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Chuck Schumer, Doug Emhoff Reflect on Jewish American Experience, Antisemitism at Democratic National Convention
US Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) holds a press conference in the US Capitol in Washington, DC, April 23, 2024. Photo: Annabelle Gordon / CNP/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect
Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff and Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) reflected on their experiences as Jewish Americans and surging antisemitism across the US during the second night of the Democratic National Convention (DNC) on Tuesday.
Schumer, the majority leader in the US Senate, discussed the existence of antisemitism in American society, reflecting on the impact that it could have on his grandchildren. The senator also took a swipe at Republican presidential nominee and former US President Donald Trump for supposedly perpetuating harmful stereotypes about the Jewish community.
“As the highest-ranking Jewish official in American history, I want my grandkids and all grandkids to never, never face discrimination because of who they are. But Donald Trump, this is a guy who peddles antisemitic stereotypes,” Schumer said at the DNC in Chicago. “He even invited a white supremacist to Mar-a-Lago. But unfortunately, his prejudice goes in all directions: he fuels Islamophobia, and issued a Muslim ban as president. Tonight folks, I am wearing this blue square, to stand up against antisemitism, to stand up to all hate.”
He continued, “Our children, our grandchildren — no matter their race or creed or gender or family — deserve better than Donald Trump’s American carnage.”
Schumer’s remarks came as the Democratic Party continued to face an onslaught of pressure from progressives to adopt a tougher posture toward the State of Israel. Protesters have lined the streets of Chicago during the DNC, demanding that the party secure a ceasefire in Gaza and enact an arms embargo against Israel.
Schumer, the highest-ranking Jewish elected official in Congress, has adopted a more adversarial posture against Israel in the months following Oct. 7. In March, he called for new elections in the Jewish state to replace Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. During Netanyahu’s address to Congress last month, Schumer refused to shake the Israeli premier’s hand, greeting him with a head nod instead.
Emhoff, the husband of Democratic presidential nominee and US Vice President Kamala Harris, praised his wife for encouraging him to speak out against antisemitism in his role as second gentleman during his DNC speech.
“Kamala has fought against antisemitism and all forms of hate her whole career,” said Emhoff, the first Jewish spouse of either a vice president or president. “She’s the one who encouraged me as second gentleman to take up that fight, which is so personal to me.”
The US has experienced a record surge in antisemitic incidents since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel, amid the ensuing war in Hamas-ruled Gaza.
“I love being Jewish,” Emhoff said. “I love it. I love everything about it. I want to shout it from the mountaintops.”
Emhoff celebrated his interfaith marriage and “blended family,” claiming that Harris has played an integral role in helping him strengthen his Jewish faith.
“Kamala has connected me more deeply to my faith,” Emhoff said, “even though it’s not the same as hers.”
“She comes to synagogue with me for High Holidays, and I go to church with her for Easter,” he added.
Jewish and pro-Israel activists have expressed concern that Harris could be more hostile to Israel than Biden. She skipped Netanyahu’s congressional address and, after later meeting privately with the Israeli premier, held a press conference in which she vowed to “not be silent” about humanitarian conditions in Gaza. Harris also seemingly defended anti-Israel campus protesters in July, saying that the demonstrators are “showing what human emotion should be.”
The decision to spotlight Emhoff’s faith has been perceived by some observers as part of a calculated effort to lure Jewish voters into supporting Harris. Some pro-Israel voters have expressed concern that Harris would not be supportive of Israel, citing her lack of longstanding ties to the Jewish state and warm relationship with the left flank of the Democratic Party.
Some recent polls suggest that Jewish voters are set to flock to Republicans in historic numbers. Jewish voters prefer Harris over Trump, the Republican Party’s nominee, by a margin of 52.7 percent to 45.9 percent, according to a survey conducted by pollster Richard Baris.
Since 1968, American Jews have supported the Democratic presidential nominee over the Republican nominee on average by a staggering margin of 71 percent to 26 percent, according to Jewish Virtual Library. Jewish voters supported incumbent US President Joe Biden over Trump by a margin of 68 percent to 30 percent in 2020.
The post Chuck Schumer, Doug Emhoff Reflect on Jewish American Experience, Antisemitism at Democratic National Convention first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.