Hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim people are on the rise in Chicago and across the country as Americans react to the war and to thousands of civilian casualties in Israel and Gaza, faith leaders warn.
Since the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and subsequent Israeli airstrikes escalated the conflict, people in the U.S. are seeing the effects of prejudice against both religious groups.
In the most notable case, Muslim Palestinian American boy Wadea Al-Fayoume was killed and his mother was critically injured in Plainfield Township when a man attacked them with a knife last week in what police have said was a hate crime.
But smaller-scale hate crimes and other hateful acts have been reported in the Chicago area in recent days.
Earlier this week, a Lombard man threatened to shoot two Muslim men outside an apartment complex, the DuPage County Sheriff’s Office said.
Larry York, 46, was charged with two counts of a hate crime after telling the men in an apartment complex lobby, “This is America. Get the f- - - out of here. I’ll shoot you, motherf - - - - - s,” the sheriff’s office said.
He also allegedly called some of his friends to come and shoot the men, the sheriff’s office said.
“The allegations against Mr. York are extremely disturbing, and in DuPage County we have no tolerance whatsoever for such vitriolic actions, as alleged in this case,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release.
‘We are seeing post-9/11 numbers’
“It’s all about, how secure are we as a community?” said Mohammed Faheem, president of American Muslims Assisting Neighbors.
The Naperville Police Department is investigating a report of a man berating a woman and telling her, “Go back to your country.” Police said they are looking for video footage of the incident.
The Chicago branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has received close to 100 reports of anti-Muslim acts in the last two weeks, executive director Ahmed Rehab said.
“We are seeing post-9/11 numbers,” he said. “There are very problematic, death-threat level messages sent to Muslim schools.”
‘Historical trauma for Jews’
An incident in Portage Park is also being investigated as a possible hate crime after an Israeli flag in front of a home was removed and replaced with a Palestinian one that read “Palestine will be free, all Jerusalem to the sea,” according to Chicago police.
The woman who lives in the home, who spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times on the condition that her name not be used, said she had replaced an American flag with an Israeli one after the Hamas attacked on Israel, escalating the long-standing conflict in Israel and Gaza.
“Jews are very lonely right now, and scared,” the woman said, adding that the flag was meant to show support for Jewish people — not the Israeli government. “This is bringing up a lot of historical trauma for Jews.”
The woman, who lived in Tel Aviv in the 1990s and has family and friends still there, said she and many of her Israeli and Jewish friends don’t agree with the actions of the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Now, she’s grappling with whether to rehang the flag.
“Do we want to put the flag up again?” she asked. “It makes us a target.”
Another Israeli flag was vandalized in downstate Champaign, the Anti-Defamation League said.
ADL-Midwest Regional Director David Goldenberg said people are likely being influenced by what they see online, in the news and from other people.
“Words have consequences, and what we’re seeing in this rise in antisemitic incidences is that words are having consequences,” Goldenberg said.
Reports of antisemitic actions have increased 400% across the country in the days since Hamas’ attack, and that figure is higher in the Midwest, Goldenberg said.
Faheem and Goldenberg both pointed out the dangers of extreme and discriminatory rhetoric and condemned acts of hate of any kind.
When you “glorify the violence and the death of Jews, no one should be surprised when there’s a rise in antisemitism,” Goldenberg said, adding that the Jewish community immediately condemned the death of Wadea Al-Fayoume. “When there’s talking heads spewing anti-Muslim hate, no one should be surprised when there’s a rise in anti-Muslim acts.”
Muslim school threatened
An all-girls Muslim school in the southwest suburbs had already been on a soft lockdown all week, like many other Muslim schools in the area. But it moved its junior and high school classes online Friday because of a “threatening hate letter” received in the mail. Elementary school kids went home with homework packets.
“We are making every effort at this time to ensure students feel safe despite the sadness of the situation in Palestine and the climate of increased hostility and hateful incidents here at home,” the principal wrote in a letter to families.
The previous day, school leaders had already canceled a fall festival planned for the weekend.
The rise in antisemitic and anti-Muslim crimes comes as hate crimes in Chicago are higher than they’ve been in nearly 30 years, a report found in August. In 2022, the most commonly targeted group were Black and Jewish people, the report said.
Contributing: Nader Issa
