CHICAGO — An incident Wednesday in which elementary students were shouted at on their school bus near West Rogers Park was not an act of antisemitism, the school’s CEO Rabbi Menachem Levine said Friday.
Levine, who asked that the school not be named because of security concerns, said a social media post and a statement from the Simon Wiesenthal Center are responsible for narratives that circulated Thursday, stating that men boarded the bus and shouted slurs and threats at the children.
Levine said the buses that the school charters have security footage. Levine has viewed the footage and told the Chicago Tribune that no one boarded the bus. There were also no antisemitic slurs shouted or “Heil Hitler” salutes made, he said.
“This whole story is kids and immature adults,” Levine said.
Levine said the day before the incident, one of the students on the bus shouted at a group of people on the side of the street. Levine said he thinks the student shouted about the “mafia.”
On Wednesday, Levine said when the students shouted at the same group of people again, a person in the group motioned for the bus to stop. The bus driver opened the door, “which they shouldn’t have done,” and primarily one bystander screamed and “cursed” at the kids, he said.
“I have encountered real neo-Nazis or Hitler fans, and this had nothing to do with that,” he said.
Levine said there is one parent who said her son thought the men made a Nazi salute as the bus was driving away.
“Maybe they did, maybe they didn’t,” Levine said. “There’s no proof of that.”
The children were reasonably shaken up, Levine said. A police report was filed because the incident involved elementary school students.
“We have gotten threatened over the years, so we take this seriously,” Levine said. “We’re talking about children here.”
Chicago police said Friday that the incident remains under investigation.
On Friday, the Simon Wiesenthal Center updated its statement, explaining why they released it. According to the update, the center’s report was verified by two parents and police officials investigating the student allegations.
“We were told this was a hate crime,” the center stated in the update. “Later in the day, the school released a statement refuting what the children had reported. The school is now saying that this was not an antisemitic incident.”
Levine said the school sent a notice to parents and spoke with the students about what happened and “how you act on a bus.”
The school also issued a statement to parents and staff Friday clarifying that footage showed it was an “unfortunate bus incident,” not one involving hate or threats.
Levine said he is the grandchild of four Holocaust survivors and has spoken about antisemitism in city halls and schools. “I would be the first one to call out antisemitism, it’s a serious thing,” he said. “This was much ado about nothing.”
Levine added that heightened concern for incidents of antisemitism across the country also played a factor in the circulation of “false information” Thursday.
“I think people are nervous,” Levine said. “People doing real antisemitic attacks, we should be vigilant in the press and people should be calling it out. This happens to not be that case.”
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