Schumer to release book sounding ‘alarm’ about antisemitism’s rise in US — as his party internally squabbles over Israel
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer will release a new book early next year that will delve into the rise of antisemitism in modern US society – as his party internally squabbles over Israel.
“Antisemitism in America: A Warning” is slated to hit bookshelves on Feb. 18, 2025, and “sounds the alarm about the troubling resurgence of antisemitism,” according to Grand Central Publishing.
“By placing antisemitism in its proper historical context, and drawing from Senator Schumer’s own life, the book informs Americans’ understanding of the causes of the recent swell of antisemitic rhetoric and violence in our country,” a book description reads.
“In very personal terms, it will engage with debates over the purpose and meaning of Israel, and help draw a line between legitimate criticism of its government and when criticism of Israel as a Jewish homeland verges into antisemitism,” it added.
Schumer (D-NY) is the highest elected Jewish official in the US. At times, he has used his bully pulpit to express deep concerns about antisemitism plaguing the country.
Last November, Schumer took to the Senate floor to deliver remarks about antisemitism in the wake of Hamas’ bloody Oct. 7, 2023 attack on Israeli civilians.
“Many of the people who express these sentiments in America aren’t Neo-Nazis or card-carrying Klan members or Islamic extremists,” Schumer bluntly admitted in the speech. “They’re in most cases people that most liberal Jewish Americans felt previously were their ideological fellow travelers.”
Democrats have reckoned with a bitter internal struggle over the Israel-Hamas conflict and factions of the party warring over whether to be more supportive of Israel or the Palestinians.
Schumer, 73, has seemingly sought to trot out some middle ground — lending support to Israel, but taking issue with its current leadership and approach to the war against Hamas.
In March, Schumer again took to the Senate floor and called for new elections in Israel in a scathing rebuke of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, whom he derided as an “obstacle” to peace.
“Of course, the United States cannot dictate the outcome of an election, nor should we try,” he said at the time. “That is for the Israeli public to decide – a public that I believe understands better than anybody that Israel cannot hope to succeed as a pariah, opposed by the rest of the world.”
During Netayahu’s address at the joint meeting of Congress last month, Schumer appeared to give the prime minister the cold shoulder by not shaking hands with him.
Schumer’s upcoming book is meant to serve as a “warning” based on history about the consequences of allowing the “world’s oldest hatred” to go “unchecked.”
The Empire State Democrat previously released a book in 2007 alongside Daniel Squadron, titled, “Positively American: Winning Back the Middle-Class Majority One Family at a Time.”
In keeping with its name, the book outlined strategies to boost the middle class.