Northwestern University has capitulated to the demands of pro-Palestinian protesters who set up an encampment last week, offering scholarships for Palestinians, Palestinian faculty appointments, and special housing for Muslim students.
In return, the students agreed to take down their tents and to protest during daylight hours in Deering Meadow, the common space that they had occupied since last week and decorated with radical and antisemitic signs and slogans.
As Breitbart News noted, the activists in the encampment not only physically barred other students from entering, but also stole an American flag from peaceful pro-Israel counter-demonstrators and vandalized university buildings.
EVANSTON, ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES – APRIL 27: A vandalized building on Northwestern University’s campus during pro-Palestinian protests in Evanston, Illinois, United States on April 27, 2024. (Photo by Jacek Boczarski/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Jewish students had felt threatened by the encampment, a source told Breitbart News.
The Daily Northwestern reported the details of the deal:
The University has committed to provide a conduit for students to engage with the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees. It will also re-establish an Advisory Committee on Investment Responsibility this fall, which will include students, faculty and staff.
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In addition, the University committed to some support for Palestinian students and faculty in the agreement. NU will “support visiting Palestinian faculty and students at risk,” and will provide the cost of attendance for five Palestinian undergraduates to attend Northwestern.
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The University also committed to providing an “immediate temporary space for MENA/Muslim students” — a longtime demand from students on campus — and will provide and renovate a house for MENA/Muslims students as soon as possible. The final house is expected to come in 2026.
Funds for the new scholarships and faculty, as well as the “MENA/Muslim” housing, will be raised by Northwestern.
Local Jewish leaders in the Chicago area blasted Northwestern President Michael Schill for the agreement, which they said betrayed Jewish students and faculty who had been intimidated by the encampment, and rewarded the activists’ unlawful tactics.
“You certainly heard and acted generously towards those with loud, at times hateful voices. The lack of any reassuring message to our community has also been heard loud and clear.”
— ChicagoJCRC (@ChicagoJCRC) April 30, 2024
@NorthwesternU pic.twitter.com/RA2wHfjR5q
Members of the Northwestern faculty also expressed concerns about the lack of transparency in the negotiations.
Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the recent e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now available on Audible. He is also the author of the e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.
