A vandalism suspect allegedly targeted a kosher pizzeria in Skokie, Illinois, on Thursday by drawing a heart with a swastika on one of the shop’s windows.
Moises Wajchman, the Jewish owner of the kosher pizzeria, told ABC 7 that one of his employees was cleaning up Saturday night when “she noticed in the window, the heart with the swastika.” Police confirmed that they had opened an investigation over the matter, NBC 5 reported. (RELATED: American Universities Have Taken Billions In Unreported Foreign Funding, Study Alleges)
Skokie pizzeria vandalized with swastika graffiti, police say https://t.co/bPj4pXPFGe
— ChicagoMediaX (@chicagomediaX) November 27, 2023
Wajchman reviewed the store’s surveillance video and believes he found footage of the vandal targeting the shop Thursday night after closing hours, ABC 7 reported.
The store, EJ’s Pizzeria, included a photo of the swastika and footage of the suspected vandal in a Facebook post. “The incident comes at a time when tensions surrounding events in Israel have heightened, and concerns about the rise of anti-Semitism persist globally. Local authorities are investigating the incident as a hate crime. We at EJs Kosher Pizzeria express shock and dismay at the targeted act of hate,” the post notes.
Wajchman told ABC 7 that division will not win out here and that the Jewish community is here to stay. Skokie’s Jewish community makes up about 28 percent of the village‘s population according to WTTW. This is down from the Jewish community’s peak in the mid-1960s of making up 58 percent of the suburb’s population, DePaul University’s Institute for Housing Studies reported. The community is also home to a significant number of Holocaust survivors, the outlet noted.
There have been a number of antisemitic-driven incidents in Skokie. Pro-Palestinian protestors reportedly beat up two people as they were escorting an elderly Jewish couple to a pro-Israel event back in October. In 1977, a Supreme Court case centered around Chicago-based neo-Nazis who wanted to host a demonstration in downtown Skokie, the ACLU noted.