Rabbi Ari Hart, the Chicago Jewish Alliance and the Combat Antisemitism Movement have all condemned Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for donning a keffiyeh at a CAIR event.
By Rachel Avraham
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson came under fire from local Jewish leaders after he wore a keffiyeh, or a traditional Palestinian headscarf, to a public event this week, the Jerusalem Post reported. According to the report, the Chicago chapter of the Council on American–Islamic Relations, otherwise known as CAIR, posted a picture of Johnson with its executive director, Ahmed Rehab, at an event to mark Arab Heritage Month. In it, Johnson, who was elected in 2023, is wearing a black-and-white keffiyeh, the Jerusalem Post added. He was condemned by many in the Jewish world.
“Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (appropriately) commemorated Arab Heritage Month this week. Arab Heritage should be honored and celebrated,” Rabbi Ari Hart of Skokie Valley Agudath Jacob Synagogue told the Times of Israel. “But would it not be possible [to] commemorate Arab Heritage without wearing the symbol that millions of Jews around the world saw worn to celebrate the murder, rape and kidnapping of October 7th?”
Similarly, the Chicago Jewish Alliance posted on X: “This is outrageous. The mayor of Chicago — the leader of one of America’s largest Jewish communities — just draped himself in a keffiyeh alongside CAIR-Chicago to “celebrate” Arab Heritage Month. But the keffiyeh isn’t just a cultural symbol. Not anymore. In today’s world, it’s worn at Hamas rallies. It’s paraded in the streets when mobs chant “From the river to the sea,” a call for the eradication of Israel. It’s the uniform of those who cheered on the October 7th massacre — where babies were burned, women raped, and over 1,200 Jews slaughtered. It’s not neutral. It’s a flag of war.”
The Chicago Jewish Alliance continued, “Standing beside CAIR makes this worse. CAIR was named an unindicted co-conspirator in the largest terror-financing trial in U.S. history. Their founder has openly defended Hamas. Their national executive director called October 7th “exhilarating” and “energizing.” This is not conjecture. This is documented fact. For the mayor of Chicago to stand there — cloaked in a symbol now synonymous with Jewish bloodshed, flanked by an organization that justifies it — is more than tone-deaf. It’s a betrayal.”
The Chicago Jewish Alliance proclaimed, “It tells Jewish Chicagoans: your pain doesn’t matter. Your dead don’t count. Your safety is negotiable. Arab Heritage Month should be celebrated — through food, music, poetry, and history. Not by embracing symbols of terror. Not by cozying up to groups that justify the murder of Jews. This isn’t multiculturalism. It’s moral bankruptcy.”
Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) Chief Government Affairs Officer Lisa Katz concurred with the Chicago Jewish Alliance: “Mayor Brandon Johnson’s recent public appearance wearing a keffiyeh, alongside a CAIR leader, was deeply painful to many in Chicago’s Jewish community — the third-largest in the United States.”
She continued, “While the keffiyeh is a traditional Middle Eastern garment with cultural significance, in recent decades it has often been used as a political symbol — particularly by extremist groups that promote violence against the Jewish people and seek the destruction of the State of Israel. In the wake of the October 7th Hamas attack, the keffiyeh has increasingly been associated with demonstrations that have included antisemitic rhetoric, intimidation, and violence targeting Jews, both globally and right here at home.”
Katz added, “We understand that Mayor Johnson may not have intended to cause harm, but at a time of historic antisemitic threat levels, including in Chicago, symbols matter. Their public use, especially by elected officials, carries weight and meaning.”
She concluded, “We respectfully urge Mayor Johnson to engage in open dialogue with Chicago’s Jewish community, learn more about the evolving symbols of modern-day antisemitism, and show solidarity against antisemitism and hate in all their contemporary forms. This moment presents an opportunity — for education, for empathy, and for leadership that brings communities together rather than deepening divides.”
