(Luis Cornelio, Headline USA) Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., delivered a rare rebuke of his own party’s disturbing anti-Semitism in their vitriol efforts to support Palestinians during the Israel-Hamas war.
During a speech on the Senate floor on Monday, Schumer, who is Jewish, cautioned that the left is “unwittingly aiding and abetting” anti-Semitism, fostering disturbing animosity towards the Jewish population.
“I feel compelled to speak because I’m the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America. In fact, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official ever in American history,” Schumer said.
“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,” he added.
Schumer called on the left to confront the troubling rhetoric of anti-Semitism. “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. Because right now, that’s what Jewish Americans fear most,” he declared.
The amount of antisemitism in the replies and quote tweets speaks for itself.
Jews, left and right, need to start to recognize that some people are just our enemies and trying to appeal to them or appease them is a waste of time. https://t.co/15RLbx8LPm
— AG (@AGHamilton29) November 29, 2023
During his speech, Schumer explicitly cited numerous reported incidents since the October terror attack by Hamas and specifically denounced anti-Semitic phrases, including the “From the river to the sea” chant, which bluntly calls for the destruction of the Jewish state.
“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.
Schumer’s comments follow several left-wing protests across the nation against Israel’s actions in the Hamas-governed Gaza Strip. Troubling chants and displays, including swastikas, have been witnessed during these protests.
REPORTER (@hillary__vaughn): “Do you regret using the phrase ‘from the river of the sea’? It’s used by terrorists to call for the genocide of the Jewish people.”
RASHIDA TLAIB: *ignores*
REPORTER (x5): “Are you antisemitic?”
TLAIB (x5): *ignores* pic.twitter.com/NZ8l9s7M3F
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) November 15, 2023
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., faced a House censure vote after defending a phrase historically linked to calls for the destruction of Israel. The defense prompted a bipartisan censure against the phrase, even drawing disapproval from the White House.