Hate crimes against Jewish and Muslim people are on the rise in Chicago and across the country as Americans react to the war and thousands of civilian casualties in Israel and Gaza, faith leaders warn.

Since the Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7 and subsequent Israeli airstrikes escalated the conflict, people in the U.S. are seeing the effects of prejudice against both religions.

In the most notable case, Muslim Palestinian American boy Wadea Al-Fayoume was killed and his mother was critically injured in Plainfield Township when a man attacked them with a knife last week.

But smaller-scale hate crimes and other hateful acts have been reported in the Chicago area in recent days. This week, an Israeli flag covered in graffiti hung out of an apartment in Champaign and a man threatened to shoot two Muslim men, according to Anti-Defamation League Midwest Regional Director David Goldberg and the DuPage County Sheriff.

Larry York, 46, charged with two counts of a hate crime after telling the men in an apartment complex lobby “f- - - you f- - - ing Muslim motherf- - - - - s. This is America. Get the f- - - out of here. I’ll shoot you, motherf - - - - - s, get out of here,” according to the sheriff’s office.

He allegedly called some of his friends to come and shoot the men, the sheriff’s office said.

“The allegations against Mr. York are extremely disturbing, and in DuPage County we have no tolerance whatsoever for such vitriolic actions, as alleged in this case,” DuPage County State’s Attorney Robert Berlin said in the release.

York is scheduled to be arraigned Nov. 2.

Provided

“It’s all about, how secure are we as a community?” said Mohammed Faheem, president of American Muslims Assisting Neighbors.

The Naperville Police Department is investigating a report of a man berating a woman and telling her “Go back to your country.” Police said the incident is under investigation, and they are looking for video footage of the event.

The Chicago branch of the Council on American-Islamic Relations has received close to 100 reports of anti-Muslim acts in the last two weeks, executive director Ahmed Rehab said.

“We are seeing post-9/11 numbers,” he said. “There are very problematic, death-threat level messages sent to Muslim schools.”

An incident in Portage Park is also being investigated as a “possible hate crime” after an Israeli flag was replaced with a Palestinian one that read “Palestine will be free, all Jerusalem to the sea,” according to Chicago police.

The woman who lives in the home, who spoke to the Chicago Sun-Times on the condition of her name not be used, said she replaced her American flag with an Israeli one after the militant group Hamas launched a brutal attack on Israel on Oct. 7, escalating the long-standing conflict in Israel and Gaza.

“Jews are very lonely right now, and scared,” the woman said, adding that the flag was meant to show support for Jewish people but not the Israeli government. “This is bringing up a lot of historical trauma for Jews.”

The woman, who lived in Tel Aviv, Israel, in the 1990s and has family and friends still there, said she and many of her Israeli and Jewish friends don’t agree with the actions of the Israeli government under Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Provided

“Most of my Israeli friends do not agree with the [Netanyahu] government, I hope this is the end of it,” she said, adding that a friend described her as “one of the most pro-Palestinian people I know.”

Now, she’s grappling with whether to hang the flag again.

“Do we want to put the flag up again?” she asked. “It makes us a target.”

Goldberg said people are likely being influenced by what they see online, in the news and from other people.

“Words have consequences, and what we’re seeing in this rise in antisemitic incidences is that words are having consequences,” Goldberg said.

Reports of antisemitic actions have increased 400% across the country in the days since the Hamas attack, and that figure is higher in the Midwest, Goldberg said.

Faheem and Goldberg both pointed out the dangers of extreme and discriminatory rhetoric and condemned acts of hate of any kind.

When you “glorify the violence and the death of Jews, no one should be surprised when there’s a rise in antisemitism,” Goldberg said, adding that the Jewish community immediately condemned the death of Wadea Al-Fayoume. “When there’s talking heads spewing anti-Muslim hate, no one should be surprised when there’s a rise in anti-Muslim acts.”

Aqsa School, an all girls Muslim school in Bridgeview, had already been on a soft lockdown all week, like many other Muslim schools in the area. But it moved its junior and high school classes online Friday because of a “threatening hate letter” received in the mail. Elementary school kids went home with homework packets.

“We are making every effort at this time to ensure students feel safe despite the sadness of the situation in Palestine and the climate of increased hostility and hateful incidents here at home,” Principal Tammie Ismail wrote in a letter to families.

The previous day, school leaders had already canceled a fall festival planned for the weekend.

The rise in antisemitic and anti-Muslim crimes comes as hate crimes in Chicago are higher than they’ve been in nearly 30 years, a report found in August. In 2022, the most commonly targeted group were Black and Jewish people, the report said.

Contributing: Nader Issa