Ald. Brendan Reilly: You can't separate anti-Zionism from antisemitism — and we must stop pretending you can

Chicago Tribune

2 days ago

Our Jewish brothers and sisters are under siege in America. That's not hyperbole — that's fact. In recent months, the escalation of antisemitic violence has been horrifying. These are not online threats or symbolic protests — they are physical, targeted and fueled by a vicious ideology masquerading as activism.
During Passover this year, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro — one of the most prominent Jewish governors in America — sat down with his family for Seder in the governor's mansion. Outside, someone threw a firebomb into the house. Just weeks later, a Chicagoan yelled, 'Free Palestine,' as he gunned down two Israeli nationals in broad daylight outside the Capital Jewish Museum in Washington, D.C., authorities say. In Boulder, Colorado, a man shouting 'Free Palestine' hurled Molotov cocktails into a crowd of Jewish seniors — including a Holocaust survivor — who were participating in a peaceful event to raise awareness for hostages held by Hamas. Eight people were injured.
This is not a coincidence. This is a pattern. And the common thread is this: These victims were not targeted based on their political views. They were targeted simply because they are Jews.
Let's be clear: There has never been a meaningful distinction between anti-Zionism and antisemitism. Anti-Zionism claims to oppose a government, but victims of hate crimes are never screened for their opinion of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu or the Likud party. No one asked those seniors in Boulder what they thought of Israeli settlement policy. No one asked Shapiro's children whether they support a two-state solution. They were simply Jewish — and therefore, in the eyes of the attackers, legitimate targets.
This is not geopolitics. It is bigotry. And it's now being mainstreamed by far-left activists and social media echo chambers that treat Jewish identity as interchangeable with state power — a grotesque and dangerous lie. Worse yet, the Democratic Party has lurched ever leftward in recent years. It has become home to a growing number of far-left extremists who excuse these hateful acts of violence as a 'noble cause.'
The violence is rising. Roughly 23 million Americans — about 9% of adults — believe force is justified against government officials, a 2023 survey by the University of Chicago's Project on Security reported. While that number is alarming across the board, what's even more concerning is that support for political violence now spans the ideological spectrum. Of the 23 million, 7.6 million identify as Democrats and 4.8 million as independents. Political violence is no longer a uniquely right-wing threat.
The Boulder firebombing wasn't an outlier. It's part of a growing wave of violent extremism dressed in the language of 'resistance.' Jewish students at the University of California-Los Angeles have been physically prevented from attending class. Across college campuses, mobs shout, 'From the river to the sea,' and post lists of 'Zionists' for public harassment.
Now is a moment that demands moral clarity — especially from Democratic Party leaders. If we believe in equality, dignity and pluralism, then we must also believe that violence against Jews — under any banner — has no place in American life. That means speaking up. That means drawing the line. That means saying, without euphemism or apology, that antisemitism cloaked as anti-Zionism is still antisemitism.
When someone chants 'Free Palestine' while lighting Jewish people on fire, this is not a misunderstanding of policy — it's an embrace of hate.
There is no such thing as anti-Zionism without antisemitism. In the real world — not in theory, but in practice — the two are indistinguishable. When anti-Zionism licenses dehumanization, mob intimidation, firebombings and terror, then it is not opposition to a government. It is a campaign of hate against a people.
The mask has slipped. And it's time my fellow leaders in the Democratic Party stopped pretending otherwise.