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PROPOSED RESOLUTION

RESOLUTION AGAINST THE RISE IN ANTI-SEMITISM AND IN SUPPORT OF COOK COUNTY'S JEWISH POPULATION

WHEREAS, a documented disturbing rise in anti-Semitic events targeting the Jewish population has surged throughout the United States, and significantly in Cook County; and

WHEREAS, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) annual audit of anti-Semitic incidents, there were 1,879 recorded attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions across the country in 2018, which increased to 2,024 recorded antisemitic incidents in 2020. In Illinois, residents saw a 350% increase in anti-Semitic incidents between 2016 and 2020; and

WHEREAS, according to the FBI, anti-Jewish bias accounted for 57% of religiously motivated hate crimes in 2020, even though Jews only account for less than 2% of the U.S. population. Despite the Covid-19 pandemic and community lock-down, this percentage is up from 2015 when 51.3% of religiously motivated hate crime offenses targeted Jews or Jewish institutions; and

WHEREAS, anti-Semitic propaganda and hate crimes are meant to stoke hatred of Jews among non-Jews and cause Jewish residents to feel they are unwelcome and unsafe in the community; and

WHEREAS, in the first three months of 2022, Jewish communities have faced incidents of leaflet drops, vandalism, broken glass, presence of swastikas, verbal attacks, and physical assaults, which are meant to instill psychological distress, fear, and anxiety; and

WHEREAS, Chicago's Orthodox Jewish community in West Rogers Park was targeted with eight known incidents of hate from January 13 through February 1, 2022. These are days surrounding International Holocaust Remembrance Day on January 27, which triggered associations of Kristallnacht ("the Night of Broken Glass") for Holocaust survivors and their descendants, where the Nazi's anti-Semitic policies turned exceptionally violent. These incidents included:

* On January 13, 2022, a man approached Orthodox Jewish middle sch...

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