‘All Too Common’: Community leaders, residents gather to address reports of more antisemitic incidents in Skokie parks

Standing before a crowd of approximately 200 people in Skokie’s Central Park on Tuesday, Rabbi Ari Hart recounted speaking with the children, some of whom he said are his friends and family, recently victimized by what police say was antisemitic language in local parks. 

“I’ve sat and listened now too many times to Jewish children telling me stories of being harassed and threatened and chased and hurt,” said Hart, a rabbi at Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue. 

“I’ve heard about children hiding their Jewish star necklaces in these parks. I’ve seen the bruises from the pellet guns, the welts on a young face and the tears. I’ve also seen the profound strength and courage from our young people, and the desire from the families that were affected to build bridges of understanding and tolerance even after their own children were hurt.”

Hart was one of a handful of community leaders who gathered to address the two incidents over the weekend when Skokie police say juveniles used antisemitic language and questioned the “national origin or religious identity” of other youths in Central and Lorel parks. 

Skokie Police Chief Jesse Barnes declined to comment further on the incidents but referenced some of the ire village staff received from residents last October when officials waited 15 days to formally address an antisemitic hate crime at Shawnee Park.

“We heard you loud and clear after October and we tried to provide as much information as we could in a timely manner, and we will update you as our investigation progresses,” Barnes said. 

Other officials — including Mayor Ann Tennes, Village Trustee Alison Pure Slovin and State Sen. Laura Fine — called on community partners to take action and cited a surge in antisemitic incidents across the nation in recent years. 

“I feel like this is becoming all too common and not enough is being done about it because it happened six months ago, and it feels like a repeat,” lifelong Skokie resident Alan Kotlyar told The Record. “It would be nice to see a real change in the culture. 

Possible preventative measures

The Skokie Human Relations Commission tasked its Community Engagement Subcommittee with discussing measures the Skokie community could take to prevent future antisemitic hate crimes after the incident on October 7, 2025.

Maria Monastero Bueno, chair of the commission, said on Tuesday that she “expects” the subcommittee, which met on Wednesday, to present its list of possible prevention measures to the commission sometime in the next week. 

The Human Relations Commission may then recommend specific preventative measures for the Skokie Village Board to consider, Monastero Bueno said. 

Addressing the audience on Tuesday, Tennes said more data is needed and called on local school districts to increase antisemitism training at every grade level, track incidents of hate, redouble efforts to educate students about inclusion, and partner with families to address harmful behavior.

Tennes also identified other village partners, like faith leaders and local nonprofits, as critical and encouraged everyone in the audience to take action. 

“To every Skokie resident, reach out, get to know your neighbors, have conversations that may feel uncomfortable but are so necessary. Learn how it feels, what it means to be a Jewish person in Skokie and in society now. I challenge you to join me in learning to be an ally,” Tennes said. 

Susan Aberman, president of the Skokie Park Board of Commissioners, said the board is considering a pilot program to add cameras with electric capabilities to its parks.

While a number of Skokie parks already have outward-facing cameras on Skokie Park District buildings, the initiative could mean adding cameras to light-posts near basketball courts and looking at data to see if the surveillance is helpful, Aberman said. 

Barnes added that the Skokie Police Department is discussing holding shift roll-calls in local parks this summer to foster more community engagement. 

After the remarks, Rachel Blumenthal, another Skokie resident who attended the gathering on Tuesday, said she found the latest reports of antisemitism in the village particularly “disturbing” given the October 2025 incident at Shawnee. 

“These children, they learn a lot from their parents, but they also learn and repeat what they hear from their other classmates and they just don’t know,” Blumenthal said, adding that she found it reassuring to hear Tennes emphasize anti-antisemitic education in school classrooms. 

“They’re repeating stuff that they just don’t have enough information about and I think if you teach tolerance in the classroom it will help foster it in the parks.”

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