参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默周三警告说美国日益增长的反犹太主义。以及他所说的犹太人正在经历的“深深的恐惧”。
舒默，美国最高级别的犹太人官员，称反犹太主义的兴起是在10月7日哈马斯袭击以色列在参议院长达40多分钟的演讲中的“危机”。美国将哈马斯列为恐怖组织。
舒默说:“我注意到犹太人对反犹太主义兴起的看法和我的非犹太朋友对此的看法有很大差异。”。“对我们犹太人来说，反犹太主义的兴起是一场危机——一场必须扑灭的五级火警。对于许多其他善良的人来说，这仅仅是一个问题，一个值得关注的问题。”
2023年11月28日，参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默在华盛顿特区美国国会大厦。
伊丽莎白·弗兰茨/路透社
在加沙地带据哈马斯控制的加沙卫生部/政府媒体办公室称，自10月7日以来，已有超过15，000人被以色列军队杀害。据以色列国防军称，自10月7日以来，至少有1200人在以色列被哈马斯和其他巴勒斯坦武装分子杀害。
舒默发表讲话的同一天，他写了一篇专栏文章刊登在纽约时报上。在这篇演讲中，舒默尖锐地批评了那些利用以色列和哈马斯之间的冲突作为攻击犹太人的机会的人。
“10月7日之后，针对以色列的尖酸刻薄经常越过一条线，成为厚颜无耻和广泛的反犹太主义，这种情况在这个国家几代人中都没有出现过——如果有过的话，”他说。
他说，许多犹太人感到孤独，因为反犹言论比比皆是。
“你能理解为什么当我们听到一些人赞美哈马斯并高呼其邪恶口号时，犹太人感到孤立吗?在希特勒消灭了全世界一半的犹太人，而许多国家却对此置之不理的80年后，你能责怪我们感到脆弱吗?你能理解我们对哈马斯如果听之任之可能会做什么的深深恐惧吗?”
他补充说，对以色列的批评“有时会让cross陷入更黑暗的境地，攻击犹太人，仅仅因为他们是犹太人。”
舒默说，许多美国人，尤其是年轻人，对犹太人遭受压迫的历史“没有充分的了解”。
舒默说，他和大多数犹太裔美国人一样，支持以色列和巴勒斯坦两国并存的解决方案，但他表示，某些呼吁有些过头了。
舒默说:“我之所以援引这段关于以色列建国的历史，是因为忘记甚至故意忽略这一重要背景是危险的。”。“一些针对以色列的最极端言论助长了反犹太主义者的气焰，他们攻击犹太人仅仅是因为他们是犹太人，与以色列无关。”
2023年11月28日，在DC华盛顿州美国国会大厦，参议院多数党领袖查克·舒默在与参议院民主党人举行闭门午餐会议后的新闻发布会上发表讲话。
德鲁·安格雷尔/盖蒂图片社
舒默说，他对亲巴勒斯坦抗议者的标语和口号感到不安，其中包括“从河流到海洋”和“不择手段”
他说:“显然，许多在美国这里游行的人没有任何邪恶的意图，但是当犹太人听到像‘从河流到海洋’这样的口号时，我们感到震惊。这是哈马斯的创始口号，哈马斯是一个恐怖组织，并不羞于实现在以色列和全球消灭犹太人的目标。”。
这众议院本月早些时候投票谴责民主党众议员拉希达·特拉伊布批评者指责她呼吁摧毁以色列，称这在一定程度上是因为她重复了巴勒斯坦民族主义口号“从河流到海洋”。
舒默说，现在经历的反犹太主义水平让许多犹太人担心未来。他说，许多犹太人“担心”这些行动会导致什么结果。
舒默说:“所有犹太裔美国人身上都带着这种代际创伤的疤痕组织，这直接表明我们如何经历和处理今天的言论。”“我们看到和听到的东西与别人不同，因为我们对犹太人成为目标后可能出现的贫困和恐怖非常敏感——如果这种情况不被否认的话。”
Chuck Schumer calls antisemitism a 'crisis' that has Jewish people living in 'deep fear'
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer on Wednesday warned aboutgrowing antisemitism in the U.S.and the "deep fear" he said Jewish people are experiencing.
Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish official in America, called the rise in antisemitism following theOct. 7 Hamas attack on Israela "crisis" in a more than 40-minute speech on the Senate floor. The United States has designated Hamas as a terrorist organization.
"I have noticed a significant disparity between how Jewish people regard the rise of antisemitism, and how many of my non-Jewish friends regard it," Schumer said. "To us, the Jewish people, the rise of antisemitism is a crisis -- a five-alarm fire that must be extinguished. For so many other people of goodwill, it is merely a problem, a matter of concern."
In the Gaza Strip, more than 15,000 people have been killed by Israeli forces since Oct. 7, according to the Hamas-run Gaza Health Ministry/Government Media Office. In Israel, at least 1,200 people have been killed by Hamas and other Palestinian militants since Oct. 7, according to the Israel Defense Forces.
Schumer's speech came on the same day an op-ed he wroteran in The New York Times.In it, as the speech, Schumer pointedly criticized those he said who have used the conflict between Israel and Hamas as an opportunity to target Jewish people.
"The vitriol against Israel in the wake of Oct. 7 is all too often crossing a line into brazen and widespread antisemitism, the likes of which we haven't seen for generations in this country -- if ever," he said.
He said many Jewish people are feeling alone with antisemitic rhetoric abounding.
"Can you understand why Jewish people feel isolated when we hear some praise Hamas and chant its vicious slogan? Can you blame us for feeling vulnerable only 80 years after Hitler wiped out half of the Jewish population across the world while many countries turned their back? Can you appreciate the deep fear we have about what Hamas might do if left to their own devices?"
He added that criticism of Israel "can sometimes cross into something darker, into attacking Jewish people simply for being Jewish."
Schumer said many Americans -- especially those who are younger -- "don't have a full understanding" of the history of oppression against Jews.
Schumer said he, like most Jewish Americans, supports a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine -- but said certain calls have gone too far.
"The reason why I invoke this history about the founding of the Israeli State is because forgetting or even deliberately ignoring this vital context is dangerous," Schumer said. "Some of the most extreme rhetoric against Israel has emboldened antisemites who are attacking Jewish people simply because they are Jewish, independent of anything having to do with Israel."
Schumer said he is troubled by pro-Palestinian protesters' signs and chants that include "from the river to the sea" and "by any means necessary."
"Obviously, many of those marching here in the U.S. do not have any evil intent, but when Jewish people hear chants like 'From the river to the sea,' a founding slogan of Hamas, a terrorist group that is not shy about their goal to eradicate the Jewish people, in Israel and around the globe, we are alarmed," he said.
TheHouse earlier this month voted to censure Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib, accusing her of calling for Israel's destruction, her critics said it was, in part, because she repeated that Palestinian nationalist slogan, "from the river to the sea."
The level of antisemitism experienced now leaves many Jewish people concerned about the future, Schumer said. Many Jewish people are "worried" about where these actions could lead, he said.
"All Jewish Americans carry in them the scar tissue of this generational trauma, and that directly informs how we are experiencing and processing the rhetoric of today," Schumer said. "We see and hear things differently from others because we are deeply sensitive to the deprivation and horrors that can follow the targeting of Jewish people -- if it is not repudiated."
