Surge in antisemitism amid Israel-Hamas war marks ‘frightening time’ for Jews locally in Illinois and globally
Rodi Glass survived the Holocaust as a child growing up under Nazi occupation in the Netherlands, where she was forced to wear a yellow Star of David sewn to her clothing to identify herself as a Jew at the age of 6.
Eight decades later, the 87-year-old Highland Park resident is disturbed by an unsettling spike in antisemitic incidents and rhetoric amid the Israel-Hamas war, marking a particularly threatening era for Jews locally as well as globally.
“It’s a very uncertain time for Jewish people,” she said. “It’s a very frightening time.”
The Anti-Defamation League said it has tracked a dramatic surge in antisemitic events nationwide following the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel, which plunged the region into a bloody ongoing war. The New York-based watchdog group recorded more than 300 antisemitic incidents in just over two weeks following the attack, a 388% increase over the same period last year, according to a report released Tuesday.
The rise over the last few weeks comes on the heels of a marked overall increase in
