Anti-Israel protesters disrupt the A Wider Bridge reception at the Creating Change conference in Chicago on Jan. 22.

Anti-Israel vitriol tinged with anti-Semitism reared its head in Chicago last Friday, Jan. 22, when several hundred protesters sought to shut down an Israel-focused reception at the National LGBTQ Task Force Creating Change conference at the Chicago Hilton.

A Wider Bridge — a Jewish LGBTQ organization that promotes ties between American and Israeli LGBT groups and recipient of a JUF Breakthrough Fund grant — had organized the reception to showcase the work of Jerusalem Open House, Israel’s flagship LGBTQ organization.

Conference organizers had canceled the reception earlier that week in response to pressure from anti-Israel groups, but then reversed that decision after appeals from leading LGBTQ and Jewish activists including A Wider Bridge — a response that JUF assisted in crafting.

In the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Jan. 19 statement reinstating the event , Executive Director Rea Carey said, ” … We want to make it quite clear that the Creating Change Conference will always be a safe space for inclusion and dialogue for people with often widely different views.”

But the promised “safe space” became anything but, as protesters chanted hateful slogans , some of which crossed the line into anti-Semitism. JUF Executive Vice President Jay Tcath attended the event along with Steve Dishler, assistant vice president of JUF’s Jewish Community Relations Council and Michael Oxman, president of JUF’s Young Leadership Division. They described what unfolded as an ugly and unsettling scene.

“This incident showcased how anti-Israel activists are building coalitions with other social justice groups with the aim of excluding and silencing any voice that represents or is affiliated with Israel,” Dishler said. “Such attempts to demonize Israel, Israelis, and anyone associated with Israel, highlight the importance of our community relations agenda, and the need to build strong relationships and alliances with other religious and ethnic groups and civil rights movements.”

In a statement Monday, Carey condemned the expressions of anti-Semitism heard at the conference and promised an internal review of its conference practices and procedures.

The incident garnered national media attention. In a letter to the LGBTQ Task Force Wednesday, more than 50 LGBT leaders, Jewish and non-Jewish, expressed outrage over the incident and the anti-Semitic statements made by some protesters. They called for an outside review and made recommendations for ensuring that similar incidents do not occur at future conferences.

JUF and its national partner, the Israel Action Network, will continue to consult with A Wider Bridge to discuss strategies moving forward.