Jewish human rights organization stands by statement that children on school bus were terrorized with antisemitic slurs

A Jewish human rights organization Friday is standing by its earlier claim that a group of men jumped onto a school bus and terrorized children with antisemitic slurs on Wednesday despite the alderman stating that a notice from the school said that the organization’s statement is incorrect.

Alison Pure Slovin, Midwest region director for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, said the center verified its report that an attack in West Rogers Park was one of antisemitism with the parents of sons who were on the bus and with police.

“When we went to press with the story and our statement, we verified with two parents who filed police reports what their sons had experienced,” Slovin said in a email. “In addition we spoke to two detectives and an officer in the police department who were investigating the students allegations.”

Slovin said the school’s statement refuted what the children reported.

“The school is now saying that this was not an anti-Semitic incident,” Slovin said in the email.

Chicago police have confirmed that a 12-year-old boy was threatened by a group of people who stormed his school bus. According to police, the unknown offenders stood in front of the bus on the 2800 block of West Jerome Street around 5 p.m. Wednesday and forced it to stop.

They got on the bus and then threatened to physically harm the boy. The group of people then got off the bus and fled from the scene, police said.

No injuries were reported, and no one was in custody as of Friday morning, police said.

A statement sent out Thursday by the Simon Wiesenthal Center said that “four men jumped into the bus, hurled anti-semitic slurs, and performed the ‘Heil Hitler’ salute.”

Police did not say Thursday whether antisemitic slurs or threats were used.

Ald. Debra Silverstein, 50th, said Thursday night she was notified by the school and by police that the incident was not an antisemitic act and said the school sent out a notice saying so.

“Antisemitism is definitely on the rise, and our community is always on high alert,” she said. “It’s something that our community will not tolerate, and I hope this was not an antisemitic act. The reports that I’m hearing from the school and from police are that it was not.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is a Jewish global human rights organization dedicated to imparting the lessons of the Nazi Holocaust and to combating antisemitism, according to the statement.

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