Jews take precautions as hate crimes rise

Georgia State University professor Mia Bloom said there have been more incidents in the last few months, including a case in Skokie on Oct. 7, 2025, when police said children and teens were targeted with antisemitic statements and a toy gel blaster gun.

“While Jews are a very small percent of the population, less than 2%, they constitute 38% of hate crimes that have happened in Chicago,” Bloom told The Center Square.

The professor said the Chicago Police Department has been responsible and engaged in sensitivity training, but she said Mayor Brandon Johnson exacerbated tensions when he wore a keffiyeh at an event with the Council on American-Islamic Relations last year.

“The mayor's office has refused to create a task force, despite the fact that its own commission on human rights recommended a task force,” Bloom told The Center Square.

In May, Johnson’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice announced the priority of forming a Jewish Engagement Council and other measures to address rising hate incidents.

A recent poll said most American voters think antisemitism is on the rise.

The Center Square Voters’ Voice Poll found 56% of American voters said antisemitism increased, 6% believe it decreased and 23% think it stayed the same.

Anti-Defamation lLeague Midwest Senior Regional Director Rebecca Weininger said some Jews are trying to appear less Jewish.

“We know that a third of college students around the country right now are choosing to put away their Jewish identity and not be identifiably Jewish,” Weininger told The Center Square.

Weininger said one in five people who wore something identifiably Jewish before Oct. 7, 2023 put those items away to be less in harm’s way.

“I don't want it to be dangerous to drop my child off at Hebrew school every Sunday where I am funneled between armed guards into an area that makes us less susceptible to being shot in the parking lot,” Weininger said.

Bloom said a person recently approached her at the Art Institute of Chicago and thanked her for wearing a Jewish star.

“They ordinarily wore a kippah or a skull cap, they had put on a baseball cap to hide it, and because I was walking around the Art Institute with my necklace, they took their baseball cap off and they felt a little bit more comfortable,” Bloom said.

Sarah Roderick-Fitch contributed to this story