US Sen. Chuck Schumer to publish book on his experiences with antisemitism

‘Antisemitism in America: A Warning’ set for release in February, to explore senator’s experiences growing up in Brooklyn in the 1960s, his time at Harvard and his political career

Luke Tress is a JTA reporter and a former editor and reporter in New York for The Times of Israel.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during the annual Israel Day Parade on Fifth Avenue in New York, June 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer speaks during the annual Israel Day Parade on Fifth Avenue in New York, June 2, 2024. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura)

New York Jewish Week via JTA — New York Sen. Chuck Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in US history, will release a book this winter about antisemitism in the United States that will draw on his experience as a Jewish American in politics.

“Antisemitism in America: A Warning” is scheduled for publication in February and will be based on Schumer’s experiences growing up in Brooklyn in the 1960s, his studies at Harvard University and his tenure in politics.

In the book, Schumer will seek to shed light on Jewish experiences and prejudice that have led to historical and current discrimination against Jews. Antisemitism has surged in New York and across the United States since Hamas’s October 7 invasion of Israel.

“At its core, my book is a warning,” Schumer said in a statement. “If America fails to understand the context and history of antisemitism, if America’s darker impulses ultimately overwhelm its better angels, an age-old truth will prove true once again: that antisemitism inevitably leads to violence against Jews and a rise in bigotry in our society at large.”

He added: “Jewish Americans never thought it could happen here in America. Now, for the first time, they’re worried it could.”

Schumer places his Jewish identity at the center of his public persona. He has often said his last name is a variation on the Hebrew word “shomer,” or guardian.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-NY, speaks to reporters at the Capitol in Washington, March 12, 2024. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

“Of course, my first responsibility is to America and to New York,” he said in March on the Senate floor. “But as the first Jewish majority leader of the United States Senate, and the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in America ever, I also feel very keenly my responsibility as a Shomer Yisroel — a guardian of the People of Israel.”

Israel will be a topic of the book, including a discussion of the line between legitimate criticism of the Israeli government and antisemitism, Grand Central Publishing said. In the March speech, Schumer called for new elections in Israel, saying Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had “lost his way.” The speech drew harsh criticism from Israeli government officials and American Jews as inappropriate interference in Israeli politics, in addition to support from leftist Jewish groups and some of Netanyahu’s critics.

The book will also discuss American politics, and will include Schumer’s experience taking refuge in a secure bunker during the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the US Capitol by a pro-Trump mob.

This is not Schumer’s first book as a sitting senator. In 2007, he released a book co-authored with New York politician Daniel Squadron titled “Positively American: Winning Back the Middle Class One Family at a Time.”

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