Schumer decries antisemitism in impassioned Senate speech: ‘Jewish people feel isolated,’ ‘deep fear’

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N. Y., delivered a 40-minute speech on the Senate floor Wednesday morning against the rise of antisemitism in the U.S. since the Hamas-led massacre in Israel on Oct. 7.

"I feel compelled to speak because I'm the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America," Schumer said on the floor Wednesday. "In fact, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official ever in American history."

Schumer listed several incidents across the country that unfolded after Oct. 7 as evidence of the threat Jewish Americans feel they're under.

Schumer highlighted boycotts on unrelated Jewish businesses, swastikas on delis, verbal abuse with references to Hitler, threats toward a Jewish senator, harassment and violence against Jewish students, and a left-wing magazine labeling a pro-Israel rally as a "hate rally."

Schumer also condemned the "Free Palestine" slogan that protesters across the country have chanted – "From the river to the sea" – and called it a "violently antisemitic message."

"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 intense Jewish pain, have brushed aside these concerns," he said.

"When I've asked some of the marchers what they would do about Hamas, they don't have an answer," he said.

"Can you understand why the Jewish people feel isolated when we hear some praise Hamas and chanted its vicious slogan?" he asked. "Can you blame us for feeling vulnerable only 80 years after Hitler wiped out half the Jewish population across the world, while so 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, we are alone."... (Read more)

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