The Chicago Commission on Human Relations, or CCHR, just released its annual report on hate crimes and incidents in Chicago, which showed that anti-Jewish hate crimes rose a stunning 58% last year. Antisemitism accounted for more than 37% of all hate crimes reported to the Chicago Police Department in 2024. Jewish Chicagoans make up only 3% of the city’s total population, yet we were the target of more than a third of all the hate crimes reported in the entire city.

This isn’t a surprise to anyone who has been paying attention. Anti-Jewish hate crimes are up sharply across the nation. Notable and shocking examples include the killing of a young couple outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, the firebombing attack on rallygoers in Colorado who were raising awareness about the Israeli hostages and the arson attack on Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence in Pennsylvania.

Chicago was also rocked last year by an antisemitic terrorist attack in my own West Ridge community. An Orthodox man was shot in the shoulder while walking to synagogue on Shabbat. The victim was dressed in traditional Jewish garb, and he was only saved because his attacker’s gun jammed. Police investigations revealed the shooter was specifically targeting Jewish individuals and institutions.

Other hateful incidents have been happening across the city, including the painting of swastikas in Little Village and antisemitic graffiti in Hyde Park, and the placement of anti-Jewish cards on car windows in multiple wards. The incidents in CCHR’s report have affected communities across Chicago.

In response to this disturbing report, Mayor Brandon Johnson is finally starting to pay attention. He has authorized CCHR to convene public hearings on the rise in anti-Jewish hate crimes in Chicago, echoing a call I made last month with the support of the majority of the City Council.

I fear this is too little, too late.

As alderman of the 50th Ward, home to the largest Orthodox Jewish community in the city of Chicago, I have been raising the alarm about rising antisemitism for years. I hear daily from my community about antisemitic graffiti outside synagogues and the harassing of residents who are visibly Jewish on our streets.

The response from City Hall has been anemic at best and often openly hostile to the concerns and fears of the Jewish community. Johnson has made it clear that the safety of Chicago’s Jews takes a back seat to his progressive goals, and I worry how receptive he will be to making actual changes in response to the findings of these hearings.

I am pleased that the hearings, which will be held in September, will be convened by CCHR. Its members have been tremendous allies to the Jewish community and to vulnerable communities across Chicago. I trust Commissioner Nancy Andrade to preside over fair and balanced hearings and to hear from voices that represent the vast majority of Chicago’s Jewish community — even from groups that have feuded with Johnson in the past — including the Jewish United Fund, Anti-Defamation League, American Jewish Committee and Simon Wiesenthal Center.

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However, I have concerns about whether the mayor’s office will allow CCHR to develop an accurate report that reflects the genuine fears of Chicago’s Jewish community, especially if the hearings reveal that the mayor’s progressive allies have contributed to the antisemitic environment in the city.

The CCHR hate crimes report indicates that the rise in antisemitism in Chicago is fueled by misguided reactions to the Israel-Hamas war. Antisemitic people around the world have been using the war as a pretext to spew anti-Jewish hate under the cover of anti-Zionism, as if shooting at Jews in Chicago somehow makes Palestinians in Gaza safer.

Much of this rhetoric in Chicago has come from the mayor’s progressive allies and at events that the mayor has either praised or supported, such as the college encampments, Chicago Public Schools walkouts and protests that call to “globalize the intifada.”

How will City Hall react if Jewish CPS students testify that they were threatened and intimidated during the school protests, when the mayor already praised the students for walking out?

How will the mayor respond to Jewish students who were attacked at DePaul University when his closest allies were at the encampments where knives, pellet guns and other improvised weapons were found?

These extreme anti-Israel demonstrations hide under the guise of free speech but are really part of a growing movement of unchecked antisemitism masquerading as political activism. Will the mayor allow the CCHR hearings to reveal this fact or are we in for sanitized proceedings that refuse to address the root causes of anti-Jewish hate in Chicago?

Can we expect actual change or just more thoughts and prayers from our city leadership? We will wait and see. But I promise that the Jewish community is tired of being silent. You will continue to hear from us as long as antisemitism remains at crisis levels. And I hope that our allies and every person of conscience in Chicago join us.

Ald. Debra Silverstein represents Chicago’s 50th Ward and is chair of the Committee on License and Consumer Protection. She is the only Jewish alderman on the City Council.

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