Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
Hundreds of University of Chicago students set up an encampment in the Main Quadrangle on Monday, joining groups on over 100 university campuses nationwide in support of Palestinians.
They called on the university to divest from companies doing business with Israel or manufacturing weapons.
Rayna A., a senior at the University of Chicago who helped organize the encampment, said the protesters
also want more money allocated to education and housing on the South Side.
“From this divestment campaign to the divestment campaigns all around the world, we demand divestment, repair, justice, freedom for all Palestinians,” Moon G., an incoming master’s student at the University of Chicago Divinity School, told the crowd.
Nearby, Israeli flags hung on a line strung between two lamp posts.
Rayna said the university “refuses to be in conversation” about the demands and turned down requests for a public meeting regarding divestment from Israel in the fall.
“Here we are today,” Rayna said. “We understand that our liberation is connected. The liberation of people from the South Side of Chicago to Northwestern to Palestine is connected.”
Rayna said organizers were inspired by student movements from the 1980s against apartheid in South Africa when planning the encampment. Student protesters then built shantytowns to protest the living conditions of Black people under apartheid.
“The reality is that people of Gaza are living in tents in Rafah,” Rayna said. “This is all about solidarity with them. This is not about us as students.”
A noontime rally was punctuated with the chant: “Disclose. Divest. We will not stop. We will not rest.”
Students and faculty mounted pro-Palestinian protests across at several Chicago universities and colleges last week. Demonstrators at Northwestern University’s Evanston campus set up an encampment Thursday, with some staying at the site overnight. Hundreds of students at U of C, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College Chicago, and Roosevelt University all marched on Friday in solidarity with Palestinians living in Gaza.
Students at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign also launched an encampment, resulting in at least one arrest.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
Student protesters set up a pro-Palestine protest camp on the University of Chicago Main Quadrangle on Monday.
|
Jim Vondruska/For the Sun-Times
As the death toll mounts in the war in Gaza and the humanitarian crisis worsens, protesters at universities all over the U.S. are demanding that schools cut financial ties to Israel and divest from companies they say are enabling the conflict.
Hundreds of protesters from the University of Chicago, the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, Columbia College Chicago and Roosevelt University rallied in support of people living in Gaza.
Students linked arms and formed a line against police after Northwestern leaders said the tent encampment violated university policy. By 9 p.m. protest leaders were told by university officials that arrests could begin later in the evening.
By Isabel Funk
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
The joint statement is the latest attempt at public pressure to advance negotiations over a potential cease-fire with Israel.
The video is the first proof of life of Hersh Goldberg-Polin, who was captured Oct. 7 in southern Israel. His parents have Chicago ties. Last week, his mother was named one of Time magazine’s most influential people of 2024.
A window of the Andersonville feminist bookstore displaying a Palestine flag and a sign calling for a cease-fire in the Israel-Hamas war was shattered early Wednesday. Police are investigating.
By Kade Heather
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
The Democratic president Wednesday reached the end of a long, painful battle with Republicans to secure urgently needed replenishment of aid for Ukraine.
The continuing bloody war in Gaza — the 33,000 Palestinians killed and the unknown fate of Israeli hostages — casts a pall over Passover celebrations.
By Neil Steinberg
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
Chicago Reps. Delia Ramirez, Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia and Jonathan Jackson, all Democrats and the most pro-Palestinian members of the Illinois delegation, voted no on aid to Israel. GOP Rep. Darin LaHood split from his party to support aid to Ukraine.
By Lynn Sweet
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
“There’s all kinds of dangers that can happen,” said Itai Segre, a teacher who lives in Roscoe Village with family in Jerusalem.
By Mary Norkol
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
The strike came just days after Tehran’s unprecedented drone-and-missile assault on Israel.
Democrats are deeply focused on Wisconsin and Michigan to help bolster President Joe Biden’s re-election chances — and officials, in town for meetings hosted by the Democratic National Convention Committee, say they plan on showing voters a deep party contrast.
By Tina Sfondeles
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
Rachel Goldberg was named for her extensive campaign calling for the release of her son and the other hostages taken by Hamas on Oct. 7. She grew up in Streeterville.
The Rev. Frederick Haynes III, pastor of Friendship-West Baptist Church in Dallas, took over as president and CEO of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition in February and had planned to run the organization from Texas.
“In the 45 years since ADL began tracking antisemitic incidents in 1979, it has never been this bad,” said ADL Midwest regional director David Goldenberg. According to a new report, Illinois saw a 74% increase in antisemitic incidents in 2023.
By David Struett
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
About 20 elected officials and community organizers discussed ways the city can combat antisemitism, though attendees said it was just the start of the conversation. Ald. Debra Silverstein (50th) said the gesture was ‘hollow.’
By Violet Miller
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
The demonstration was part of a global “economic blockade to free Palestine,” according to organizers. Protesters also took to the streets in the San Francisco Bay Area, on the Brooklyn Bridge and Interstate 5 in Eugene, Oregon.
Speakers at a River North protest say the AMA exhibits a ‘double standard’ in calling for a cease-fire in Ukraine but not for one in Gaza. They also question $100,000 in aid sent to Ukraine.
By Violet Miller
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
In Washington, President Joe Biden said U.S. forces helped Israel down “nearly all” the drones and missiles and pledged to convene allies to develop a unified response.
Chicago Ald. Deborah Silverstein, state Sen. Sara Feigenholtz, and state Rep. Bob Morgan said Brandon Johnson’s support of a cease-fire resolution showed “disrespect” for the Jewish community.
Thousands gathered Wednesday morning for prayers at the Stephens Convention Center in Rosemont, where Mayor Brandon Johnson briefly gave a renewed call for peace in Gaza.
By David Struett
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
The seven World Central Kitchen workers killed April 1 are among the more than 220 humanitarian workers who have been killed in the conflict, according to the U.N.
By Violet Miller
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
Protesters pushed for the release of hostages captured in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas militants. ‘We are not OK until they are all home,’ one speaker said.
By Mary Norkol
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
Chicago-area doctor Thaer Ahmad, who has treated patients in Gaza, walked out of a meeting of Muslim leaders Tuesday in protest of the administration’s continued support of Israel.
A year ago, President Joe Biden marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan by holding a celebration at the White House. This year, Muslim invitees including the Palestinian American doctor, who treated wounded in Gaza, declined to join an iftar dinner.
The leadership coup failed by a 29-16 vote, after the City Council member reported he met on Easter with Ald. Chris Taliaferro, a military veteran who led the call for his resignation as committee chair.
By Fran Spielman
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
The mayor made it clear he would not remove the City Council member for appearing at a rally where an American flag was burned to protest U.S. support for Israel.
By Fran Spielman
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) repeated Monday that he has no plans to apologize for attending a rally outside City Hall on Friday night after a U.S. flag was burned — and, he added, the veteran responsible for the protest has apologized for making Sigcho-Lopez a political target.
By Fran Spielman
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
The president appears to have gotten less support from Cook County voters than any incumbent Democratic presidential candidate since Jimmy Carter 44 years ago.
By Nader Issa
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
Our military did not fight so Americans could be free to agree with Ald. Chris Taliaferro.
By Neil Steinberg
[month] [day], [year], [hour]:[minute][ampm] [timezone]
(Visited 1 times, 1 visits today)