Over 100 Rabbis, Cantors in Chicago Area Condemn Trump for Crackdown on Pro-Palestine Campus Protests

By Staff, Agencies

In an open letter, more than 100 rabbis and cantors in Chicago have condemned US President Donald Trump for his crackdown on pro-Palestine campus protests.

Chicago signatories vehemently opposed Trump's funding cuts and campus arrests, as reported by Middle East Monitor citing "Israeli" media.

Since early March, punitive measures aim to suppress US student protests against "Israel’s" actions in Gaza and in support of suffering Palestinians.

In the open letter published as a full-page ad in the Chicago Tribune on Tuesday, the rabbis and cantors denounced the White House for exploiting concerns about antisemitism to justify broader attacks on civil liberties, including mass deportations and the erosion of civil rights.

The signatories, representing various Jewish denominations, stressed that such measures do not protect the Jewish community but rather endanger it by using their fears as a political tool.

“Many of these actions have been presented as in defense of the Jewish community. Yet in truth, Jewish fear is being used as a fig leaf for an anti-democratic agenda of mass deportations, civil rights rollbacks, and attacks on higher education,” the letter read.

The public letter comes amid a nationwide crackdown on university campuses, with institutions like Northwestern University experiencing funding freezes and numerous student protesters facing detention.

“As Jewish leaders, we reject the exploitation of our fears and experiences of antisemitism to justify the dismantling of those institutions," the satetement read.

Such actions do not protect our community — they use us, and they put us in danger,” the signatories stressed.

The situation escalated when the Trump administration froze $2.2 billion in federal funding to Harvard University, demanding significant policy changes in response to what it labeled as antisemitism.

Harvard, however, has refused to comply and has initiated legal action challenging the federal government’s decision.

This growing dissent among Jewish leaders highlights a significant divide within the community regarding the administration's approach to civil liberties.