Chicago commemorates 1-year anniversary of Oct. 7 attacks
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A memorial set up in front of Am Shalom in Glencoe. Photo: Justin Kaufmann/Axios
Protests, vigils and other events are happening around the Chicago area to commemorate the first anniversary of the Oct. 7 Hamas-led terrorist attacks on Israel and the start of the devastating Israel-Hamas war.
The big picture: Tens of thousands of people have rallied in our area over the past year, demanding a ceasefire in Gaza, the release of hostages taken from Israel by Hamas and an end to the escalating conflict.
By the numbers: There have been over 10,000 antisemitic incidents in the U.S. since Oct. 7, according to the Anti-Defamation League.
Catch up quick: Protests flared over the past year, culminating in several marches during the Democratic National Convention in August.
- Demonstrations calling for a ceasefire and for the U.S. to divest from Israel dominated last spring at universities including Northwestern, DePaul and UChicago, where students set up encampments. The student protests drew the ire of Jewish community leaders and even Congress, who grilled Northwestern president Michael Schill in heated hearings in May.
- The high-profile killing of a 6-year-old Muslim boy in Plainfield by his 71-year-old landlord last October sparked outrage from area leaders and from President Biden.
- Hostages taken by Hamas and killed included 23-year old Hersh Goldberg-Polin, the son of Chicago natives found dead in August in a tunnel under the city of Rafah, according to the White House. On Oct. 7, 2023 he had been attending the Nova Music Festival.
The latest: Local colleges and universities unveiled new campus anti-protest rules for this school year.
- Larger pro-Palestinian protests clogged the Gold Coast this past Saturday, with two people taken into custody.
Zoom out: Today is a day of mourning for the Jewish community, with several events marking the tragic anniversary that is sandwiched between the high holidays.
What's next: Several events will mark the anniversary today:
- 8am: The Progressive Mishkan Chicago community will hold a special service at its headquarters in Ravenswood. Rachel Goldberg, who has lived in Jerusalem for the past year, will speak.
- 4pm: Am Shalom synagogue in Glencoe will expand its "Bring Them Home" installation by adding 101 flowers — one for each of the hostages remaining in Gaza — to it, followed by a memorial service at 5:30pm.
- 7pm: The University of Chicago Hillel is hosting a commemoration through music at the Rockefeller Memorial Chapel.
- 7:30pm: An Oct. 7th Memorial with Temple Shalom and the Jewish United Fund (JUF) will bring together several synagogues for a memorial. The synagogue will host two memorials, with one for young-adult members. The memorial will feature a speech from one of the survivors of the Nova festival where Hamas abducted and killed thousands of attendees.
The bottom line: With the Israeli-Gaza war expanding to Lebanon and Iran, today's memorials, vigils and protests won't be the last.