On Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), who is Jewish, gave a speech about the rise of antisemitism in America following the October 7 terrorist attack that Hamas perpetrated against Israel. During his speech, Schumer expressed a willingness to call out fellow leftists for their antisemitism, as our sister site of Twitchy also highlighted.
Senator Chuck Schumer, the majority leader and highest-ranking Jewish official in the U.S., warned some liberals and young people on Wednesday that they were “unknowingly aiding and abetting” antisemitism in the name of social justice. https://t.co/bdxioQ0SDq pic.twitter.com/BPDILWDyII
— The New York Times (@nytimes) November 30, 2023
Not far into his remarks, Schumer warned about "the normalization and exacerbation of this rise in hate," which he said "is the danger many Jewish people fear most." He also added that "I want to suggest how and why I hope that all Americans of goodwill can come together and do a better job of condemning such views and behavior."
It's a good thing that Schumer wasn't afraid to call out those on the left, then. As he mentioned not long after:
The solidarity that Jewish Americans initially received from many of our fellow citizens was quickly drowned out by other voices.
While the dead bodies of Jewish Israelis were still warm, while hundreds of Jewish Israelis were being carried as hostages back to Hamas tunnels under Gaza, Jewish Americans were alarmed to see some of our fellow citizens characterize a brutal terrorist attack as justified because of the actions of the Israeli government.
A vicious, bloodcurdling, premeditated massacre of innocent men, women, children, the elderly—justified!
Even worse, in some cases, people even celebrated what happened, describing it as the deserved fate of quote “colonizers” and calling for quote “glory to the martyrs” who carried out these heinous attacks.
Many of the people who have expressed these sentiments in America aren’t neo-Nazis, or card-carrying Klan members, or Islamist extremists. They are in many cases people that most liberal Jewish Americans felt previously were their ideological fellow travelers.
Not long ago, many of us marched together for black and brown lives, we stood against anti-Asian hatred, we protested bigotry against the LGBTQ community, we fought for reproductive justice out of the recognition that injustice against one oppressed group is injustice against all.
But apparently, in the eyes of some, that principle does not extend to the Jewish people.
Schumer also later specifically called out young people, who are often leftists and vote Democratic, as he pointed out that "too many Americans, especially in our younger generation, don’t have a full understanding of this history" when it comes to antisemitism.
Polling shows that young people are more likely to say they support Palestinians over Israelis, according to a Quinnipiac poll from earlier this month. An alarming amount--36 percent--also consider Israel to be more responsible than Hamas for the October 7 terrorist attack.
After Schumer also discussed how quickly antisemitism rose in Europe after World War I, he spoke of specific incidents here in the United States in recent weeks:
What may begin as legitimate criticism of Israeli policy, or even a valid debate over other religious, economic, and political issues, can sometimes cross into something darker, into attacking Jewish people simply for being Jewish.
Obviously, many of those marching here in the U.S. do not have any evil intent, but when Jewish people hear chants like “From the river to the sea,” a founding slogan of Hamas, a terrorist group that is not shy about their goal to eradicate the Jewish people, in Israel and around the globe, we are alarmed.
When we see signs in the crowd that read “By Any Means Necessary,” after the most violent attack ever against Israeli civilians, we are appalled at the casual invocation of such savagery.
When we see protesters at the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade compare the genocide of the Holocaust equivalently to the Israeli army’s actions to defeat Hamas in self-defense of their people, we are shocked.
And when we see many people and news organizations remain neutral about the basic absurdity of these claims and actions, we are deeply disappointed.
More than anything, we are worried—quite naturally, given the twists and turns of history—about where these actions and sentiments could eventually lead.
A member of Schumer's own party, Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, has been featured in and herself posted a video that included crowds in her home state chanting that genocidal slogan of "from the river to the sea." She doubled down with a weak defense in a thread still up on her personal X account.
Tlaib has also spread lies and doubled down on false narratives about Israel. She was censured in the House earlier this month, via a bipartisan vote, though a majority of Democrats in the chamber still voted against holding her accountable.
Schumer once more brought up the kind of reaction that comes with hearing "from the river to the sea" after discussing the historical relevance to today, including how part of his family line ended in 1941 when the Nazis invaded what is now Ukraine and gunned down more than 30 people--from 3 months to 85-years-old--on their front porch while fellow Jews looked on:
While many protesters no doubt view their actions as a compassionate expression of solidarity with the Palestinian people, for many Jewish Americans, we feel in too many instances, some of the most extreme rhetoric gives license to darker ideas that have always lurked below the surface of every question involving the Jewish people.
Antisemites have always trafficked in coded language and action to define Jewish people as unworthy of the rights and privileges afforded to other groups.
I believe there are plenty of people who chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” not because they hate Jewish people, but because they support a better future for Palestinians.
But there is no question that Hamas and other terrorist organizations have used this slogan to represent their intention to eliminate Jewish people not only from Israel but from every corner of the Earth.
Given the history of oppression, expulsion, and state violence that is practically embedded in Jewish DNA, can you blame Jewish people for hearing a violently antisemitic message, loud and clear, any time we hear that chant?
Schumer then equated the genocidal phrase fo "from the river to the sea" to those who refer to COVID-19 as the "Chinese virus," or "extreme right-wing Jewish settlers who also use deplorable language, and who don’t believe there should be any Palestinians between the river and the sea."
He then again called out young people once more for such dangerous ignorance:
Antisemites are taking advantage of the pro-Palestinian movement to espouse hatred and bigotry towards Jewish people. But rather than call out this dangerous behavior for what it is, we see so many of our friends and fellow citizens, particularly young people who yearn for justice, unknowingly aiding and abetting their cause.
And worse, many of our friends and allies whose support we need now more than ever during this moment of immense Jewish pain have brushed aside these concerns. Suddenly, they do not want to hear about antisemitism or the ultimate goal of Hamas. When I have asked some of the marchers what they would do about Hamas, they don’t have an answer. Many don’t seem to care.
And so Jewish Americans are left alone—at least in our eyes—to ponder what this all means, and where it could lead.
Can you understand why Jewish people feel isolated when we hear some praise Hamas and chant its vicious slogan? Can you blame us for feeling vulnerable only 80 years after Hitler wiped out half of the Jewish population across the world while many countries turned their back? Can you appreciate the deep fear we have about what Hamas might do if left to their own devices?
Because the long arc of Jewish history teaches us a lesson that is hard to forget: ultimately, that we are alone.
Not long after, Schumer touched further upon Jewish people being "alone." Many on the left have engaged in what Schumer highlighted in his speech:
This double standard persists today in America, and it is once again leaving Jewish people feeling isolated and alone.
In the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7, an attack on defenseless civilians, the elderly, women, and babies, a good number of people skipped over expressing sympathy for the victims in their haste to blame the attack on the past actions of the Israeli government. Can anybody imagine a horrific terrorist attack in another country receiving such a reception?
And when Hamas terrorists actively hide behind innocent Palestinians, knowing that many of those civilians will die in the Israeli response, why does the criticism for any civilian deaths seem to fall exclusively on Israel, and not at all on Hamas?
My heart breaks for the thousands of Palestinian civilians who have been killed or are suffering in this conflict, and I have urged the Israeli government to minimize civilian casualties on many occasions.
But by committing such heinous atrocities on Oct. 7 before sneaking back into their tunnels underneath hospitals and refugee camps in Gaza, Hamas has knowingly invited an immense civilian toll during this war, exploiting the double standard that so much of the world applies to Israel.
"So I rise in this chamber today. I am speaking up to issue a warning, informed by the lessons of history," Schumer said towards the end. "No matter what our beliefs are, no matter where we stand on the war in Gaza, all of us must condemn antisemitism with full-throated clarity whenever we see it before it metastasizes into something even worse."
He went on to list numerous examples of antisemitism that have happened in America since October 7, including incidents on college campuses and high schools.
Although the Senate unanimously passed a resolution from Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) to condemn antisemitism on college campuses, it didn't happen on the first try, with Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-MD) initially objecting. Of those members voting against such a resolution in the House, all but one--Republican Rep. Thomas Massie (KY)--were Democrats.
It's worth asking that going forward what, then, does Schumer plan on doing about this undeniable rise in antisemitism from the left, from his own party? This is especially given how Schumer is in such a leadership position.
"Schumer" has been trending over X on Wednesday and Thursday in response to his speech.
Today, I’m giving a major address on the Senate floor on the dangerous and disturbing rise of antisemitism in America.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) November 29, 2023
Watch live: https://t.co/SeHnGFJdLq
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