Pro-Hamas agitators roamed the streets of the greater Chicago area over the weekend, harassing Jewish residents and fostering unrest in their campaign to pressure elected officials into boycotting and divesting from Israel.

Marching through the heavily Jewish suburb of Highland Park early on Saturday morning, a mob consisting of some 40 protesters — who concealed their faces with masks and keffiyehs — amassed outside the home of US Rep. Brad Schneider (D), who is Jewish, reportedly dousing “red liquid” on the sidewalk.

About 24 hours later, the protesters undertook a similar action, showing up at the Chicago home of Illinois Gov. Jay Robert Pritzker (D), who is also Jewish.

The group responsible for the disturbance, which calls itself “Direct Action for Palestine,” said on social media that Pritzker and Schneider are “war criminals” while denouncing Schneider’s voting for a bill which, if passed, would defund the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), several of whose employees allegedly aided Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel.

“No sleep for war criminals. Palestinian, Arab, and allied youth refuse to let war criminals rest, including Representative Brad Schneider who was awoken at 2:30 am,” Direct Actions for Palestine said in a social media post following its demonstration. “We demand a complete reinstatement of UNWRA funding, Illinois’ divestment from Israel, and an end to the US backed genocide on Gaza.”

Reports on the protesters’ actions circulated on social media, with some saying that they approached residents asking if they are a “Jew.” Others said that local law enforcement declined to make any arrests.

“It’s unfortunate that instead of seeking a constructive dialogue with Congressman Schneider, a group of people hiding their faces chose to taunt and intimidate a predominantly Jewish neighborhood on the Jewish Sabbath in the middle of the night,” a spokesperson for Schneider said in a statement following the incidents. “It’s even more disturbing the chose to harass a community that is preparing to commemorate the second anniversary of the Highland Park mass shooting, a shared tragedy that was spurred by hate.”

The statement added, “The congressman is always happy to meet and sit down with anyone. I encourage those who disagree with his views to seek a conversation in the daylight rather than disturbing and traumatizing families in the darkness of night.”

The Anti-Defamation League’s (ADL) Midwest office denounced the demonstrations on Sunday, describing them as blatantly antisemitic and undermining the group’s claim that it wants peace.

“The chants were antisemitic. The false charge of genocide is antisemitic,” ADL Midwest tweeted. “The targeting of Jewish elected officials is antisemitic. This clearly isn’t about peace.”

Incidents of antisemitic hatred in Chicago have increased, according to a new report by the Chicago Commission on Human Relations issued last week.

“Antisemitic acts including assault, harassment, and vandalism rose to their highest level in recent history in 2022, jumping 128 percent from the previous year, from 53 to 121,” the report said, before noting that anti-Jewish hate crimes have further spiked due to the ongoing Israel-Hamas war in Gaza. “Tensions around the conflict have impacted communities across the country, leading to protests in our streets and college campuses.”

Follow Dion J. Pierre @DionJPierre.

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