There is something very disturbing going on in Chicago. And the Jewish community is concerned.
Chicago is the third-largest city in the United States. It is a vibrant city that has long prided itself as being a Midwest cultural melting pot. Chicago has all the markings of a big city: industry, arts and culture, respected educational and medical institutions, iconic neighborhoods, multiple professional sports teams and a robust mix of cultures and religions. It also has a serious antisemitism problem.
The Chicago area is home to some 320,000 Jews, making it one of the nation’s largest Jewish communities. Chicago’s Jewish community is diverse, deeply engrained in Chicago life and culture and well-organized. And, like every other Jewish community in the country, Chicago has increasingly focused on security issues and antisemitism.
Two recent developments highlight Chicago’s struggle. First, on the Shabbat morning of Oct. 26, a 39-year-old man walking to synagogue in the heavily Jewish neighborhood of West Rogers Park was shot by 22-year-old Sidi Mohamed Abdallahi, who shouted “Allahu Akbar” as he exchanged fire with police who responded to the shooting.
The first comment on the shooting by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson — who has a rocky relationship with the Jewish community — didn’t come until three days later. When he finally commented in a post on X, Johnson referred broadly to a weekend shooting, followed by the soothing comment that “All Chicagoans deserve to feel safe and protected across the city.”
No mention was made by Johnson that the victim was Jewish or that the shooting occurred in a heavily Jewish neighborhood as the victim was walking to synagogue. Nor did Johnson say anything about the 300% year-over-year rise in antisemitic activity in Chicago under his watch. And no mention was made that the shooting had all the markings of a hate crime.
Chicago’s Jewish community was outraged. And they have every right to be.
The second case relates to the appointment by the same Mayor Johnson of Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson to be president of the Chicago Board of Education, the entity that administers Chicago’s public school system. Rev. Johnson is an antisemite. His numerous hateful posts on Facebook and other public comments prove it.
Rev. Johnson supports Hamas and its murderous activities on Oct. 7. In his words: “I have been saying since October 2023, people have an absolute right to attack their oppressors by any means necessary!!”
Rev. Johnson also compares Zionist Jews to Nazis. Again, in his words, “The Nazi Germans’ ideology has been adopted by the Zionist Jews.” And there is much more — including a wide range of hateful comments that were misogynistic and conspiratorial in addition to antisemitic.
How did Mayor Johnson’s political vetting process miss the problems he would face by appointing a bigoted Jew-hater to head his city’s schools? And why did Mayor Johnson double down on his support for Rev. Johnson even after his antisemitic rants were made public?
Despite the mayor’s support, Rev. Johnson resigned his position last week under heavy pressure from those troubled and offended by his hateful pronouncements.
Political leaders and political appointees come and go. Sometimes, voters and responsible community leaders need to help hasten their departure. Chicago deserves better than Brandon Johnson.
