{"id":132835,"date":"2026-08-11T17:05:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T15:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=132835"},"modified":"2026-08-08T06:19:50","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T04:19:50","slug":"11-05-131","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/?p=132835","title":{"rendered":"A man of courage was needed. Instead, American Jews have Schumer"},"content":{"rendered":"<hr \/>\n<h3 style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"center alignleft\" src=\"http:\/\/www.reunion68.com\/Biuletyn\/img\/jns-1.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"35%\" \/><\/a><span style=\"text-decoration: underline; color: #000080;\"><span><strong><a style=\"color: #000080; text-decoration: underline;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/opinion\/column\/jonathan-s-tobin\/a-man-of-courage-was-needed-instead-american-jews-have-schumer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">A man of courage was needed. Instead, American Jews have Schumer<\/a><\/strong><\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><span style=\"color: #000000;\"><strong>Jonathan S. Tobin<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<div>\n<h4 style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>The Democrats\u2019 Senate leader may have had no choice but to endorse El-Sayed following his primary victory. Business as usual has normalized Jew-hatred.<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/div>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/static.jns.org\/dims4\/default\/cd47122\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/4529x2550+0+87\/resize\/1000x563!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.jns.org%2Fb5%2F11%2Fca08bcb14c92a5ffab1071c696e3%2Fnew-york-sen-chuck-schumer.jpg\" width=\"100%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em>Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) enters the Public Citizen\u2019s Combating Corruption forum at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on July 30, 2026, where he called for stronger anti-corruption measures in the U.S. government by proposing a new independent Anti-Corruption Bureau. Photo by Finn Gomez\/Getty Images.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Members of the Jewish community, as well as Democrats and Republicans of all backgrounds with a moral compass, have been expecting too much of Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Decent people who oppose the normalization of Jew-hatred may have hoped that the Senate Minority Leader would have moved heaven and earth to stop Dr. Abdul El-Sayed from winning his party\u2019s nomination for the U.S. Senate in Michigan. And once El-Sayed narrowly won that primary this week, principled political observers might have hoped that Schumer would have refused to endorse a man whose campaign centered on an effort to\u00a0<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link\" style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/opinion\/column\/jonathan-s-tobin\/el-sayed-the-democrats-aipac-and-the-war-on-american-jews\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">stigmatize and drive<\/a><\/span>\u00a0American Jews out of the public square in the general election.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>A victory for antisemitism<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Adding another left-wing populist allied to the Democratic Socialist faction who seeks to revive destructive ideologies of the past is one thing. So, too, is the accession to a position of influence of yet another politician who has been steeped in the toxic leftist ideas of the present, such as critical race theory, intersectionality and settler-colonialism, all to exacerbate racial divisions. Several already represent the Democrats in the U.S. House of Representatives. Once you officially accept that the progressive extremists that comprise \u201cThe Squad\u201d in that legislative body are legitimate colleagues, the start of a Senate version isn\u2019t much of an innovation.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">But El-Sayed is more than just another leftist.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">At a time when there is an unprecedented surge of antisemitism around the globe and in the United States, the notion of simply shrugging off the possibility of someone who rationalizes terror against Jews and seeks to demonize the State of Israel and its people (who make up half of the world\u2019s Jewish population) ought to be unacceptable for any decent person. For a person with Islamist beliefs of his own, El-Sayed has the chutzpah to seek to redefine Judaism so as to eliminate a key element of faith and Jewish peoplehood\u2014the love of and devotion to the land of Israel, and the obligation to support its Jewish citizens. That alone would be reason enough to oppose him.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">With respect to Schumer, that was never going to happen.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">There are two reasons for this. One is simply a matter of the nation\u2019s political organizational chart. Schumer, for better or worse, is the Senate Minority Leader. The responsibilities that go with that position make it impossible for him to stand aside from the battle for the open Michigan seat that Democrats desperately need to take back control of the Senate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The other reason is personal. It would have been entirely out of character for a man whose entire adult life has been singularly devoted to partisan politics, rather than principled advocacy or good governance, to suddenly grow a conscience and say he will have nothing to do with El-Sayed.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>A life of partisanship<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">After all, politics is Schumer\u2019s life. He has literally never had any other job, having won a seat in New York\u2019s State Assembly right after graduating from Harvard Law School in 1974. He won election to the House in 1980, where he served for 18 years before winning a Senate seat. He spent his first 18 years in the Senate (1999-2017) working assiduously to climb to the top of his party\u2019s Senate caucus and the last decade busily defending that position. And he knows he will have a battle on his hands to retain it next January, whether or not the Democrats gain a majority.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Over the course of his 52 years in elective politics, he has employed every piece of partisan artifice and skill imaginable\u2014not to mention every dirty trick in the book\u2014to get ahead. As such, there was simply no way for him to say that El-Sayed\u2019s open antisemitism was a bridge too far and that he would oppose his election. It didn\u2019t matter that the 41-year-old political hopeful has pronounced claims to defend Jewish safety, which are as disingenuous as the ones touted by another Islamist, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Doing so would not only have made it impossible for him to retain his leadership position when the 120th Congress convenes next year and organizes itself. The drift to the left among congressional Democrats is painfully obvious to a person who is as single-minded as Schumer about obtaining every advantage on Capitol Hill, as opposed to pursuing ideological goals. Indeed, it\u2019s entirely possible that a Senate Democratic caucus, whose membership\u00a0<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link\" style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/news\/u-s-news\/nearly-all-senate-democrats-vote-to-block-israel-arms-sales\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">voted<\/a><\/span>\u00a040-7 in April of this year to block arms sales to Israel, might have ousted him sooner than that, had he openly opposed El-Sayed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), another relentless foe of Israel, is already making noises about deposing Schumer as leader. And New York\u2019s progressive activists and Democratic Socialists, who elected Mamdani nine months ago, are already chomping at the bit to unseat him when his term is up in 2028. \u201cSquad\u201d ringleader and fellow New Yorker Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is a possible challenger, if she doesn\u2019t run for president that year.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Once you grasp these facts, his decision is easy to understand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">The same is true for New York\u2019s junior senator, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand. She is the chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC). And it\u2019s her job to elect Democrats.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">It\u2019s true that Schumer\u00a0<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link\" style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/06\/05\/us\/politics\/schumer-michigan-democratic-senate-primary.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">privately<\/a><\/span>\u00a0opposed El-Sayed during the primary. But fearing the anger of his party\u2019s base\u2014not to mention Senate colleagues like Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), who warned him to stay out of the race\u2014he confined his efforts to private conversations with donors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Much like his \u201cprivate\u201d opposition to former President Barack Obama\u2019s disastrous Iran nuclear deal in 2015, Schumer wouldn\u2019t stick his neck out even on a matter of life and death like that. He may have spent his career boasting to Jewish audiences that he was the\u00a0<i>shomer<\/i>, or \u201cguardian,\u201d of the State of Israel in Congress.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">But that was never true\u2014or at least not when it might have required some courage or a willingness to pay a political price for defending Jewish security in the Middle East or the United States. In 2024, Schumer did it again with a\u00a0<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link\" style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/israel-news\/large-backlash-to-schumer-calling-netanyahu-peace-obstacle\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">speech<\/a><\/span>\u00a0attacking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to give cover to his party\u2019s leaders, former President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, for their retreat from a position of support to a Jewish state fighting for its life.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Gillibrand and Schumer see their task as being concerned about picking people who can win elections and help them obtain power, not to judge their moral character. That\u2019s why they were prepared to stand by Graham Platner\u2014the Nazi-tattooed, Israel-bashing Maine oysterman\u2014after he won the Maine primary earlier this year until allegations of sexual misconduct finally ended his run for the Senate.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">As Schumer said in an\u00a0<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link\" style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/punchbowl.news\/article\/senate\/schumer-on-midterms-el-sayed\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">interview<\/a><\/span>\u00a0with\u00a0<i>Punchbowl News<\/i>\u00a0this week when explaining his decision on El-Sayed: \u201cThe issue isn\u2019t me. It\u2019s about winning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">A Democratic majority and the ability to thwart, if not impeach, President Donald Trump is the only thing that matters to Democrats. And that is the agenda that Schumer will follow.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>A new \u2018Profiles in Courage?\u2019<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Nobody expects Schumer to write a new chapter in President John F. Kennedy\u2019s book\u00a0<i>Profiles in Courage<\/i>\u00a0about courageous senators who paid a heavy political price for voting as their conscience, rather than their party, dictated. But this is no ordinary moment in American politics.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">At no previous time in American history has antisemitism been such a potent factor in public discourse.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Since the Hamas-led Palestinian-Arab terror attacks in southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the volume of Jew-hatred in the American academy, media, culture, the arts, politics and online chatter has grown to a level unknown in living memory. The demonization of Israel and the Jewish people by toxic leftist ideologies that falsely labeled them as \u201cwhite\u201d oppressors didn\u2019t just lead to all those demonstrations on campuses and city streets, where mobs openly called for Jewish genocide (\u201cFrom the river to the sea\u201d) and terrorism against Jews everywhere (\u201cGlobalize the intifada\u201d).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">It has created an atmosphere where blood libels against the Jewish victims of an intended genocide were accused of implementing genocide against the Palestinians became normalized in newspapers like\u00a0<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link\" style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/opinion\/column\/jonathan-s-tobin\/rapist-dogs-woke-journalisms-antisemitic-war-on-israel-crosses-a-line\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\"><i>The New York Times<\/i><\/a><\/span>\u00a0and in political debates. Liberal Democrats who wouldn\u2019t bend their knees to the new Jew-hatred have been\u00a0<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link\" style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/opinion\/column\/jonathan-s-tobin\/dan-goldman-and-the-decline-and-fall-of-liberal-jewish-democrats\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">ousted<\/a><\/span>\u00a0from their seats in the House. And now, Jews have good reason to fear that the\u00a0<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link\" style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/opinion\/column\/jonathan-s-tobin\/mamdani-bears-responsibility-for-anti-jewish-violence-in-new-york\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">incitement<\/a><\/span>\u00a0against them from people in power like Mamdani is putting them in imminent danger of physical violence.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">At such a moment, business and politics as usual of the sort that Schumer has practiced during a half-century of his grubby and grasping efforts to win political prizes is simply insufficient to the challenge of the moment.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>The \u2018shomer\u2019 that wasn\u2019t<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Perhaps Schumer never thought that he\u2019d be required to behave in a manner that would conform to his Jewish stump speech about being a\u00a0<i>shomer<\/i>. His own life story exemplified the classic 20th-century American Jewish success story, in which a member of the community rose to great heights while not having to shed his Jewish identity. Had he left politics a decade ago when he finally achieved his ambition to be the Democrats\u2019 Senate leader, he would have been able to escape that charge. But it was the 75-year-old\u2019s fate to last long enough to be in a position of great influence when his fellow Jews were in danger.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">We have already seen how uninterested he has been in defending Jewish security. That was amply\u00a0<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link\" style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/column\/jonathan-s-tobin\/who-made-antisemitism-a-partisan-issue-chuck-schumer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">demonstrated<\/a><\/span>\u00a0when Americans learned in 2024 that he had advised the Board of Trustees of New York\u2019s Columbia University that \u201conly Republicans\u201d were concerned about their toleration and encouragement of antisemitism on their Morningside Heights campus after Oct. 7. He may have\u00a0<span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link\" style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/column\/jonathan-s-tobin\/chuck-schumers-moral-cowardice-has-enabled-antisemitism\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" data-cms-ai=\"0\">dared<\/a><\/span>\u00a0to write a book about antisemitism that was published in 2025 as part of his ongoing efforts to pose as a defender of the Jews. But by the time it came out, revelations about his communications with Columbia, as well as the atmosphere of Jew-hatred simmering within his own party, forced him to cancel his book tour.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Characteristically, that humiliation left him undaunted. Indeed, Schumer may well imagine that he can go on indefinitely as one of the nation\u2019s most powerful men without being held accountable for being as bereft of principles as he is of shame.<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>A moral test<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Yet the El-Sayed candidacy isn\u2019t just another embarrassment for the country\u2019s most prominent liberal Jew. Along with every other element of the current surge of vile bigotry that is changing the face of American politics in ways we are only beginning to understand, it is the kind of moral test that comes along once every generation or two.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">It\u2019s a moment when lifelong legislators are required to step up and respond to the challenges of history. And we know that most Democrats, including almost all of those who seek their party\u2019s presidential nomination in 2028, are siding with the antisemites like El-Sayed\u2014or staying silent.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Republicans have done better, but if they allow someone like Vice President JD Vance to succeed Trump, then they, too, will fail.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">Fair or unfair, public figures are judged not so much on the sum of their lifework but on how they respond to those singular moments in time, whether it is the debate about slavery and the Civil War in the 19th century or the rise of the totalitarians in the 20th. We don\u2019t know what will happen in the coming years, but it is becoming apparent that the explosive growth of antisemitism will, in one way or another, create yet another pivotal chapter in history. Many people will likely emerge from this struggle with their reputations either destroyed or enhanced.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000080;\">At such a time, it is a pity that rather than a person of courage and character, American Jews are stuck with the likes of the feckless Schumer to represent them.<\/span><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/static.jns.org\/dims4\/default\/c4ab209\/2147483647\/strip\/true\/crop\/480x480+0+0\/resize\/100x100!\/format\/webp\/quality\/90\/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fk2-prod-jns-prod.s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F17%2F27%2F664e67814132ab4ca7357cbff801%2Funtitled-design.png\" width=\"20%\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\"><em><strong>Jonathan S. Tobin<\/strong> is editor-in-chief of the Jewish News Syndicate, a senior contributor for The Federalist, a columnist for Newsweek and a contributor to many other publications. He covers the American political scene, foreign policy, the U.S.-Israel relationship, Middle East diplomacy, the Jewish world and the arts. He hosts the JNS \u201cThink Twice\u201d podcast, both the weekly video program and the \u201cJonathan Tobin Daily\u201d program, which are available on all major audio platforms and YouTube. Previously, he was executive editor, then senior online editor and chief political blogger, for Commentary magazine. Before that, he was editor-in-chief of The Jewish Exponent in Philadelphia and editor of the Connecticut Jewish Ledger. He has won more than 60 awards for commentary, art criticism and other writing. He appears regularly on television, commenting on politics and foreign policy. Born in New York City, he studied history at Columbia University.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n<hr style=\"height: 15px; background: #d0e6fa; width: 100%;\" \/>\n<div id=\"content\" class=\"content-alignment\">\n<div id=\"watch-description\" class=\"yt-uix-button-panel\">\n<div id=\"watch-description-text\" style=\"text-align: center;\">\n<p><em>Zawarto\u015b\u0107 publikowanych artyku\u0142\u00f3w i materia\u0142\u00f3w nie reprezentuje pogl\u0105d\u00f3w ani opinii Reunion&#8217;68,<\/em><em><br \/>\nani te\u017c webmastera Blogu Reunion&#8217;68, chyba ze jest to wyra\u017anie zaznaczone.<br \/>\nTwoje uwagi, linki, w\u0142asne artyku\u0142y lub wiadomo\u015bci prze\u015blij na adres:<br \/>\n<\/em><span style=\"color: #000080;\"><strong><em><a style=\"color: #000080;\" href=\"mailto:webmaster@reunion68.com\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">webmaster@reunion68.com<\/span><\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<hr style=\"width: 100%;\" \/>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A man of courage was needed. Instead, American Jews have Schumer Jonathan S. Tobin The Democrats\u2019 Senate leader may have had no choice but to endorse El-Sayed following his primary victory. Business as usual has normalized Jew-hatred. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) enters the Public Citizen\u2019s Combating Corruption forum at the National Press Club [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[6],"tags":[33,24],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132835"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=132835"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132835\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132852,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132835\/revisions\/132852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=132835"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=132835"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.reunion68.se\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=132835"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}