I see them every Sunday--a group of about 100 residents of my neighborhood walking quietly but proudly. They carry Israeli flags and signs bearing the names of hostages still being held by Hamas---now more than 500 days in captivity.
I've never marched with them, though I've traveled to Washington, D.C. twice to express similar sentiments. Instead, I lightly tap my horn. They look up, wave, cheer. A small gesture of solidarity.
But last Sunday, that quiet show of support felt woefully insufficient. In Boulder, Colorado, a man shouting "Free Palestine" fired a makeshift flamethrower into a peaceful pro-Israel rally. Eight people were hospitalized. This came just days after the shooting murders of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C., also by an attacker screaming the same slogan.
These are not isolated incidents. They are a pattern--and they are escalating. In Chicago, a man with an Israeli flag draped over his shoulders was assaulted outside a downtown restaurant. In West Rogers Park, mezuzahs have been ripped off doorposts, Jewish schools and synagogues vandalized.
And yet, too many of our civic leaders remain silent--or worse, inflame the very tensions putting Jews at risk.
Nowhere is this more painfully evident than in the actions of Mayor Brandon Johnson. Since Hamas's October 7 massacre of 1,200 Israelis, including the rape and kidnapping of women and children, Johnson has refused to call out the terror group by name. Instead, he described Israel's military response as "genocide"--a charge that not only distorts reality but echoes the same rhetoric now shouted by violent attackers across the country.
More recently, Johnson appointed Mitchell Ikenna Johnson to head the Chicago Board of Education. Within days, it was revealed that the appointee had made antisemitic and conspiratorial social media posts. He resigned under pressure, but the message was clear: vetting Jewish safety wasn't a priority.
We know words matter. We've learned--painfully-that unchecked rhetoric can lead to real-world violence. Whether it's "globalize the intifada" or "Zionists are Nazis," these aren't critiques of policy; they're calls to harm Jews. And when such rhetoric is ignored, minimized, or repeated by our leaders, it doesn't just normalize hate--it licenses it.
As an American Jew, I believe passionately in free speech and balanced immigration policy. These principles have allowed Jews to thrive in this country like nowhere else in our history. But they are not a suicide pact. When violence rises, when intimidation escalates, and when elected officials choose moral ambiguity over moral clarity, something has gone deeply wrong.
Some on the right see this moment as justification for crackdowns on immigration and speech. Perhaps that is not the answer. But neither is the performative hand-wringing from progressives who can't bring themselves to defend Jews with the same urgency they extend to every other vulnerable group.
Let me be clear: I don't pretend to have all the answers. But I do know three things:
First, we must stop pretending that anti-Zionism is somehow wholly separate from antisemitism. Maybe it's theoretically possible to oppose the existence of a Jewish state without hating Jews--but in practice, it's rare. If someone tells me they don't believe the Jewish people deserve a nation, while championing statehood for every other group, I'm going to believe what they're telling me.
Second, the rhetoric to supposedly criticize Israel poses a clear and present danger to the Jewish community . Elected officials who cannot speak plainly about terror, who equate Israel with genocide while ignoring the rhetoric and violence of Hamas sympathizers, are not protecting our community-they are endangering it.
Third, antisemitism is not just a Jewish problem. History shows it may start with us, but it never ends there. The same forces that deface synagogues and threaten Jewish students never stop with the Jews. This is a civic crisis for everyone and needs to be treated as such.
Jewish Chicagoans deserve more than vague statements and careless appointments. They deserve the same protections, recognition, and moral seriousness that would be extended to any other community facing targeted threats.
The time for quiet horn taps is over. You are either marching with us or you are not.
Dan Elbaum is the former head of North America for the Jewish Agency for Israel. He lives with his family in the Chicago area.
