It’s been a week since Jewish students from DePaul University, Loyola University Chicago and Roosevelt University were targeted by anti-Israel protesters at the Olive & Oak Cafe, an off-campus coffee shop.
Robert Manuel, president of DePaul, stated that on Feb. 11, the Jewish students were at the cafe for regularly scheduled coffee hours hosted by Metro Chicago Hillel and Jewish United Fund of Chicago.
“According to reports the university received, individuals inside the cafe began harassing the Jewish students, calling for them to leave, and a JUF staff person was allegedly ‘shoulder checked,’ which the Chicago Police Department has classified as a battery,” he said. “The incident remains under investigation, and the university will share updates as available.”
He added that “while this incident occurred off campus, I am outraged that our students were targeted and harassed because of their Jewish identity.”
“These actions are inexcusable,” Manuel wrote. “DePaul University condemns antisemitism in all its forms and will continue to stand firm in doing so, in line with our Catholic, Vincentian values.”
According to Manuel, university leadership has reached out to the affected students to offer support and is working to determine whether any of the offenders are affiliated with the DePaul community.
“We will take swift, consistent action if any violations of university policy are identified,” he stated.
Hillel reported that 12 Jewish students from the three universities were at the cafe, which opened in December.
“As the Jewish students started to arrive, other students wearing keffiyehs and sweatshirts with invectives like ‘globalize the intifada’ began streaming in,” according to a Hillel email. “They began talking loudly about antisemitic tropes related to Israel and allegations that Israel is committing war crimes.”
The disrupters—some recognized as members of DePaul’s recently suspended Students for Justice in Palestine chapter—“asked the cafe to start playing Palestinian music loudly and then started dancing while chanting ‘free Palestine, free Palestine,’” the email stated. They also asked cafe staff to remove the Jewish students.
Charles Cohen, executive director of Metro Chicago Hillel, told JNS that “these students were targeted for one reason: because they were Jewish.”
“This incident reinforces how vital it is that Jewish students gather through Hillel and other organizations, to support one another and be part of a community, and are allowed to be visibly, proudly Jewish without fear of harassment or violence,” he said.
“JUF staff acted swiftly, ensuring that a police report was filed right away, and together we are empowering these students to live vibrant Jewish lives,” Cohen told JNS.
