In a major address on Wednesday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., called on every person, community and institution to stand with Jewish Americans and denounce all forms on antisemitism. 

Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in U.S. history, said in a 40-minute speech on the Senate floor that antisemitic incidents in the United States were already on the rise before the start of the war between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7 but have only worsened since.

Schumer, who is also the first Jewish leader of either chamber of Congress, said “antisemites are taking advantage of the pro-Palestinian movement to espouse hatred and bigotry towards Jewish people.” The New York Democrat added that many Americans are “unknowingly aiding and abetting their cause.”

He blasted those who join in chants in support of Palestinians being free “from the river to the sea” and those who carry signs at pro-Palestinian protests that say “by any means necessary.” The messages, he said, endorse Hamas’ goal of eradicating Jews in Israel and beyond.

“After the most violent attack ever against Israeli civilians, we are appalled at the casual invocation of such savagery,” he said of the Oct. 7 attack that saw 1,200 killed, believed to be the deadliest day for Jews since the Holocaust and the single-bloodiest day in Israel's history.

“After Oct. 7, Jewish Americans are feeling singled out, targeted and isolated. In many ways, we feel alone.”

The Anti-Defamation League said in the first month after Hamas’ terror attacks on Israel, it recorded an increase in antisemitic incidents in the U.S. of over 300% compared to the same timeframe in 2022. 

Schumer said Jews in the U.S. were “alarmed” to see so many Americans justify Hamas’ attacks, with some even celebrating them.

The Senate majority leader’s speech was at times a history lesson in the atrocities Jews have faced throughout time.

“The Jewish people have been humiliated, ostracized, expelled, enslaved and massacred for millennia,” he said. 

Saying too many young Americans do not fully understand that history, Schumer called on them to better educate themselves about it.

He also urged people to reject age-old, anti-Jewish double standards, including blaming Jews and Israel for many problems.  

“In the immediate aftermath of Oct. 7 — an attack on defenseless civilians, the elderly, women, babies — a good number of people skipped over expressing sympathy for its victims in their haste to blame the attack on the past actions of the Israeli government,” Schumer said. “Can anyone imagine a horrific terrorist attack in another country receiving such a reception?

“Why does the criticism for any civilian deaths seem to fall exclusively on Israel, and not at all on Hamas?” he continued.

And the senate majority leader implored Americans to call out antisemitism when they see it. He listed some examples, including a boycott in Philadelphia of Jewish businesses after the Hamas attack, reports of harassment by Jewish students on American college campuses and a pro-Palestinian protest at a New York City high school that reportedly left a Jewish teacher hiding in a locked office from students who were angry she had attended an earlier rally supporting Israel.

The teacher from Hillcrest High School in Jamaica, Queens, was in attendance during Schumer’s speech, the senator said.

Schumer, however, stressed that his “heart breaks” for the thousands of Palestinian civilians who have been killed and are suffering in this conflict.” He said he has repeatedly urged the Israeli government to minimize civilian casualties and is fighting for additional humanitarian aid for Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.

And he condemned “extreme right-wing Jewish settlers who also use deplorable language and who don't believe there should be any Palestinians between the river and the sea.”