A small group of pro-Palestinian protesters from Behind Enemy Lines, an anti-imperialist organization, and DePaul students convened outside the Quad in the Lincoln Park campus on Thursday, March 6. Dozens of Chicago police officers gathered around campus to monitor the protest.
Behind Enemy Lines, an organization banned from DePaul’s campus, held a “Week of Defiance” March 3-6 to show support for Palestians and to protest being banned from the campus in November 2024. The week ended in a rally on Thursday originally planned to take place on the Quad.
“I think it’s important to just come out and show my support,” DePaul freshman Alex Ajose-Nixon said. “Just showing our resistance, whether or not (the DePaul administration) want to do anything, is the main thing that matters to me.”
Behind Enemy Lines members held up a flag that said, “Repression breeds resistance,” while others gave speeches saying, “From Chicago to Gaza, localize the intifada.”
“I feel like DePaul has really been trying to silence voices supporting Palestine lately,” Ajose-Nixon said. Sanctions for DePaul Students for Justice in Palestine were recently extended through March.
Michael Kaminsky, a Jewish DePaul student who was the victim of a hate crime on the Lincoln Park campus in November, said the rally “is an effort to spread misinformation, promote division and intimidate Jewish and Zionist students.”
“Many students, including myself, believe in fostering open, respectful dialogue, but this event is not about discussion — it is about intimidation,” Kaminsky said. “Our priority is ensuring that all students are safe on campus, and we expect DePaul to take appropriate action to uphold that standard. ”
Behind Enemy Lines was banned from DePaul’s campus Nov. 13, 2024, after distributing flyers that “incited violence and referred to a recent hate crime as ‘a small taste of justice,’” according to a letter sent to the group from Robert Wachowski, DePaul’s director of public safety.
A statement from DePaul Newsroom to The DePaulia on March 6 reiterated the reason for the ban.
“We have banned Behind Enemy Lines — which is not, nor ever was, a registered student organization at DePaul — from campus because they promoted violence,” the statement said. “We will enforce DePaul’s policies and local laws to keep our students safe and ensure this group does not gather on campus.”
This week, administration increased safety patrols on campus and made safety escorts available to students. The university is also working with the Chicago Police Department.
DePaul did not receive a demonstration request prior to the rally, which is necessary to hold a protest on campus, according to Mary Hansen, manager of strategic communications.
The protest also comes on the heels of DePaul’s “Failing” grade on its Antisemitism Report Card from the Anti-Defamation League, or ADL. The university responded in a statement saying they are “disappointed” by the results and “condemn antisemitism in all its forms.” The DePaul administration is open to meeting with ADL to determine the steps needed to better the experience of Jewish students.
“We have reached out to members of our Jewish community to get their reactions, take stock, and see how we can work even harder and smarter together,” the statement said.
Kaminsky said DePaul must enforce its policies “consistently and promptly.” He emphasized that banned groups should not be allowed to host activities on campus.
“The lack of accountability and consequences enforced on students and organizations who break laws and rules is abhorrent, and must be fixed immediately,” Kaminsky said.
In a statement to The DePaulia, Rebecca Weininger from ADL said the assessment is based on administrators’ actions and campus environment including the “robustness of Jewish life and the prevalence of incidents.”
Weininger said that while DePaul has “implemented some of the necessary policies to address campus antisemitism,” the university has done so “inconsistently.”
The statement claims there are high rates of “severe and other incidents … and anti-Zionist student and faculty groups have also been recorded on the campus.”
The ADL recommends that the DePaul administration mandate antisemitism education for all students and staff and enforce their code of conduct.
Elise Knaub, a member of Behind Enemy Lines, said the group is “exercising our First Amendment rights.”
“We’re here today to defy that ban because we know that part of the reason why the situation in Palestine keeps getting worse is because of the repression of Palestinian protesters,” Knaub said.
Related Stories:
- Students for Justice in Palestine fear Trump’s executive order targeting international students; DePaul’s sanctions against the group extended
- SGA’s DEI committee campaigns for a Gaza Scholars Program
- Students for Justice in Palestine hold walkout on anniversary of October 7
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