Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) introduced himself with a special distinction vis-a-vis his subject — the rise of antisemitism in America. “I feel compelled to speak,” Schumer told his Senate colleagues, “because I am the highest ranking Jewish elected official in America. In fact, the highest ranking Jewish elected official ever in American history.”
Schumer noted a “significant disparity” between how Jewish people regard the rise of antisemitism and “how many of my non-Jewish friends regard it.” That difference is that in the former group, this is a “crisis,” Schumer said, while the latter consider it merely a “problem, a matter of concern.”
Schumer talked about his record sponsoring legislation against all forms of bigotry, including a memorable protest against former President Donald Trump’s early term “Muslim ban,” a protest that made him weep for the ban’s potential victims and won him the nickname “Crying Chuck” from Trump, a nickname Schumer said he remains proud to wear.
For nearly 40 minutes, Schumer held the floor describing the palpable fear of Jewish Americans that antisemitism has overwhelmed rational argument in feverish disputes about Israel and Palestine. The Senator talked of the dangers of antisemitism — historically and presently — calling on Americans to condemn this hatred before it “metastasizes into something even worse.”
Schumer noted that those now expressing intolerance — and worse — toward Jews and indeed celebrating the Hamas attacks of October 7 — are some of the same “people that most liberal Jewish Americans felt previously were their ideological fellow travelers.” They are from the far left, not the far right.
A town meeting in Oakland City, featured below, provides a wide-eyed introduction to the “fellow travelers” Schumer references. Some here are even espousing conspiracy theories that October 7 was a false flag operation carried out by the IDF.
Last night the Oakland City Council voted on a resolution to call for a ceasefire.
— Yashar Ali 🐘 (@yashar) November 28, 2023
A city council member tried to insert language condemning Hamas.
This was the reaction… pic.twitter.com/r7aTb2mkrQ
