Chicago has unanimously adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism, making it the second-largest city in the US to codify it into municipal law. “This is the biggest victory for the Jewish people in Chicago in a very long time,” student leader Michael Kaminsky, who spearheaded the bill, told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
Section 6-10 of Chicago’s Municipal Code is now amended to include antisemitism as discrimination in the Chicago City Council’s declaration of general human rights. As per the IHRA definition, antisemitism is defined as a “certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews.”
Chicago Alderpersons Debra Silverstein and Raymond Lopez, along with Kaminsky and his fellow student leader, Jake Rymer, met in spring 2025 to discuss proposing the bill amid rising antisemitism in the city. Upon realizing that Chicago had never provided a clear definition of antisemitism, they decided to change the written law to “define antisemitism fully and completely so that we can address it directly and resolutely,” adding, “vague, nondescript definitions give Jew hatred cover.”
Rymer told the Post, “The codification of the IHRA definition of antisemitism brings in a new age of support for Jewish life in the city of Chicago. Any person can make an impact in their cities, and we, as students with no legislative experience, proved it. It’s time to take back our cities from festering antisemitism and make our community feel safe being publicly Jewish.”
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Chicago adopts IHRA antisemitism definition
“For far too long, the Jewish community in Chicago has faced unprecedented levels of antisemitic attacks plaguing this city,” Kaminsky added.
“Erasure of Jewish history within classroom textbooks. Encampments on college campuses with explicit calls to harm Jewish classmates. Politicians are ignoring Jewish pleas for help. Businesses [are] denying service to openly visible Jewish customers. Nothing was being done to hold these institutions, businesses, and individuals accountable.”
Kaminsky himself was the target of a violent antisemitic attack in Chicago in 2024, while on campus at his university, DePaul.
As previously covered by the Post, he suffered severe injuries as a result of the attack and has had two surgeries in the year since.
“I made a promise after the attack: [to] ensure no other Jewish person would ever experience a physical attack for embracing their Jewish identity.
“The passing of the IHRA definition of antisemitism is a promise made and a promise kept. The Jewish community in Chicago now has a clear working definition they can use to ensure those who wish to harm them can be held entirely accountable within the city,” he concluded.
As noted, Chicago is now the biggest city after Los Angeles to adopt the definition. They are joined by other major cities, including Washington, Miami, Dallas, Wichita, El Paso, Las Vegas, and Phoenix.