Anti-Defamation League accuses Chicago Palestinian advocate groups of fueling antisemitism

The Anti-Defamation League is sounding the alarm on a dramatic rise in antisemitic acts in the Chicago area since the Israel-Hamas war began that it says are fueled by several local pro-Palestinian groups.

The Midwest chapter of the ADL released a report Wednesday calling out local pro-Palestinian activist groups that they say are inciting the acts with weekly protests, organizing on school campuses and antisemitic social media posts.

“What we’ve seen in Chicago is an acute level of antisemitism that I’m not sure other communities are experiencing at this moment,” said David Goldenberg, director of the ADL’s Midwest chapter.

“I’m not aware of other campaigns that are targeting communities in this particular way,” he said.

His group has recorded more acts of antisemitism during the ongoing Israel-Hamas war than all of the 75 incidents recorded in 2011 and 2022, he said.

The ADL accused four groups of fueling antisemitism in the Chicago area: the U.S. Palestinian Community Network, Students for Justice in Palestine, American Muslims for Palestine and the group Jewish Voices for Peace.

“The ADL is again ridiculously and dangerously attempting to weaponize accusations of antisemitism because it and its leaders are apologists for genocide and Israel’s killing of over 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, and they know that they are already exposed as such to the whole world,” said Hatem Abudayyeh, chairman of the U.S. Palestinian Community Network.

“If anyone wants to accuse USPCN, our pro-Palestine coalition in Chicago, or Palestinians in general of anything, call us anti-genocide, anti-racist, anti-white supremacist, anti-colonialist, anti-apartheid, and anti-zionist, because these are all accurate descriptors of Israel and its ADL supporters,” Abudayyeh said.

Pat Nabong/Sun-Times

The national chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine has responded before to the ADL’s criticism, saying it “unequivocally condemn[s] the baseless allegations.”

“The ADL’s latest intimidation campaign is based on a highly problematic definition of antisemitism that attempts to conflate criticism of the Israeli government or Zionism with anti-Jewish racism,” the group said in a statement. “This is as dangerous as it is baseless. Many people of various faiths and backgrounds — including Jewish scholars, rabbis, and activists — have long criticized and opposed Zionism.”

Representatives from several other Jewish groups spoke during the news conference at the ADL’s Loop office, where they called on the non-Jewish community to stand up against the hate.

“When our allies are silent, they continue to act without consequences,” said Dan Goldwin, executive director of public affairs for the Jewish United Fund.

Much of the antisemitism is spread on social media, according to Sarah van Loon, regional director of the American Jewish Committee’s Chicago office.

The ADL’s report refers to several recent antisemitic posts that referred to Jews as Zionists, which the groups call a “dog whistle” for antisemitism.

Loon called on social media companies to enforce their terms of service to stop the spread of some of the worst posts.

Antisemitism was growing before the Israel-Hamas war, the ADL said, but it’s only gotten worse since the Oct. 7 attack on Israel.

Antisemitic acts on Midwest colleges campuses have grown 300% since Oct. 7, according to StandWithUs director Yossi Heid. The group measured between 85 and 100 antisemitic acts last spring semester, he said. Since Oct. 7, it’s counted nearly 300.

Kylie Miller, a 19-year-old Jewish student attending Roosevelt University, said she’s faced antisemitism at school and was even pushed in the street one day by someone who noticed her small Star of David necklace, she said.

She said she receives antisemitic direct messages every day on social media.

“I think I can speak for most, if not all Jewish young adults, when I say that we are exhausted,” she said.