(NewsNation) — Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer gave an emotional speech on the Senate floor, decrying a rise in antisemitism after the Oct. 7 attack in Israel and pleading with Americans to support the Jewish people.
“I feel compelled to speak because I’m the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America,” Schumer began.
Schumer said he decided to speak because he noticed a disparity in how Jewish Americans and non-Jewish Americans viewed the rise in antisemitism, with non-Jewish people seeing it as a problem but Jewish people viewing it as a crisis.
He clarified that he did not want to label all criticism of Israel or the Israeli government as antisemitism and that he did not want to pit hate against one group against hate toward another. Schumer pointed to his record of speaking out against hatred directed at minority groups and religions in the U.S.
The majority leader noted that antisemitic events have risen more than 300% since the Israel-Hamas war began, according to the defamation league. As the conflict has sparked political division in America, Islamophobic incidents have also risen by more than 200%.
Schumer noted that many progressive groups who Jewish-Americans felt shared their ideology have marched for Palestine, suggesting that many young marchers were unaware of the context of historical antisemitism and noting that antisemites were taking advantage of pro-Palestinian movements to push their ideology. He was strongly critical of the language and tactics used by pro-Palestinian marchers.
Schumer acknowledged the impact of the Nakba, when thousands of Palestinians were forced from their land in 1948 as Israel claimed 77% of British protectorate land, including areas earmarked for a Palestinian state, but also called attention to the Jewish people who left or were expelled from Arab lands at the same time.
Schumer noted that many Jewish Americans disagreed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rejection of a two-state solution and his encouragement of right-wing settlers. While he said many Jewish Americans would support a return to Israel’s 1967 borders, he accused Palestinian leaders of rejecting those solutions.
Speaking on the history of oppression and persecution of the Jewish people, Schumer noted that understanding generations of trauma is central to understanding why Jewish people feel isolated. He referred to an antisemitic double standard from those who reject the idea of Israeli statehood.
Schumer specifically labeled slogans used by pro-Palestine protesters such as “from the river to the sea” as antisemitic, though he said many may not understand why the slogan would be seen that way by Jewish people. He noted that the slogan is associated with Hamas, saying the group had an agenda to wipe out all Jewish people presumably a reference to the 1998 Hamas charter which expressed that belief. A subsequent 2017 Hamas charter stated the group’s opposition was not toward Judaism but Zionism.
In his speech, Schumer invoked images of the Holocaust as part of the “scar tissue” of trauma carried by Jewish Americans. He acknowledged many protesters were viewing their actions as support of Palestinian people while saying their words would be heard differently by Jewish people as support for a world where groups like Hamas exist.
“Why does the criticism for civilian deaths fall exclusively on Israel and not on Hamas?” he questioned.
Schumer concluded by pleading with Americans, especially young Americans, to learn the history of the Jewish people and reject the “double standard of antisemitism,” saying a failure to do so would be a rejection of American ideals.
