CHICAGO — Two weeks after two Jewish students at DePaul University were attacked by masked thugs, 50 supporters rallied with the students at the spot of the attack Nov. 21 in front of the student center on the Lincoln Park Campus here.
Max Long and Michael Kaminsky had taken to standing outside the student center looking for the opportunity to discuss the nature of Israel, the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas pogrom there, and the war in Gaza.
Long held a handmade sign saying, “Come talk about Israel with an IDF soldier.” Long is an Israel Defense Forces reservist who was deployed to Gaza as part of a counter-explosive unit recovering hostages after the murderous Hamas attack killed 1,200, most of them Jews. It was the largest slaughter of Jews since the Nazi Holocaust.
On Nov. 6 Long was approached by a man whose face was covered with a balaclava. A second man attacked him from behind, knocking him unconscious. The two then turned on Kaminsky, who had run to Long’s aid. Long suffered a concussion and Kaminsky’s wrist was broken in the attack.
At the Nov. 21 rally, Long and Kaminsky told supporters and the media that they would not be silenced. “Days after the attack,” Long explained, pro-Hamas students “distributed ‘Wanted’ flyers with my name on it. Jewish students are afraid to speak on their own campus. We cannot allow threats and violence to silence us. We want to encourage dialogue, not silence it.”
Kaminsky said the university administration also bore responsibility. “We were attacked because of the university’s failure to protect Jewish students.” He said that a DePaul safety officer witnessed the whole attack and did not intervene.
Long and Kaminsky believe they were targeted by the pro-Hamas thugs because they’ve been effective in getting a hearing. “Ninety percent of the discussions we had were productive, whether we agreed or disagreed. We often ended by shaking hands,” Kaminsky said.
Members of the Chicago Jewish Alliance and other local Jewish groups and #EndJewHatred participated in the rally. Brooke Goldstein, a New York-based human rights lawyer and executive director of the Lawfare Project, commended the students and announced her organization is legally representing them.
She and other speakers called on the university to take action to protect the safety and free speech of all students on campus, including Jews.