I've been harshly and deservedly critical of a number of institutions of higher learning -- including my own alma mater, Northwestern University -- over the Academy's disgraceful handling of the Hamas terrorist atrocity in Israel on October 7th. When schools have comported themselves well, which very much seems to be the exception to the rule, we've noted that, too. Following a number of tips and messages from sources at the University of Chicago, which is ranked in the top ten nationally, I revealed a series of recent events on that campus in a social media thread. Last week, various Jewish and pro-Israel students planned a sanctioned rally on the quad.
When they gathered as scheduled, a pro-Hamas crowd showed up in very close proximity and tried to disrupt the proceedings with loud chanting:
🧵 I have now heard from multiple @UChicago students about something that happened on campus last week. Pro-Israel students followed the rules and reserved the quad for a rally. “Pro-Palestine” students showed up and did everything they could to drown out the event, an apparent… pic.twitter.com/u5BaETKb8v
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 24, 2023
I put "pro-Palestine" in scare quotes because when slogans like "resistance is justified when people are occupied" is unmistakably a justification of Hamas terrorists' murder of 1,300 Israeli civilians just over two weeks ago. That is the clear context. The "resistance" referenced is the Jew murder. On top of being morally horrifying, this particular chant is also ignorant. Gaza has not been "occupied" since 2005, when Israel unilaterally pulled out of the territory, even dragging Israeli citizens out of their homes in order to hand the parcel of land entirely back to the Palestinians. Shortly thereafter, Gazans voted for Hamas, and Israel has been targeted by terror attacks, plots, and rocket shelling ever since. So again, Gaza has not been occupied for nearly two decades, and the extent to which it's an "open-air prison" is due entirely to Hamas' endless threats against Israeli civilians. Israel has actually allowed thousands of Gaza residents to commute across the border for work, a concession that was allegedly exploited by some in order to help plan the massacre of Jews earlier this month.
Given the rhetoric employed and the context in which these hate rallies have been assembled, they are effectively, or outwardly, pro-Hamas. The University of Chicago has been a beacon of sanity in the realm of free speech and expression, and students say clear policies against disrupting others' free speech were not enforced:
Students say the university has rules against disruptive conduct, defined as actions that include but are not limited to “obstruction, impairment, or interference with University sponsored or authorized activities or facilities in a manner that is likely to or does deprive others…
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 24, 2023
Subsequent to shouting over the pro-Israel event, "pro-Palestine" students orchestrated a 'walk out,' during which they again screamed pro-"resistance" messages while calling for the annihilation of Israel, which is what "from the river to the sea" is all about:
Many of America’s campuses are badly broken. And for all the talk of “safe spaces” and “harmful” words, Jewish students are coming out of the woodwork to explain how and why they now feel literally unsafe at their own schools.
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 24, 2023
After I posted these images and descriptions, another source familiar with University of Chicago procedures and policies reached out with a perspective that suggests violators of rules could face punishment, but that such complexities can be tricky and time-consuming to sift through:
More: “The complicated part is often figuring out who is actually affiliated with the U and who isn’t - it’s not uncommon for members of the community, professional protesters, other randoms etc to be involved. So lots of sorting out who can actually be disciplined under the…
— Guy Benson (@guypbenson) October 24, 2023
If school policies were violated, as alleged, this university must protect its reputation as a bastion of institutional strength on such matters through meaningful enforcement. Robust rules are great, but they're meaningless if it's established that certain people are allowed to break them with impunity. Do Hamas acolytes get some sort of special, anti-speech dispensation? Perhaps we'll soon find out, one way or the other. Should Jews feel safe in Chicago? This sort of unique, focused, double-standard obsession is textbook anti-Semitism:
A decade of slaughter in Syria with almost one million killed and 13 million displaced and we never once saw 1/100th of this turnout in Chicago https://t.co/n45DUFJIbH
— Peter Wolf (@peterawolf) October 22, 2023