Recently, a Jewish official suffered an anti-Semitic hate crime at the hands of vandals who defaced his home on Friday, November 17. Current U.S. ambassador to Japan and former Mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, had his Michigan vacation home vandalized with the word “Nazis” spray painted on the fence out front.
As an individual who is Jewish, this unfortunate event has sparked outrage within his community and beyond.
Friday morning, the Chicago Sun Times reported that Emmanuel’s property had been defaced by a vandal using the word “Nazis.” The graffiti has since been removed and no other damage or defacement of Emmanuel’s property was reported.
Although Emmanuel himself wasn’t present for this incident, his family expressed their support for how friends, neighbors, and members of their community have responded to the situation – condemning hatred and bigotry while praising law enforcement for its swift response.
The fence outside the Michigan vacation home of former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel — the U.S. ambassador to Japan — was spray-painted with the word "Nazis." https://t.co/UvZfqOagLs
— Chicago Sun-Times (@Suntimes) November 20, 2023
Emanuel previously served as twice-elected mayor of Chicago during which time he gave backing to city police after Laquan McDonald’s controversial shooting in 2014. This decision prompted criticism from progressive Democrats such as New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez who called President Biden’s nomination of him “deeply shameful” upon his appointment as ambassador to Japan last month.
Furthermore, progressives in the Democratic party are now engaged in staunch opposition to Israel’s military operations in Gaza with some calling these demonstrations “antisemitic.”
Prior to both his ambassadorship and mayorship roles, Emanuel had served as President Obama’s Chief of Staff. Last month he was reportedly told by Biden’s National Security Council not make any more critical comments about China on social media platforms – something that could be seen as potentially detrimental to diplomatic relations between United States and East Asia countries like China and Japan where he currently holds ambassadorship role.
