Lawmakers Condemn Antisemitic Packages Found Around Chicagoland

SPRINGFIELD, IL — According to the Anti-Defamation League, antisemitic incidents increased by 84 percent in the Midwest between 2016 and 2020. On Wednesday, members of the Illinois General Assembly stood together in solidarity during a press conference to condemn antisemitic literature anonymously distributed recently in the 9th District, represented by State Senator Laura Fine (D-Glenview).

Over the last few weeks, antisemitic flyers in plastic bags were left on driveways in Glenview, Niles and Park Ridge. The flyers included images of prominent Jewish politicians — including Fine — and businesspeople from Illinois and across the country.

"This incident is disturbing and intolerable,” Fine said. “As an individual, and as a Jewish woman, I am disgusted by these displays of hate. However, we will not cower from these threatening messages. Instead, I am asking my colleagues and members of my community to stand up against antisemitism to prevent situations like this, or more dangerous incidents, from ever happening again.”

Last week, Cook County Commissioner Scott Britton said that he and many other local residents received packages of antisemitic letters in their driveways that blame the war in Ukraine on the "Jewish agenda," among other things.

Britton (D-14th District) said the letters also mentioned the COVID-19 pandemic and genocides in general, along with a "Let's Go Brandon" flyer listing names and images of members of the Biden administration.

RELATED: Britton Receives Antisemitic Letters Regarding War In Ukraine

“As antisemitism rises across the nation, we must continue to call our hate speech and hate crimes when they happen in our own backyard,” Representative Bob Morgan (D-Highwood) said. “The governor’s budget addition for $20 million for security funding for religious and cultural institutions is urgently needed and will help our at-risk communities.”

Members of the General Assembly and advocates said they are further encouraging everyone to help combat hate speech and stop the spread of violent acts by holding people accountable, raising awareness, and supporting people who are targets of hate speech and notifying authorities and the office of the attorney general when hate crimes take place.

OTHER STATEMENTS FROM THE PRESS CONFERENCE

“The meteoric rise of antisemitism both in Illinois and globally is breathtaking,” said State Senator Sara Feigenholtz (D-Chicago). "The Jewish community and its allies cannot ignore or dismiss the historical parallel of what occurred before World War II and the Holocaust where six million Jews were murdered across Europe and the antisemitism we are experiencing globally, domestically and in Illinois.”

“As antisemitism rises across the nation, we must continue to call our hate speech and hate crimes when they happen in our own backyard,” said Representative Bob Morgan (D-Highwood). “The governor’s budget addition for $20 million for security funding for religious and cultural institutions is urgently needed and will help our at-risk communities.”

“We need to take bigots at their word and ensure our elected officials are safe and to investigate the sources of these serial attacks,” said Alison Pure-Slovin, director of the Midwest region for the Simon Wiesenthal Center. “The Simon Wiesenthal Center calls for a special Illinois taskforce on anti-Semitism and reiterates its call to FBI Director Wray to establish a special FBI National Taskforce on anti-Semitism to help us beat back the scourge of hate.”