Unidentified vandals smashed all the windows at Hillel House at the University of Illinois in Champaign last Friday evening, but caused no other damage. No one has claimed responsibility. The damage to the windows was estimated at close to $7,000.
According to Barry Mehler, a student in the university, the vandals also overturned a dumpster “which weighs more than a car, leading us to suspect that more than one person was involved.” He said there was no one in the building at the time. A student who arrived at the Hillel building Saturday morning for Shabat services discovered the damage and called the police and Hillel Rabbi Steve Sniderman.
Mehler said that there have been other, minor incidents in the past directed against the Jewish student population on the campus. In addition, Arabs on the campus stage demonstrations periodically against Zionism. Mehler said there are an estimated 8,000-10,000 Jewish students at the university of a total student body of 52,000.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
