November 30, 2023, New York, NY – Yesterday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) sounded one of the most powerful alarms about the dangers of rising antisemitism in America. With his Senate floor speech, Senator Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history, voiced the moral center of gravity that our nation needs at this moment.
Senator Schumer called out the wave of antisemitism that followed the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attacks on Israel in his landmark speech, lending special significance to this threat. Quoting him directly: “To us, the Jewish people, the rise of antisemitism is a crisis, a five-alarm fire that must be extinguished.”
Senator Schumer did not mince his words. He unequivocally denounced anti-Israel protesters, far-left activists, and the media for their rhetoric and the words they choose to use or avoid when discussing the barbaric attack against Jews and the Jewish state. The Senator also courageously called out those with whom Jews worked in the past to combat other forms of hatred and discrimination but who failed to show up when our community was the target. He poignantly denounced the lack of solidarity: “apparently… in the eyes of some, this principle does not extend to Jewish people.”
Through a detailed historical account, Senator Schumer explained, with painful examples, why antisemitism is so pervasive—the oldest form of hatred and its permutations. The positioning of the historical threat that antisemitism has represented for Jews, from antiquity to Medieval times, to the Holocaust, masterfully leads to an understanding of its most recent manifestations. These are epitomized by the variations and attacks we have seen since the deadly October 7 terror attack by Hamas.
We would like to note that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who commonly disagrees with Majority Leader Schumer on politics and policy issues, effusively applauded today’s speech: “It was extraordinary. I want to compliment him for providing a history lesson for Americans about the history of the Jewish people and putting it in context with the conflict that’s underway. I want to thank him and associate myself with his remarks.”
While recommending to watch or read Senator Schumer’s speech in full, and we invite you to do so HERE, we would like to end this message with a prescient direct quote from him: “The time for solidarity must be now. Nothing less than the future of the American experiment hangs in the balance.”
It is this kind of leadership that we need desperately today. We wholeheartedly invite you to share Senator Schumer’s powerful remarks and call to action.
Jack Rosen, President
Dr. Munr Kazmir, Vice President
Daniel Rosen, Vice Chair
Dr. Ben Chouake, Secretary
Michael Melnicke, Treasurer
