DePaul University president ‘appalled’ by attack on two Jewish students on campus

CHICAGO (OSV News) — Two Jewish students were attacked on the campus of Catholic-run DePaul University in Chicago Nov. 6 and the school’s president said he was “appalled” by the incident. The attack was part of a wave of anti-Jewish hostility in the Chicago area in recent weeks.

DePaul’s president, Robert Manuel, said in a letter dated the same day to faculty and staff, “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.”

Manuel said in the letter the students were “visibly showing support for Israel,” which has been embroiled in a war with the Hamas militant group in the Gaza Strip since October 2023, when Hamas militants attacked Israel, killing 1,200 men, women and children and taking nearly 300 hostages. He said the DePaul students were punched multiple times and “sustained physical injuries but declined medical treatment.”

“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,” he said.

Manuel said the school’s “guiding principles and shared expectations” explicitly state that “DePaul will not tolerate any acts of hatred or violence.”

A co-founder of the Chicago Jewish Alliance told Reuters he knew both students whom police said were males ages 21 and 27. Josh Weiner confirmed that one of them is a former member of the Israel Defense Forces.

On Nov. 7, Chicago Police labeled the incident a hate crime and put out a community alert seeking tips about two men pictured in an incident report, one of them wearing a mask, who allegedly carried out the attacks. The report said one of the suspects made antisemitic comments while “repeatedly striking a victim.”

Philip Cunningham, a theology professor and the director of the Institute for Jewish-Catholic Relations at St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, noted in an interview with OSV News Nov. 11 that both U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops and the Vatican have very strong positions against antisemitism.

In particular, the Second Vatican Council document “Nostra Aetate” (“In Our Time”), the Declaration on the Relation of the Church to Non-Christian Religions, states: “In her rejection of every persecution against any man, the Church, mindful of the patrimony she shares with the Jews and moved not by political reasons but by the Gospel’s spiritual love, decries hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone.”

The 1965 document was the Catholic Church’s first formal denunciation of “hatred, persecutions, displays of anti-Semitism, directed against Jews at any time and by anyone,” while affirming the “spiritual patrimony common to Christians and Jews.”

“So how a particular Catholic university handles such incidents on its campus in collaboration with the legal authorities, of course, should also be very strong in not tolerating any kind of race-based antipathy, action, etc.,” Cunningham told OSV News.

Several Chicago news outlets reported the attack on the DePaul students took place hours before pro-Palestinian protesters marched outside a downtown Chicago synagogue and reportedly vandalized an area inside the building. Two men faced trespassing and property damage charges over the incident.

According to a 2024 report on hate crimes and hate incidents issued by the Chicago Commission on Human Relations, there were 50 reported anti-Jewish incidents in 2023 and 50 reported anti-Jewish incidents from Jan. 1 through June 13 of this year. Reports of anti-Muslim incidents numbered 16 in 2023 and three in 2024 during the same reporting period.

On Oct. 26 a man reportedly from Mauritania was charged with a hate crime for allegedly shooting a 39-year old man in Jewish headwear while on his way to a synagogue on Chicago’s north side. The suspect then engaged law enforcement in a gun battle, before sustaining serious injuries and being taken to the hospital. The victim sustained a non-life-threatening injury to his shoulder.

“These acts of violence against Jews have no place in our city or communities and must be condemned. Let us unite in our common humanity and work to heal divisions and uphold values of peace, compassion and respect,” said a statement from the Archdiocese of Chicago sent to OSV News Nov. 8.

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