Israeli consulate co-hosts ‘inter-community conversation’ of Black, Jewish leaders in Chicago

By Jacob Magid

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14 February 2022, 7:17 pm

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Jacob Magid is The Times of Israel's US bureau chief

Rep. Danny Davis, Circuit Court of Cook County Judge Rena Marie Van Tine, Israel's Consul General to the Midwest Yinam Cohen and Dr. Yeriel Ben Yehuda at an event celebrating the Black-Jewish alliance at the DuSable Museum of African American History in Hyde Park, Chicago on February 12, 2022. (Israeli Consulate to the Midwest)

CHICAGO — The Israeli Consulate in Chicago co-hosts an event with local lawmakers and community leaders aimed at strengthening the Black-Jewish alliance.

Over 100 people attend the gathering dubbed an “inter-community conversation” co-chaired by US Congressman Danny Davis, State Sen. Donne Trotter, and Israeli Consul General Yinam Cohen at the DuSable Museum of African American History in the city’s of Hyde Park neighborhood. The museum’s president Dr. Carol Adams also served as event co-chair.

“My vision as Consul General of Israel to the Midwest is to refortify our inter-community conversation and action. The consulate is already working to connect communities by offering Israeli experiences in mental health, urban agriculture, technology, and entrepreneurship. These are tools for the work that community organizations and leaders are already doing on the South and West sides,” Cohen tells attendees.

Cohen has made strengthening the Black-Jewish alliance one of his top priorities since arriving in Chicago last year, meeting with Bright Star Church Pastor Chris Harris in order to advance a partnership that has seen the Natal organization, which treats Israeli victims of terror, train Chicago community activists on how to cope with gun violence-induced trauma.

Saturday’s event honors Prince Asiel Ben Israel, a longtime leader of Black Hebrew Israelite sect who has worked to bridge communities in Chicago and Israel. The gathering also served as a launch for the Shiloh Institute, a new initiative led by led by former Philos Project director Kristina King that provides education and travel opportunities to Black youth leaders to Israel and West Africa.

“I remember as a child growing up with the idea that there was a serious connection between Black people, Jewish people and the nation of Israel,” says Davis.

“We must fight as Abraham Heschel and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did” adds former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., another speaker at the event.

“The Black community and the Jewish community know the significance of history. When others try to delegitimize our historical struggles, to distort our motives, we must bring the legacy of our ancestors to the present,” says Cohen.