DePaul University student Michael Kaminsky, a survivor of a 2024 campus hate-crime attack<\/a>, and Jake Rymer of the University of Chicago spent months lobbying City Council members after what they described as an explosion of harassment following the Oct. 7 Hamas assault on Israel. Their effort culminated in a rare unanimous vote, providing Chicago with an internationally recognized standard for identifying and responding to modern forms of antisemitism.<\/p>\n HAMAS KIDNAPPED US TOGETHER, HELD US APART FOR OVER A YEAR \u2014 AND NOW WE\u2019RE STARTING OVER<\/a><\/p>\n Adam Erkan, 20, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor battery. He attacked two Jewish students at DePaul University last year. He was sentenced to two years of probation along with 100 hours of community service, according to Fox 32 Chicago. (Brian Cassella\/Chicago Tribune\/Tribune News Service via Getty Images; Chicago Police Department)<\/p>\n Supporters say the ordinance answers a growing call from Jewish communities for more than rhetorical condemnations.<\/p>\n “This gives officials something concrete to work with,” one advocate involved in the effort said. “It creates clarity where there has been confusion.”<\/p>\n Jewish leaders say the Chicago vote and New York rollback reflect a widening divide among major U.S. cities over how aggressively to confront antisemitism at a moment when attacks and harassment are climbing nationwide.<\/p>\n The Chicago decision comes as antisemitism remains at the center of national debates over campus safety, free speech, and civil-rights enforcement. It also stands in sharp contrast to recent developments in New York City.<\/p>\n Jewish students at several New York City universities expressed fear and concern following socialist candidate Zohran Mamdani\u2019s mayoral victory, warning it could endanger the city\u2019s Jewish community. ((Photo by Spencer Platt\/Getty Images) \/ (Photo by John Lamparski\/Getty Images))<\/p>\n New York had previously adopted the IHRA definition, but that policy was reversed<\/a> during the first week of newly inaugurated Mayor Zohran Mamdani<\/a>\u2019s term \u2014 a move that alarmed Jewish leaders and advocacy groups who viewed the rollback as occurring amid a period of escalating threats and harassment.<\/p>\n That policy shift has taken on renewed urgency following a disturbing incident in Brooklyn last month<\/a>, when a vehicle was deliberately driven into the entrance of the Chabad-Lubavitch world headquarters while people were gathered inside. The NYPD charged the suspect with assault as a hate crime. No injuries were reported, but the attack rattled worshipers and prompted heightened security around Jewish institutions citywide.<\/p>\n NYC ANTISEMITIC INCIDENTS NEARLY TRIPLE DESPITE OTHER CRIMES REACHING RECORD LOWS<\/a><\/p>\n Community leaders say the timing underscores why clarity in policy matters.<\/p>\n With antisemitic incidents continuing to spike nationwide, they argue, rolling back formal definitions risks sending mixed signals to schools, civil-rights investigators and law-enforcement agencies tasked with responding to bias-motivated conduct.<\/p>\n Advocates in Chicago maintain that adopting IHRA could have ripple effects far beyond universities.<\/p>\n On Aug. 19, 2024, members of Freedom Road Socialist Organization joined about 200 other groups, many of them socialist and Palestinian, in Chicago to march to protest the Democratic National Convention. Its members held signs calling for “VICTORY TO THE PALESTINIAN RESISTANCE.” The Hamas terrorist group calls itself “the resistance.” (Asra Q. Nomani)<\/p>\n In fact, administrators often hesitate to intervene in antisemitic harassment because they don\u2019t have a clear understanding of what constitutes anti-Jewish discrimination or prejudice. And that lack of clarity has real-world consequences.<\/p>\n SIGN UP FOR ANTISEMITISM EXPOSED NEWSLETTER<\/a><\/p>\n City statistics highlight the stakes. Chicago recorded a 58% increase in anti-Jewish hate crimes in 2024, with incidents targeting Jews accounting for more than a third of all reported hate crimes \u2014 despite Jews comprising an estimated three to four percent of the city\u2019s population.<\/p>\n Supporters say codifying the IHRA definition gives law-enforcement agencies, school systems and civil-rights investigators a consistent benchmark when evaluating complaints, developing training programs, and responding to bias-motivated conduct, including cases tied to Israel-related rhetoric.<\/p>\n Police officers take security measures as students, holding banners and Palestinian flags, gather for a protest after authorities dismantle tents at DePaul University’s Quad grounds, ending a 17-day pro Palestinian protest, in Chicago, Illinois, United States on May 16, 2024. (Jacek Boczarski\/Anadolu via Getty Images)<\/p>\n For Kaminsky and Rymer, the campaign was deeply personal.<\/p>\n Both students say they encountered hostility on campus<\/a> that left them frustrated by what they perceived as institutional paralysis \u2014 administrators unsure how to act, investigations delayed and Jewish students feeling isolated.<\/p>\n![\"Adam](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/adam-erkan-depaul-university-chiacgo-jewish-students-attack_02.jpg\")
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