This idyllic corner of northeast Illinois got a taste the other day of the rising occurrences of hate crimes in the U.S. A bomb threat toward a Highland Park synagogue was made March 18 just hours before religious services.
City officials and leaders at North Suburban Synagogue Beth El reported a caller made anti-Semitic remarks, and claimed to have planted a bomb in the temple’s parking lot at 1175 Sheridan Road. Bombs may be falling across Ukraine, yet worshippers here have to worry about being victims of insidious bomb threats.
It’s a local reminder of the historic levels of anti-Semitic and racist instances blossoming across the nation. The Anti-Defamation League’s Center on Extremism compiled 4,851 instances of hateful messages and flyers last year, an average of about 13 incidents per day.
Reported hate crimes targeting the Jewish community made up nearly 60% of all religion-based hate crimes in 2021, according to the FBI. Last year, the Southern Poverty Law Center in Montgomery, Alabama, tracked 23 hate groups based in Illinois.
These far-right, uber-extremist and white supremacist groups are among us. Fortunately, none are based in Lake County, according to the SPLC. That doesn’t mean there aren’t any members or like-minded people walking around.
What causes someone to take the time to spew hate like the threat to Beth El, which was founded in the city in 1948, is beyond logic. When the Highland Park threat was received, a similar one was being made to a synagogue in Michigan, officials said in a Facebook posting.
It’s not only Jewish religious centers being threatened, as others in Chicago have been with hateful graffiti and threats during the past year. Hate crews also are targeting historically Black colleges and universities, and Asian Americans.
More than a third of the nation’s 101 historically Black colleges have been menaced with campus bomb threats via calls or emails, mainly last month during Black History Month. The FBI is investigating them as hate crimes.
One could say the instances of hatred we see happening in 2022 in a multicultural America are irrational. But that should be a given.
In the Beth El incident, Highland Park police inspected the synagogue and called in a K-9 unit from the Lake County sheriff’s office to conduct a search. Sheridan Road was closed between Cedar Avenue and Ravinoaks Lane following the threats.
Highland Park police have increased patrols around houses of worship in the city. Officers were on hand during services at Beth El, supplementing the congregation’s own armed security service personnel, leaders said on Facebook.
Having separate security to celebrate religious services tells us bomb threats and racist rantings have impacted how worship is conducted these days. Highland Park authorities believe the phone call threat was from a prerecorded message.
The FBI has identified six suspects in the 59 cases of threats made against the Black colleges, according to The Associated Press. Eighteen schools were called on the same day on Feb. 1, and cracking the cases has been given the “highest priority” by the FBI.
The suspects are believed to be juveniles. If so, the little rascals might think it’s a fun prank to terrorize Black students. Where do they learn this?
They and their parents may be in for a legal shock if the FBI catches up with them. Law enforcement takes such things really seriously, as they should.
So does the Biden administration. The U.S. Department of Education last week issued guidelines to help the colleges navigate the threats, the AP reported.
The institutions are eligible for grants to help students recover from being targets of peril. School officials say just the prospect of violence has left students uneasy, with some afraid to return to classes or seeking mental health services because of the actions of a handful of criminals.
Authorities need to track down those responsible for scaring synagogue congregants and students at historically Black colleges. Then, let’s make examples of them for the terror they inflict.
Charles Selle is a former News-Sun reporter, political editor and editor.
Twitter: @sellenews
