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Antisemitism in America: A Warning

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A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER 

In an urgent and personal new book, Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, the highest-elected Jewish official in America, sheds light on the Jewish American experience and sounds the alarm about the troubling resurgence of antisemitism.


For the first time in generations, antisemitism has become a daily reality in America, and it’s getting worse. Jewish synagogues and their congregants are targeted and sometimes killed by extremists, Jewish students are harassed and attacked on campus, conspiracy theories about Jews have gone mainstream on social media, and debates over Israel have veered into dangerous territory. Senator Chuck Schumer tackles the historical, political, cultural, and international forces that have led to the alarming rise of antisemitism in America in the 21st Century.

ANTISEMITISM IN A WARNING is a timely work of nonfiction that illuminates his generation’s Jewish experience. From Brooklyn in the 1960s to Harvard in the 1970s to the inside of a secure bunker on January 6, 2021, Schumer takes readers on a personal journey of how Jewish Americans like him have come to understand their history, their place in America—and why they worry about the future of Jewish life in America.

This book is a warning, informed by the lessons of history, about what can happen when the world’s oldest hatred is allowed to rise unchecked.

 

252 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 18, 2025

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About the author

Chuck Schumer

3 books15 followers
Charles Ellis "Chuck" Schumer is the senior U.S. Senator from the State of New York, serving since 1999. A liberal Democrat, in 2005, he became chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. In November 2006, he was elected to the new post of Vice Chairman of the Senate Democratic Caucus. In this position, he is the fourth-ranking Democrat in the Senate, behind President pro tempore Robert Byrd, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Majority Whip Richard Durbin.

In January 2007, he published a book called Positively American, outlining strategies with which Democrats could court middle-class voters.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
Profile Image for Arthur Read.
76 reviews
June 29, 2025
Antisemitism in America: A Whining

New York Senator Charles "Chuck" Schumer is one of the most regrettable people to emerge into public life in decades. Fittingly, he is one of the dismayingly large number of powerful establishment elites who bizarrely think the "rising tide of antisemitism" is more important than the rising death toll of Palestinian civilians who are murdered with flamboyant impunity by Israel using weapons and munitions funded by the beasts of burden known as American taxpayers.

In this inverted formulation, the barbaric massacres of the Palestinian Arab refugees crammed in Gaza that has shocked the consciences of civilized people the world over take a distant backseat to the real victims here: Esther in Brooklyn who saw unkind comments about Jews on the internet, or perhaps Abe who had to endure the inconvenience of "feeling uncomfortable" because he saw a heated anti-Israel protest on his way to class at his elite college campus.

Zionists will, of course, breathlessly respond to this (as Schumer does in the book) with the usual victim-blaming blabber about "Hamas using the people of Gaza as human shields." Bull. Israel has never, in her entire history, shown any compunction about killing civilians indiscriminately, which defeats the entire purpose of using human shields. Did you know the IDF's military headquarters are located in the middle of civilian areas in Tel Aviv? According to Israel and her overseas partisans' own standards, this makes everyone in Israel's largest city "human shields."

Speaking of which, there is no Hamas in the West Bank - yet that hasn't stopped the alarming increase in the number of anti-Gentile pogroms there, carried out by the IDF occupying army and illegal Israeli settler fanatics - oftentimes in cahoots with each other.

Plenty Saw This Coming!

I'm not even saying I condone whatever instances of unpleasantness some diaspora Jews may have faced since October 7, 2023, even if I disagree with their significance. Schumer's examples in the book seem to be mostly in the realm of petty vandalism, from what I recall. But I can at least say I understand them. And as a matter of fact, so did many farsighted Zionists nearly a century ago! Regarding the aftermath of the 1937 Peel Commission report which first tentatively explored the possibility of dividing Palestine and an accompanying population transfer, Jewish historian Rafael Medoff writes in Zionism and the Arabs: An American Jewish Dilemma, 1898-1948:

Stephen Wise and Hadassah president Tamar de Sola Pool warned that the forcible transfer of the Arabs would have repercussions on Diaspora Jewry (it was "a menace to Jewish life in the Galuth ... a boomerang we are hurling into the heart of our people" because it would "lead to an ending of the safeguarding of minorities everywhere"[34], and U.S. Labor Zionist leader Hayim Greenberg asserted that there was "no moral and political possibility to force [the Arabs] to leave the Jewish territory." But their colleague, Reform rabbi Barnett Brickner, who served as spokesman for the majority of the ZOA delegation at the World Zionist Congress that August, contended that resettling "large portions of Arab fellaheen" would be "practical and humane." Others straddled the fence. Jews were historically "tender to safeguard the rights of minorities," yet "the first major step of the Jewish state is to oust a minority," Robert Szold complained to a Hadassah convention; yet in the same breath, Szold indicated that he would not object if the Arab transfer were carried out by the British.

[34] Ironically, Ze'ev Jabotinsky, with whom Wise was at odds, made the same point, declaring that he "never dreamed of asking the Arabs who live in a Jewish country to emigrate." It would be "a most dangerous precedent, extremely harmful to the Jewish interests in the Diaspora," he said, arguing that it might be used to justify the expulsion of Diaspora Jewish communities.


In other words, they knew full well that the Zionist scheme to inflict a monstrous injustice upon the Arabs of Palestine was an extraordinarily dangerous gambit that could very much be expected to bring adverse reactions upon the world's Jews in the lands in which they reside as a minority.

Hypocritical Hippo 🦛

Elsewhere, Schumer notes with insolent satisfaction that:

This new era of historical re-examination on the left has forced us Americans to grapple with uncomfortable truths in our own history, from the treatment of Native Americans to Japanese-American internment camps to the original sin of slavery and the long shadow of racial prejudice against our Black citizens. Very rightly so. But it also led to a few excesses. . . because some Jewish people have done exceedingly well in America, because Israel has grown only more powerful over the last several decades, it could appear that Jews . . . —to quote the language of some—are the "oppressors."


Nice try, Senator, but if white/Christian peoples in America, Canada, and Australia are "settler colonialists" because their ancestors displaced a population of pre-literate natives (who mostly died from unpreventable disease), then so too are Israelis for their original sin of premeditated ethnic cleansing and founding and maintaining their state via sheer terrorism. If only non-Jewish countries are expected to forfeit their right to a homogeneous nation to atone for this sin, that is clear and unacceptable hypocrisy.

MultiCULTuralism

Schumer writes of his concern that antisemitism "poses a challenge to the American project. Like other forms of racism and bigotry, it threatens our two-and-a-half-century experiment in a multiethnic, multicultural democracy." This is completely ahistorical nonsense. The Founding Fathers most assuredly did not envision a hitherto unprecedented car wreck of a "nation" where the only thing the inhabitants have left in common is the geographic territory they inhabit. Don't believe me? Just read the words of John Jay in Federalist #2: Electric Boogaloo:

Providence has been pleased to give this one connected country to one united people—a people descended from the same ancestors, speaking the same language, professing the same religion, attached to the same principles of government, very similar in their manners and customs, and who, by their joint counsels, arms, and efforts, fighting side by side throughout a long and bloody war, have nobly established general liberty and independence.


Moreover, the Naturalization Act of 1790, the first law establishing rules for American citizenship, limited naturalization to "free white persons" of "good character". All subsequent immigration legislation until 1965 reaffirmed the same principle. No authentically American mode of thought could have ever considered today's miserable hodgepodge as something desirable to aspire to. Senator Schumer is free to disagree about this issue. But he has no right to anachronistically retroject into the American past what in reality is a very recent innovation.

I bring all this up because, curiously, Schumer also decries the ominous change since 9/11/2001 in the general disposition of Americans from sunny, optimistic, and big-hearted, to one that is "more angrier, more divided, less tethered together", including an exploding epidemic of loneliness:

These days, when Americans sometimes talk about going back to the good old days or wanting to make America great again, many of them seem to be yearning for a time in America when there was less anomie; a time when we didn't feel like individual atoms bumping into one another but not connected to one another; a time when the old roots of society—family, religion, community—were much stronger.


I agree completely that this society-wide alienation is a horrible thing. But this is a causal result of the "diversity" policies that Schumer and his ilk ceaselessly push, taking it for granted that this destructive social engineering is imperative. Who could have ever guessed that increased racial diversity would lead to society being divided along racial lines?!

And What About Israel?

Certainly there is no reason to believe committed Zionists like Schumer are being sincere when they shed crocodile tears in service of divisive multiculturalism in America and everywhere else Jews are a numerically small minority. They certainly don't believe in it for Israel , which they demand the world recognize as "the Jewish state", i.e. legitimize the historically cosmopolitan nature of the Holy Land being obliterated and replaced with a Jewish majority ruthlessly maintained eternally by any sleazy means it deems necessary (just ignore the uncomfortable truth that this precarious demographic edge was only achieved by terrorizing hundreds of thousands of the existing population into fleeing for their lives, simply stealing all that they left behind, and then continuously maintained by tyrannical subjugation ever since).

The disturbing reality is that when it comes to the sensitive subject of racial demography, Schumer and others like him privately follow the thinking of that crafty scoundrel David Ben-Gurion, who told members of his political party a week after the 11/29/1947 United Nations vote on Resolution 181 which suggested a partition of Palestine but left the proposed Jewish territory saddled with a large and unwanted Palestinian Arab population who certainly had no intention of leaving the homeland they'd inhabited for centuries:

There are 40% non-Jews in the areas allocated to the Jewish state. This composition is not a solid basis for a Jewish state. And we have to face this new reality with all its severity and distinctness. Such a demographic balance questions our ability to maintain Jewish sovereignty ... Only a state with at least 80% Jews is a viable and stable state.


A white/Christian publicly talking this way in America about the need to maintain absolute demographic dominance as a precondition of maintaining the nation's sovereign character would not only elicit furious howls of indignant protest from the present author, but would probably ignite World War III. At bare minimum, it would land the individual or group on a "hatemonger" list by the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith ("Brotherhood of the Circumcised") inquisitors to be subjected to targeted harassment and lawfare.
Profile Image for Lynn.
1,221 reviews208 followers
April 8, 2025
An extraordinary book about antisemitism in America. Senator Chuck Schumer recounts his own history as well as his own experiences with antisemitism as a college student and in his public life.

The book is eloquent, erudite and down to earth as he explores the history of antisemitism writ large, the history of Jews in America, the history of Israel, and the rise of antisemitism in America since October 7, 2023. I should note that I have lost some so-called “friends” who showed me their true colors in expressions of antisemitism in the aftermath of that tragedy.

This is not an easy read, but it is an important one. I read a library copy, but I may eventually buy my own copy just so that I can underline all the important passages and there are many.

An absolute recommend and must read.
Profile Image for Ted.
199 reviews3 followers
May 9, 2025
As my eyes flowed to the end of the last sentence, I felt them brimming with tears. My hands gracefully shut the book, and I screamed, "YES!" in the middle of the public library. I then ran down the street, jumping over fire hydrants and singing the Star Wars theme song.

If you have ever felt Jews are in the wrong, or guilty of any social missteps, read this book ASAP. It will change your perspective, and perhaps even save your soul.
Profile Image for Yahya.
9 reviews
July 3, 2025
pirated this on Z library since I have a horrible habit of hate reading things. Fascinating as a sort of case study on the pathologies of these moronic self aggrandizing politicians. The weird memoir part of this is incredibly boring because Schumer is not a noteworthy person. I'll admit that i sort of skimmed everything but the "Antisemitism on the left" chapter but it's clear that this is Schumer's main point for even writing this. It is an ugly and intellectually lazy rant against the left, from a person who, for reasons beyond my understanding, feels he has some credibility and status to bother the rest of us with his pissant ramblings (even now I struggle to think of anything impressive this old man has managed to do). Dan Berger's review in the spectre has the clearest summarization of this book:

“One could list many potential criticisms of Israel’s government, its domestic policies, and its foreign relations that are not at all antisemitic,” Schumer affirms. But he never does. It seems that the only legitimate criticism of Israel is acknowledging the possibility of criticizing Israel in an inoffensive manner. To actually criticize it—particularly to demand a change to the actions, funding, or arming of Israel’s government and military—is antisemitic.
Profile Image for Alli Hearne.
72 reviews3 followers
April 6, 2025
Good general overview of the experience of Jews in America as it relates to antisemitism. I enjoyed reading about Chuck’s personal experiences and am proud that he wrote this book.
Profile Image for Susan Tunis.
1,015 reviews301 followers
May 3, 2025
Senator Schumer articulates feelings I've had in both the recent past, and for my entire life. I also liked the biographical elements of the book. A lot of food for thought here.
Profile Image for Leah K.
749 reviews2 followers
May 22, 2025
If you are looking to pick up a feel-good, light-hearted book then let me introduce you to...not this book. At 252 pages, Chuck Schumer's 2025 book, Antisemitism in America, is exactly what it sounds like and it packs a punch. This nonfiction is a mixture of memoir, where he deals with antisemitism even as the first ever American Jewish Senate Leader, and a history lesson. The discussion of the rising numbers in neonazis within the world and the United States is frightening and most certainly shouldn't be ignored. We tried to ignore it in the 30s and 40s and I'm not gonna sugar coat this - did NOT end well. So whether you like Schumer as a politician or not, the message is very clear and worth the read. Stand up, be strong, fight when you have to. Don't repeat history. Please.
Profile Image for April Ann.
97 reviews
April 10, 2025
He describes the Hamas/Gaza war in a context that is easy to grasp. It’s informative and explains the historical context and the current situation. It’s a quick read at just over 200 pages and I recommend for everyone to read it.
Profile Image for Robert .
49 reviews
April 12, 2025
Schumer presents in this tightly-constructed book a measured and thorough interweaving of personal family history and broader Jewish history, with chapters focused on ancient antisemitism, European antisemitism culminating in the Holocaust, American antisemitism of the far right and far left, the historic and modern uses of technology for antisemitism, and antisemitism towards Israel.
51 reviews
April 29, 2025
I heard about this relatively new release from my mother-in-law, who for many years I considered to be a capital-P Paranoid Jew. However, with each passing year, as I've watched the state of our country devolve, I have come around to her way of thinking, her way of worrying. Last year I read Dara Horn's "People Love Dead Jews," which was really a series of vignettes and histories of antisemitism around the world. In some ways, Schumer's book feels like the sequel, or the next logical stop. Where Horn's 2021 book left off, Schumer's book really picks up, grappling with explosion in antisemitic sentiment in this country in the past few years. There's almost nothing in this book the typical American Jew (or Jewish American) doesn't already know or experience, but truly this book isn't for us — it's for our fellow Americans who don't spend as much time thinking about this stuff as we do. And I really hope they read it.

In addition to giving the reader perhaps much needed context about why Jews are so sensitive to the shifting temperature of public opinion, he gives the obligatory 101 course on who Jews are and what antisemitism is, but quickly focuses in on antisemitism in American history from both the right and the left. He covers the steep decline in antisemitism after the Holocaust, when the toll of Jew hatred was clearer than ever before, and asks: when did things start the change for the worse? If you had asked me before reading this book, I might have said 2016, but after hearing his answer, I felt how true it is that things really began to change after 9/11/2001.

He claims to represent the views of most American Jews in this book — which, knowing the adage about 2 Jews, 3 opinions, is pretty audacious. However, he certainly represents a swath of American Jews who lean to the left and had the rug pulled out from under us after October 7, 2023. He devotes a chapter each to antisemitism on the right, antisemitism on the left, college protests when he was a student at Harvard during Vietnam and how that compares to the protests of today, and maybe 2 chapters on explaining which criticisms of Israel are fair and which are either antisemitic or can lead to antisemitism (and why many of them are flat-out lies). I will say I think he goes a little too easy on both Senate Democrats and protesters — but at the end of the day he's a leader in the Democratic party and his ultimate goal isn't to piss people off but to build coalitions. He also talks about his encounters with people who hold staunch and sanctimonious views and are unwilling to listen and learn. We all know the type and have encountered them in our own lives, too. I worry that there aren't enough people out there who need to read this book that actually will.

I wish there was something more prescriptive he could recommend to stop antisemitism in this country from increasing but really it comes down to raising awareness and educating our communities. Building relationships with our neighbors. Advocating for social media as an industry to get its regulatory shit together. Nevertheless, I sincerely hope you read or listen to it, grapple with it and think twice before participating in antisemitism or looking the other way when it occurs.
1,712 reviews
April 8, 2025
Trying to balance books for fun with some books that help me learn. Goal is to continue to include some nonfiction reads. Our world is so complicated. Understanding past events help me understand current situations. Picked this up in an attempt to learn more about the history of antisemitism, outside of Nazi Germany and the Holocaust.
Provided insight into the Jewish faith, historical events over centuries and the development of Israel.
The explanation provided about how Antisemitism can spell future trouble, how it can threaten AMerican national security and terrorism was frightening. This book provided some context. Beyond the simple fact that being a decent human means treating people fairly and not discriminating based on race, religion, gender, etc; this explained how turning on one group of citizens can snowball into hatred and bigotry for other groups.

While I found the writing to feel a bit like reading a text book, a bit dry. Overall this was informative and provided some of the information I was looking for.
Profile Image for Corinne S..
32 reviews
Read
June 14, 2025
Eye-opening and important. Through different anecdotes and honesty, he walks readers through a very complex history as well as the intricate war with Hamas. I found it perspective altering as I had not been aware of all that the Jewish community has been facing and the double standard the world holds them to
Profile Image for Mike.
495 reviews
December 8, 2025
Good summary of American antisemitism. Factual, historical, a little whinny. He does seem to ignore the destruction inflicted on the Palestinians by ‘fellow’ Jews…..

His concern is the experience of the American Jews, and his narrative is credible….
240 reviews11 followers
August 22, 2025
like listening to my parents. which makes sense bc they are the same as Schumer.
Profile Image for Dave the Rave.
9 reviews
April 23, 2025
A good overview of antisemitism, but I would have liked to have seen more practical suggestions for remedying the problem.
Profile Image for Sandi.
91 reviews
September 6, 2025
I thought this was a really well-written and insightful book. I actually didn’t know much about Chuck Schumer before reading it (or even whether he was a Republican or Democrat), but I learned a lot from his story. He shares his experiences growing up, going to school, and his time in politics in a way that felt very personal and engaging.

What stood out most to me were the parts where he connected history to current issues. He writes about the rise in antisemitism today, especially in light of October 7th, and makes the point that many people chanting slogans like “from the river to the sea” may not even fully understand what they’re saying. I think that’s true, and it made me stop and think.

I’ve noticed some people giving this book one-star reviews, which to me feels more like bias than an honest reflection of the writing. In fact, I think it says more about the reviewer than it does about the book itself. This is his lived experience, and I appreciated the opportunity to learn from it.
Profile Image for Rob.
107 reviews2 followers
May 2, 2025
Not the most scholarly work or best work on the subject, but purposefully written to be accessible to readers, and the importance of the source and the position they are taking is what is significant, if you have an open mind. I suspect this work is being read mostly by persons who are already like-minded on the subject with the Senator and are just reaffirming that base, but it would be nice if those on the right and farther on the left read it, if they were looking for more diversity of thought on the subject.
364 reviews
July 1, 2025
This is one of those timely and important books that, unfortunately, the people who need to read most will not. Instead, they will skip it, write one-star reviews as though they read it, while completely missing the point and instead contributing to antisemitism.

Chuck Schumer has always been an establishment Democrat, and his approach to modern antisemitism in America shows that. Is that a bad thing? No - it's a measured and nuanced approach. Is it popular? Also no.
Profile Image for Shelly.
847 reviews
July 2, 2025
3.5 rounded up

I chose to read this book to help me understand the rise of antisemitism in America; I cannot fathom what is causing this rise and why. Overall I found this book to be interesting and informative; I do think Schumer spends too much time telling us what he supports as a Senator and what legislation he tries to pass to support various groups and beliefs. The following is a list of quotes that I found to be important to my understanding of antisemitism and how to combat it but also important for all to read.

--"... the threat of antisemitism will not subside if it is ignored or minimalized. History has proven otherwise."
--"Jewish Americans are 2 percent of the US population, and at last count, according to the FBI, the target of 68 percent of all religion-based hate crimes."
--"If you want to understand a form of hatred, it helps to understand the truth about the people who are hated, and how wrong the prejudices are wrong."
--"Jews are living through the worst period of antisemitism in America in generations."
"All to often, in periods of economic, social, and technological disruption-...anxieties in society have let to Jews being identified as the objects to blame."
--"There are several ways the unique structure of social media allows antisemitism to spread. First, its enormous scale. Second, its lack of editorial control. Third, its power to aggregate individuals who might have the same bigoted thoughts...And fourth, the ability to post anonymously on its platforms."
--"There is no doubt that technology, social change, and social media have increased the amount of antisemitism in our society."
--"Our society needs a stiffer barrier between what we permit as legitimate protest and what we do not."
--"Do not let your desire for justice in the world lead you to bring a little more injustice into the world."
--"More than 80 percent of American Jews consider caring about Israel and important or essential part of their Jewish identity. ...To an extremely small but vocal minority of American Jews, there is no reason for a Jewish state at all."
--"We have a problem with Israel-related antisemitism in America today. The initial lack of empathy by some after a brutal terrorist attack on Israeli soil opened our eyes."
--"Another clear-cut example of antisemitism is when it is assumed that Jews everywhere have a greater loyalty to Israel than to the country in which they live."
--"To hold every Jew collectively responsible for every action of the Israeli government is antisemitism..."
--"We wonder: Why is Israel the one country in the world whose elimination is most openly called for? Even when people totally disagree with the actions of other countries, no one questions their right to have a state."
--"...especially after October 7, the idea that the Jewish people do not deserve a homeland has regained renewed prominence among some in America."
--"When radical groups chant the slogan, "From the river to the sea," do they know they are quoting from the Hamas charter? Do they know the charter calls for the expulsion of Jews from Israel in the name of Palestinian liberation. and even suggests that all Jews in Israel be killed?"
--"Racism, bigotry, and prejudice: these evils have always been with us, our great shame as a species, one of our greatest challenges to overcome. Antisemitism is one of those sins. It is about denying the humanity of Jews, who are not only a religious group but a nation of people."
-- "We can and must do a better job clarifying exactly what antisemitism is and what it is not. The more adeptly Americans can identify antisemitic themes, standards, and tropes, the most likely they are to avoid using them and prevent others around them from doing the same."
19 reviews
May 1, 2025
Superb book that every American ought to read. My review has nothing to do with the author being Senator Chuck Schumer, the Senate Democratic leader. He brings to light the pathetic state of hate against Jews in America. But then, what's new?? When the Jews were being slaughtered in Nazi Germany, America did nothing to help them and indeed shunned them. It was and is all to do with "you Jews killed Jesus" nonsense. The entire fictional story of the Jews saying "His blood be upon us" was cooked up by the Flavian Caesars. The entire fictional story was carefully concocted so the entire Christian world would hate the Jews forever and forever. I see the Jews having been stabbed in their sides, not Jesus.

The main criticism I have about the book is this: he had an opportunity to explore the entire history of antisemitism starting from the Assyrian invasion about 3000 years ago. Instead, he claims that antisemitism is 5000 years old. Ah, I get it: he is talking about the mythical "slavery in Egypt" story. It was a brilliant myth woven into Jewish lore and legend. Whereas "escape from bondage in Egypt" is a metaphor meaning for us to escape from the slavery of addiction to lives of pleasure. I guess the good Senator believes in the myth as being real/historical.

All said and done, the book is very timely. I am a Hindu Indian-American, so I have no bias whatsoever. I am strongly pro-Israel. I take this opportunity to ridicule some reviewers of this book who are raging at Schumer for supporting the "genocide" in Gaza. Whereas the fact is that Hamas, that brutal terrorist organization, hides deep within civilian centers in Gaza such as hospital and even the United Nations buildings. It is impossible for Israel to strike them without killing and wounding civilians in the process. Hamas, they are ruthless cowards who have no hesitation sacrificing tens of thousands of civilians just so the world will rise up against Israel. Israel has been in a life-or-death war against hostile Muslim Arabs ever since its independence. Muslims despise Jews but none of the neighboring Arab countries want any Palestinians because they caused so much havoc wherever they went, particularly when they tried to overthrow the monarchy in Jordan. It is so difficult for Israel to win wars against Islamic terrorists and even worse, win the war against biased media such as the BBC and the left in America. I despise the Trump administration, but I am glad it is ending the antisemitic rage among university faculty and students.
210 reviews2 followers
August 24, 2025
I doubt this book is going to change any opinions. I suspect if this Muslim socialist wins the New York City mayor’s election, Schumer will lose his Senate seat. That may account for the timing of this book.

He makes several references to an Atlantic article by Franklin Foer on the same subject. That may be a shorter read that covers the same material. Neither touch on the subject of The Israel Lobby of which Schumer must certainly be aware. I don’t know if aid to Israel has diminished with the closing down of the Agency for International Development but it used to be the recipient of more American aid than any other country. The last time I checked the size of Israel's GDP was between Italy’s and Spain’s.

If the Jewish settlement of Palestine had had the same comparative demographic balance as the European settlement of North America, all would be fine, but that was not the case. As it is I can’t ever see an end to the troubles there.

One reason I am a conservative is because I believe liberalism underestimates the risks of policy changes. With Schumer’s long career on Capitol Hill, I’m sure he supported a lot of the changes to immigration and the open southern border that has greatly increased the number of Muslims in this country. So it’s hardly surprising that anti-Israel sentiment, what he calls antisemitism, has increased too. It’s a little hard for me to sympathize with him when he’s at least partially responsible for the mess he believes American Jews are in.

One incident Schumer mentions occurred in a public high school in Queens where the students ran rampant through the halls in search of a Jewish teacher who had posted Zionist support on her Facebook page. I looked up the school’s web page and realized I used to teach in a school like that, meaning that the student body is made up largely of students of color. My students were focused exclusively on the microcosm they inhabited. Their interests did not extend beyond that. I remember their marked indifference to the live news of 9/11. So I was curious why those students got energized about a Zionist in their midst. I didn’t find the answer to that but I suspect that some Social Justice Warrior teachers got them up to it. Most teachers in America today who don’t teach math and science (or maybe those too) are brainwashing the kids this way. But they are the people who vote for politicians like Schumer so there you go.
Profile Image for Carrie Campbell-jones.
223 reviews3 followers
September 7, 2025
Antisemitism in America. I must say that I enjoyed this audiobook. It is 2025 and the nation is in a very bad state -in my opinion. The current leader of our free world of America is ignorant to the law, ignorant to history, ignorant to the constitution, and ignorant to everything and everyone that doesn’t share his surname. Everything is seemingly upended. Everything previous leaders historically put in place to keep Americans and its visitors within - safe from harm, protected from our enemies, and secure within our borders, is being undone as a source of revenge, and a stroke to the ego of one man- again in my opinion. The nation as I’ve known it is falling apart. There is a war going on right now involving Israel 🇮🇱 and I just don’t understand why there is so much hatred going on right now and why there is so much talk about Antisemitism today. I like Senator Chuck Schumer. I think he is one of the “last of the Mohicans” so to speak when it comes to integrity in Congress today. Everyone seems to be looking out for themselves, and Chuck and very few others are still fighting for the people. So when I heard that he authored this book, I immediately put it on my reading list because I WANT to know about this very thing!! What IS Antisemitism in America. Mr. Schumer did a great job with this book. He broke it down for me, provided the necessary background and brief history of Judaism, a brief history on Israel, and explained both sides of the argument. Thank you! I share your fears Mr. Schumer. It’s important to be humane while fighting for humanity. It’s important to elect leaders with integrity so that they can uphold integrity of the nation. You can’t request from others what you do not have to give. Great book! Mission accomplished.
Profile Image for Greg Windeler.
21 reviews
April 13, 2025
When I originally marked this book as "reading," I saw antisemitic reviews already posted on Goodreads dated before the book was even released. When I finished the book and went to "rate" it I was unable to as ratings were temporarily blocked because of all the antisemitic hate comments. I wonder how many more times the author and other Jewish people in America see these hate comments than me, a non-jew. Seeing them reinforced my understanding of why the author chose to write this book.

This book was not what I expected it to be. I felt the author took a very narrow approach with some of the arguments he made, such as claiming the printing press was a terrible thing for Antisemitism as it was the first time where antisemitism was able to be mass-produced and spread in America. While not incorrect, I felt the author at times was grasping for straws with some of the arguments he made. However, I am sure there is much more antisemitism that I do not see as a non-jew.

I did learn more about Jewish culture and Antisemitism, including it's prevalence in ways I had not previously thought about, as I read this book. I appreciated the author's perspective on "Antisemitism on the Left" and "Antisemitism on the Right."
Profile Image for Jonathan Karron.
75 reviews5 followers
August 14, 2025
I appreciate Senator Schumer writing this book. He provides strong arguments as to why these are scary times for Jews in America and why so much of the hatred directed at Jews or Israel is unbalanced and/or based on weak arguments.

I will say that what’s going on in Gaza right now is awful and much is indefensible and that the innocent people living there deserve the right to be safe, have easy access to food, etc. Yet it is also complicated when a terrorist organization is in charge of representing these people and that these leaders call on the destruction of Israel.

I fear this book will not reach people who aren’t already well educated on the subject or who haven’t made up their minds one way or the other and cannot be swayed.

I hope for peace in the Middle East and through the world. And that people won’t judge others simply based on their religion or culture.

You may say that in a dreamer but I’m not the only one….
Profile Image for Mary.
74 reviews1 follower
August 30, 2025
I am so grateful for this book. I am a Christian who has always been both curious about Judaism and deeply confused by antisemitism. I love how Schumer organized the book by sharing what Judaism means to him and by telling the history of the Jews by incorporating his own family's story. It was so helpful for me to read how he carefully writes about the complexity of the deep wound of October 7 and the ongoing war in Gaza. He writes with authority and vulnerability on both how Jews have thrived in America historically and the real question of whether or not that has irrevocably changed.

I have read lots of books by politicians that - no matter the topic - always felt like political devices with some hint of artifice or didactic attempts at persuasion. Chuck Schumer is a consummate politician, but I sensed none of that in his book. It felt sincere, rich, and nuanced throughout. I'm grateful he wrote it and shared it with us.
835 reviews16 followers
November 1, 2025
As a Jewish girl from Brooklyn, who walked the same high school halls that he did, I grew up with so much pride for Mr. Schumer. He was a lansman, a mensch, a scholar, and only much later, sometimes a nebish, or even an alta kaker, but still, someone I took tremendous pride in. To me, he has always been someone I believed to be highly intelligent and fair minded. It was with this mindset that I picked up this book.

I found his description of and history of antisemitism to be both accurate and scary. Unfortunately, I don't think his warning will be well received by any of those shouthing for a global intifada. It won't be read or well regarded by those screaming, "From the river to the sea..." The hypocrisy, the double standard, the ignorance with which so many are being blinded, brainwashed, and radicalized today is history repeating itself.

I thank Mr. Schumer for his very well researched and documented warning. I just don't know how helpful it is in today's hateful climate.
18 reviews1 follower
December 24, 2025
Antisemitism in America: A Warning presents Chuck Schumer’s sober and personal reflection on the growing visibility of antisemitism in the United States, informed by both his public role and his Jewish upbringing. The book weaves together historical context, recent events, and personal anecdotes to show how prejudice that once seemed fringe has moved closer to the mainstream. Schumer is most effective when he describes lived experiences and concrete incidents, which give emotional weight to the broader trends he describes. Some readers may find that parts of the analysis echo arguments already familiar from public discourse, rather than offering entirely new insights. Even so, the book succeeds in conveying a sense of urgency about the consequences of ignoring antisemitism as a serious social and democratic threat. Overall, it is a clear and accessible warning that invites readers of all backgrounds to pay closer attention and respond thoughtfully.
Profile Image for Sharyn.
3,157 reviews25 followers
May 31, 2025
This is an amazingly non partisan book as Schumer elucidates the growing problem of antisemitism on the right and left in America today. As a Jew I found this book to be scary and disheartening, though I do not think that's is his intent. He and I grew up in the best of times for Jews in America, but today those times are perhaps fleeting.
If America does not uphold it's belief in Isreal, what does that ported for Isreal, America and the Jews.
For a real understanding of the problems of antisemitism, which now includes conflating a hate of Zionism for a hate of all Jews, this is a very important book. Well written and heartfelt, I hope the fact that he is a Democrat will not stop Republicans from reading it.
Ironically, the first 2 reviews of this book on my page are antisemitic screeds, that I am surprised remain. Charles Lindbergh giving a 1 star review?? Really.
Profile Image for S Roberta.
181 reviews
September 4, 2025
Hamas terrorists and their supporters will hate this book. It gives an overview of antisemitism, both on the right and on the left. But, primarily, it explains the age-old connection between Jews and their holy land. It also brings to light the pro-Hamas protesters' obscene misuse of the words "genocide", "apartheid", and "colonialism" to describe Israel. I am Jewish and of the same generation as Schumer and can relate to all of his experiences of antisemitism. Schumer discusses how Jews can love Israel and at the same time, hate its current right-wing government. I am one of those. I related to all his personal experiences of antisemitism except for his portrayal of the January 6th insurrection since I wasn't there. The book is well-organized and very readable. I believe that all American Jews should read this book, no matter their political affiliation.
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