Chuck Schumer's 'Antisemitism in America' warns of a resurgence in antisemitic views

Summary

NPR's Book of the Day: Senator Chuck Schumer on "Antisemitism in America"

Release Date: March 26, 2025
Host: NPR
Guest: Senator Chuck Schumer
Book Discussed: Antisemitism in America: A Warning by Chuck Schumer

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Introduction

In this compelling episode of NPR's Book of the Day, host Scott Simon engages in an in-depth conversation with Senator Chuck Schumer about his latest book, Antisemitism in America: A Warning. The discussion delves into the rising tide of antisemitic sentiments within the United States, exploring its manifestations across the political spectrum and its impact on Jewish communities.

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Background and Motivation

Senator Schumer begins by reflecting on the historical context of antisemitism in America. He states:

"I was born in 1950, and for the first 50 years, 1950 to 2000, the Jewish people called America the Golden Medina... Never in the history long travails of Jewish history have Jewish people been doing better and treated better than that era."
(03:11)

Schumer emphasizes how the post-World War II era was a time of prosperity and acceptance for Jewish Americans. However, he notes a significant shift starting in the early 2000s, highlighting key events that have fueled antisemitic ideologies.

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Rise of Antisemitism Post-2000

The senator outlines pivotal moments that have contributed to the resurgence of antisemitism:

• Post-9/11 Era (2001): Schumer observes an increase in conspiracy theories targeting Jews, with allegations that Jews had orchestrated events leading to widespread turmoil.
  (03:11)

• Financial Crisis (2008): The use of prominent Jewish figures like George Soros in conspiracy narratives intensified antisemitic rhetoric.
  (03:11)

• Political Climate Post-2017: Schumer points to overt antisemitic acts, such as violence against Jewish students and vandalism of Jewish institutions, marking an alarming escalation.
  (03:11)

He underscores the alarming nature of these developments, stating:

"The shadow of the Holocaust hung over America and people saw the horror... But it really accelerated dramatically in 2017 in ways like we've never seen."
(03:11)

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Critical Examination of Institutions

Schumer provides a critical analysis of Columbia University’s response to antisemitism:

"I've been very critical of Columbia as not doing enough against antisemitism which was pretty rampant on their campus, and they still should do more."
(05:08)

He discusses the Trump administration's decision to cancel $400 million in grants to Columbia, questioning the broader implications:

"Is this money cutting research that could cure cancer... Is the money hurting students? 95% of the students just want to get an education haven't participated in protests one way or the other. That would be regrettable."
(05:08)

Schumer highlights the delicate balance between addressing antisemitism and the unintended consequences of punitive financial measures on academic institutions.

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Case Study: Mahmoud Khalil

The conversation shifts to the arrest of Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian graduate student at Columbia University facing deportation. Schumer's stance is nuanced:

"I disagree and abhor the views of Mahmoud Khalil... if the administration can't prove that he broke a law and he was just protesting and exercising his rights to free speech, they ought to drop the charges."
(06:02)

While condemning Khalil's association with Hamas, Schumer defends the principles of free speech and due process, advocating against deportation without concrete legal justification.

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Antisemitism Across the Political Spectrum

A significant portion of the discussion centers on the pervasive nature of antisemitism on both the political right and left:

• On the Right: Schumer recounts harrowing experiences during the January 6th events, where antisemitic chants were prevalent among the insurrectionists.

  "They shouted, 'There's the big Jew, let's get them. Six million wasn't enough.'"
  (08:35)

  He describes right-wing antisemitism as overt and highly damaging, often manifesting in violent rhetoric and actions.

• On the Left: While subtler, antisemitism on the left is equally troubling. Schumer warns of the use of terms like "Zionist" as dog whistles for anti-Jewish sentiments.

  "You Zionist. They didn't mean a Zionist, they meant a Jew."
  (07:12)

  He emphasizes the importance of recognizing and combating antisemitism regardless of its political origin.

Schumer expresses deep concern over the dual threat from both ends of the political aisle:

"It's almost a pincer. If you have it on the right and you have it on the left, the Jews feel alone and surrounded."
(08:35)

He fears that this dichotomy isolates Jewish communities, making them more vulnerable to coordinated antisemitic attacks.

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Impact of Technology and Social Media

Senator Schumer discusses how advancements in technology have exacerbated the spread of antisemitism:

"Advances in technology... antisemitism finds a new way to spread."
(10:15)

He outlines four key ways social media facilitates antisemitism:

1. Broad Reach: Antisemitic content can disseminate rapidly across platforms.
2. Lack of Editorial Oversight: The absence of gatekeepers allows harmful content to flourish unchecked.
3. Anonymity: Users can post antisemitic remarks without revealing their identities, emboldening perpetrators.
4. Community Formation: Social media enables antisemites to congregate, amplifying their influence and coordination.

Schumer draws historical parallels, comparing the spread of antisemitic propaganda during the Gutenberg era to today's digital landscape, underscoring the enduring challenge of combating hate speech.

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Call to Action and Vigilance

Concluding the conversation, Schumer emphasizes the necessity of vigilance and proactive measures to combat antisemitism:

"We have to be vigilant and push against it, fight against it all the way."
(11:33)

He advocates for a unified front against antisemitism, urging society to address it comprehensively to prevent its insidious spread.

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Conclusion

Senator Chuck Schumer's Antisemitism in America: A Warning serves as a crucial examination of the resurging antisemitic sentiments within the United States. Through his candid discussion on NPR's Book of the Day, Schumer highlights the multifaceted nature of antisemitism, its historical roots, and its contemporary challenges exacerbated by political polarization and technological advancements. His insights call for collective responsibility and unwavering commitment to eradicating antisemitism to ensure the safety and dignity of Jewish communities nationwide.

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Notable Quotes:

• On Historical Context:

  "Never in the history long travails of Jewish history have Jewish people been doing better and treated better than that era."
  (03:11)

• On Social Media's Role:

  "There are no editors. So anyone can put any antisemitic thing online and it gets there."
  (10:15)

• On the Dual Threat:

  "It's almost a pincer. If you have it on the right and you have it on the left, the Jews feel alone and surrounded."
  (08:35)

---

This episode offers a profound exploration of the complexities surrounding antisemitism in America, providing listeners with a deeper understanding of the challenges faced by Jewish communities and the imperative to address hate in all its forms.

Transcript

[Andrew Limbong]

Hey, it's NPR's Book of the Day. I'm Andrew Limbong. Senator Chuck Schumer is on the pod today. He's been getting a lot of vociferous criticism lately over his vote for the Republican spending bill. NPR Scott Simon spoke to him before he cast that vote. And it's interesting to hear the senator's tone of voice when he doesn't answer the question about how he intended to vote because of course, he was there to talk about his book and antisemitism in America. The subtitle is simply a warning because that's what he's trying to do, alert people to the anti Semitism he sees coming from both the political right and left. Senator Schumer talks about that, the protests on college campuses and his thoughts on the arrest of Columbia University graduate student Mahmoud Khalil, a green card holder of Palestinian descent whom the Trump administration is trying to deport. That's after the break.

[Scott Simon]

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Today, I have to ask you a budget question.

[Chuck Schumer]

Yep. Go ahead.

[Scott Simon]

House has passed on to the Senate a bill that would avoid a government shutdown while spending more on the military. It does allow Elon Musk to continue to defund major pieces of the of the federal government. What do you think?

[Chuck Schumer]

Well, our caucus is going to get together today and we will have discussion.

[Scott Simon]

We're speaking on a Wednesday. Yes.

[Chuck Schumer]

So I'm going to wait for my caucus meeting.

[Scott Simon]

So you don't know.

[Chuck Schumer]

I not commenting.

[Scott Simon]

The very next day, the New York Times ran an opinion piece by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer backing that budget measure. A decision that's been controversial among many members of his own party. He's also broken with some members of his own New York Democratic delegation in criticizing Columbia University, alleging that it failed to adequately protect students during last year's protests over the war in Gaza. An August report by the school's Task Force on Anti Semitism said that Jewish and Israeli students at Columbia did suffer abuse and humiliation in classroom and student groups. Antisemitism is the subject of Senator Schumer's newest book, Antisemitism in a Warning. The senator is the highest ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history. Let me begin with your first sentence. You write, I never thought I would write a book like this. What happened to change that?

[Chuck Schumer]

Here's what happened to change. I was born in 1950, and for the first 50 years, 1950 to 2000, the Jewish people called America the Golden Medina. It was the greatest country in the world. Never in the history long travails of Jewish history have Jewish people been doing better and treated better than that era. Everyone was on the way up. People came back from World War II, they got married. Not just Jews, everybody. So it was a happy era where if you asked people, do you think you'll be doing better 10 years from now and will your kids be doing even better still? They'd say, why? In part because America was advancing, but in part because the shadow of the Holocaust hung over America. And people saw the horror of the Holocaust and realized that antisemitism was a vicious and nasty thing or could become one. It started changing in 2001 with 9 11, where there were conspiracies that all the Jews vacated. It got worse in 2008 when the financial crisis, the international conspiracy, and they started using George Soros picture. Forty years before, they wouldn't have used a Jewish man's picture because of the sensitivities. But it really accelerated dramatically in 2017 in ways like we've never seen Jewish students being punched because they had a yarmulke on or wore a Star of David, Jewish bakeries being throwing rocks through their windows, a Zionist entity, all crossing the line between just political views and antisemitism.

[Scott Simon]

You were specifically critical of Columbia University and its treatment of Jewish students following the October 7 attacks. You talk about a widespread failure to discipline both faculty and students who engaged in overtly anti Semitic activities that made Jewish students feel unsafe. Trump administrations canceled $400 million in grants to Colombia. Good idea.

[Chuck Schumer]

Look, the bottom line is I've been very critical of Colombia as not doing enough against antisemitism which was pretty rampant on their campus, and they still should do more. But, you know, the administration always uses a chainsaw approach. They just cut everything. So is this money cutting research that goes on at Columbia that could cure cancer, that could cure Alzheimer's disease and things like that? Is the money hurting students? 95% of the students who just want to get an education haven't participated in protests one way or the other. That would be regrettable.

[Scott Simon]

And I have to ask about Mahmoud Khalid, a leader of those demonstrations. A Palestinian, lawful permanent resident, married to a U.S. citizen. He's been arrested at direction of the Trump administration. They say he'll be deported. What do you think?

[Chuck Schumer]

Yeah, look, I disagree and abhor the views of Mahmoud Khalil. I think Hamas is an evil force, but we have free speech in America. And so if the administration can't prove that he broke a law and he was just protesting and exercising his rights to free speech, they ought to drop the charges.

[Scott Simon]

You've been critical of the policies of the state of Israel, even calling for Prime Minister Netanyahu to step down.

[Chuck Schumer]

Yes, I gave a speech. You know, what I'm trying to do here is do what I think is good for Israel and good for Jewish people. And I gave that speech because I wanted to show both Jewish Americans who were feeling beleaguered and people all over the world that you could still love Israel, support Israel, want Israel to have the necessary support so that it could defend itself against Iran and Hamas and Hezbollah, but still be critical of the policies of Prime Minister Netanyahu. And I know a lot of people got a lot of solace when they heard that speech.

[Scott Simon]

You suggest in this book that there are a number of people who begin to use the phrase Zionist as a kind of dog whistle.

[Chuck Schumer]

Yeah, definitely, you Zionist. When they say, you Zionist pig, they mean you Jewish pig. There was an incident, for instance, on the subway in New York. Some pro Palestinian people came in. One got up. Who's ever on this subway car is a Zionist, raise your hand. They didn't mean a Zionist, they meant a Jew. And what's happened is. And what's so alarming is that things have shaded over into direct anti Semitism. And the one, if I can talk for a second, the one that bothers me the most is genocide. Accusing the Jewish people or Israel of genocide. Genocide means you want.

[Scott Simon]

Because of Israel's policies in Gaza most.

[Chuck Schumer]

Recently, which can be legitimately criticized, as even I have done. But genocide is to want to wipe out a whole people. If Israel unprovoked invaded Gaza and started shooting at innocent Palestinian civilians. That would be genocide. But that's not what's happened. What's happened is that Hamas has waged a very, very tough war. They went into Israel, they were vicious raping women, beheading children, almost to inspire. Inspire a tough retaliatory attack.

[Scott Simon]

You're tough on the left, your own political source of support in many ways in this book. What about anti Semitism? You see, on the right, it's just.

[Chuck Schumer]

As frightening and just as bad. It's overt. In other words, when I was in, when January 6th occurred, I was within 30ft of these demonstrator, you know, these hooligans. They're not demonstrators. They were insurrectionists. And one of them shouted, there's the big Jew, let's get them. They were wearing sweatshirts, some of them. Six million wasn't enough. Antisemitism on the right is very damaging and it's very overt. It's a little more subtle, but real. On anti Semitism on the left, each is equally disturbing to me. And here's Scott. Here's what I worry about the most. It's almost a pincer. If you have it on the right and you have it on the left, the Jews feel alone and surrounded. And somehow, at least in history, anti Semites of different political persuasions all too often get together and do very bad things to the Jews. So I have a whole chapter on antisemitism on the right and a whole chapter on antisemitism on the left.

[Scott Simon]

For all your disagreements, has President Trump been friendly and respectful to the citizens of America?

[Chuck Schumer]

To the citizens of America, No.

[Scott Simon]

Jewish citizens. Jews specifically.

[Chuck Schumer]

Look, I would regard this with everybody. When he cuts the kinds of things he's cutting. When he cuts a Social Security office and chops 7,000 people out of Social Security and Elon Musk says it's a Ponzi scheme, and Trump ridicules Social Security in the, in the State of the Union. And then they drastically cut Social Security employees. That hurts everybody. Jews, Christians, Muslims, everybody.

[Scott Simon]

Do you get anti Semitic japes all.

[Chuck Schumer]

The time, right and left. So advances in technology have always have advanced society dramatically, and we wouldn't want to do without them. But anytime society advances, antisemitism sort of finds a new way to spread. So when Gutenberg invented the printing press, for the next hundred years, these papers that were printed about anti Semitic tropes were all over Europe. And anti Semitic increased social media has some real disadvantages in terms of dealing with anti Semitism. Making sure that encourages antisemitism or antisemites four ways. A, it's very broad. Okay. B, there are no editors. So anyone can put any antisemitic thing online and it gets there. Third, it's anonymous. A lot of people wouldn't say these things that are anti Semitic. You know, most of them directed at me. I don't know who they are. You know, they're Mr. ABC XYZ. And fourth, it allows antisemites to sort of congregate, to come together. You know, it used to be if you were anti Semitic, you sit in a room and curse the Jews, but you were all alone and you felt you shouldn't do it online. You can get together with a thousand others and you feel, oh, there are a lot of us. Let's do more.

[Scott Simon]

Weren't those kinds of things supposed to be passed in America, though?

[Chuck Schumer]

Well, obviously, with the great increase of antisemitism since October 7, it's not passed. And we have to make sure. We have to be vigilant and push against it, fight against it all the way.

[Scott Simon]

Senator Chuck Schumer, his new book, antisemitism in America, A warning. Thanks so much for being with us.

[Chuck Schumer]

Senator, great to be here. Thanks.

[Scott Simon]

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