 50 percent were bomb threats.
In recent months, pro-Hamas activists have directed followers to carry out violence aimed at forcing the US to sunder its alliance with Israel and pressuring higher education institutions to sever academic and financial links to it. Just recently, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) reportedly banished one such activist from campus, a student who penned an article arguing that violence is a legitimate method of effecting political change, and, moreover, advancing the pro-Palestinian movement.
Titled “On Pacifism,” the article — published in the MIT student publication Written Revolution and flanked by images of members of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP), an internationally designated terrorist group — argued that activists have failed to achieve their objectives because of “our own decision to embrace nonviolence as our primary vehicle of change.”
The author, PhD candidate Prahlad Iyengar, continued, “One year into a horrific genocide, it is time for the movement to begin wreaking havoc, or else, as we’ve seen, business will indeed go on as usual … As people of conscience in the world, we have a duty to Palestine and to all the globally oppressed. We have a mandate to exact a cost from the institutions that have contributed to the growth and proliferation of colonialism, racism, and all oppressive systems. We have a duty to escalate for Palestine, and as I hope I’ve argued, the traditional pacifist strategies aren’t working because they are ‘designed into’ the system we fight against.”
Pro-Hamas activists in academia have already demonstrated that they are willing to hurt people to make their point.
Last year, in California, an elderly Jewish man was killed when an anti-Zionist professor employed by a local community college allegedly pushed him during an argument. At Cornell University in upstate New York, a student threatened to rape and kill Jewish female students and “shoot up” the campus’ Hillel center. Violence was most common at universities in the state of California, where an anti-Zionist activist punched a Jewish student for filming him at a protest.
Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.
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Israel to Send Delegation to Qatar for Gaza Ceasefire Talks
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
Israel has decided to send a delegation to Qatar for talks on a possible Gaza hostage and ceasefire deal, an Israeli official said, reviving hopes of a breakthrough in negotiations to end the almost 21-month war.
Palestinian group Hamas said on Friday it had responded to a US-backed Gaza ceasefire proposal in a “positive spirit,” a few days after US President Donald Trump said Israel had agreed “to the necessary conditions to finalize” a 60-day truce.
The Israeli negotiation delegation will fly to Qatar on Sunday, the Israeli official, who declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter, told Reuters.
But in a sign of the potential challenges still facing the two sides, a Palestinian official from a militant group allied with Hamas said concerns remained over humanitarian aid, passage through the Rafah crossing in southern Israel to Egypt and clarity over a timetable for Israeli troop withdrawals.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is due to meet Trump in Washington on Monday, has yet to comment on Trump’s announcement, and in their public statements Hamas and Israel remain far apart.
Netanyahu has repeatedly said Hamas must be disarmed, a position the terrorist group, which is thought to be holding 20 living hostages, has so far refused to discuss.
Israeli media said on Friday that Israel had received and was reviewing Hamas’ response to the ceasefire proposal.
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Tucker Carlson Says to Air Interview with President of Iran
Tucker Carlson speaks on July 18, 2024 during the final day of the Republican National Convention at the Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Photo: Jasper Colt-USA TODAY via Reuters Connect
US conservative talk show host Tucker Carlson said in an online post on Saturday that he had conducted an interview with Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian, which would air in the next day or two.
Carlson said the interview was conducted remotely through a translator, and would be published as soon as it was edited, which “should be in a day or two.”
Carlson said he had stuck to simple questions in the interview, such as, “What is your goal? Do you seek war with the United States? Do you seek war with Israel?”
“There are all kinds of questions that I didn’t ask the president of Iran, particularly questions to which I knew I could get an not get an honest answer, such as, ‘was your nuclear program totally disabled by the bombing campaign by the US government a week and a half ago?’” he said.
Carlson also said he had made a third request in the past several months to interview Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who will be visiting Washington next week for talks with US President Donald Trump.
Trump said on Friday he would discuss Iran with Netanyahu at the White House on Monday.
Trump said he believed Tehran’s nuclear program had been set back permanently by recent US strikes that followed Israel’s attacks on the country last month, although Iran could restart it at a different location.
Trump also said Iran had not agreed to inspections of its nuclear program or to give up enriching uranium. He said he would not allow Tehran to resume its nuclear program, adding that Iran did want to meet with him.
Pezeshkian said last month Iran does not intend to develop nuclear weapons but will pursue its right to nuclear energy and research.
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Hostage Families Reject Partial Gaza Seal, Demand Release of All Hostages
Demonstrators hold signs and pictures of hostages, as relatives and supporters of Israeli hostages kidnapped during the Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas protest demanding the release of all hostages in Tel Aviv, Israel, Feb. 13, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Itai Ron
i24 News – As Israeli leaders weigh the contours of a possible partial ceasefire deal with Hamas, the families of the 50 hostages still held in Gaza issued an impassioned public statement this weekend, condemning any agreement that would return only some of the abductees.
In a powerful message released Saturday, the Families Forum for the Return of Hostages denounced what they call the “beating system” and “cruel selection process,” which, they say, has left families trapped in unbearable uncertainty for 638 days—not knowing whether to hope for reunion or prepare for mourning.
The group warned that a phased or selective deal—rumored to be under discussion—would deepen their suffering and perpetuate injustice. Among the 50 hostages, 22 are believed to be alive, and 28 are presumed dead.
“Every family deserves answers and closure,” the Forum said. “Whether it is a return to embrace or a grave to mourn over—each is sacred.”
They accused the Israeli government of allowing political considerations to prevent a full agreement that could have brought all hostages—living and fallen—home long ago. “It is forbidden to conform to the dictates of Schindler-style lists,” the statement read, invoking a painful historical parallel.
“All of the abductees could have returned for rehabilitation or burial months ago, had the government chosen to act with courage.”
The call for a comprehensive deal comes just as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu prepares for high-stakes talks in Washington and as indirect negotiations between Israel and Hamas are expected to resume in Doha within the next 24 hours, according to regional media reports.
Hamas, for its part, issued a statement Friday confirming its readiness to begin immediate negotiations on the implementation of a ceasefire and hostage release framework.
The Forum emphasized that every day in captivity poses a mortal risk to the living hostages, and for the deceased, a danger of being lost forever. “The horror of selection does not spare any of us,” the statement said. “Enough with the separation and categories that deepen the pain of the families.”
In a planned public address near Begin Gate in Tel Aviv, families are gathering Saturday evening to demand that the Israeli government accept a full-release deal—what they describe as the only “moral and Zionist” path forward.
“We will return. We will avenge,” the Forum concluded. “This is the time to complete the mission.”
As of now, the Israeli government has not formally responded to Hamas’s latest statement.
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