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Chuck Schumer Postpones Book Tour on Antisemitism Amid Planned Protests, Outrage Over Funding Bill
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
US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer’s upcoming tour to promote his new book on antisemitism has been postponed for “security reasons” amid outrage over his decision to prevent a government shutdown last week
“Due to security concerns, Senator Schumer’s book events are being rescheduled,” a spokesperson for the New York Democrat said in a statement.
Schumer, who is Jewish, was slated to hold multiple events this week promoting his book, Antisemitism in America: A Warning, which is set to be released on Tuesday.
One of the events was supposed to take place at Temple Emanu-El Streicker Center in New York City. Information regarding the event, which was set to be moderated by US Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY), was removed from the venue’s website.
Schumer’s other promotional events in Washington, DC and Baltimore were also shelved on short notice. The venues did not provide a reason for nixing the senator’s scheduled appearance.
Jewish activists planned a protest of Schumer’s now-cancelled New York City book event, lambasting the Democratic leader for failing to advance the Antisemitism Awareness Act to the Senate floor for a vote. In addition, the left-wing anti-Zionist group Jewish Voice for Peace organized a protest of his Baltimore book event, accusing the senator of helping facilitate Israel’s so-called “genocide” in Gaza.
The Democratic leader has also faced tremendous blowback over Senate Democrats’ decision to help pass a continuing resolution and thwart a government shutdown. The Senate voted 54 to 46 to pass the funding bill. Schumer argued that a government shutdown would provide US President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk a greater amount of unchecked power.
“I know a lot of members didn’t like the CR [continuing resolution — the government shutdown would be far worse. A government shutdown gives Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE [the US Departmet of Government Efficiency] almost complete power … to close down because they can decide what is an essential service,” Schumer said in a statement.
In the 17 months following the Hamas terrorist group’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, Schumer has struggled to coalesce strident support for the Jewish state among Democratic senators. Although Democrats have repeatedly issued nominal support for Israel’s right to “self-defense,” liberal lawmakers have steadily adopted a more adversarial posture against the Jewish state. In November 2024, 17 Democratic senators voted to impose a partial arms embargo on Israel, citing frustration over mounting civilian casualties in Gaza.
Furthermore, critics allege that Schumer has not done enough to fight antisemitism in the aftermath of the Oct. 7 atrocities. According to a report by the US Committee on the Workforce and Education, Schumer advised embattled administrators at Columbia University to “keep heads down” amid outrage over surging antisemitism within the student body.
Nonetheless, Schumer has continued using his platform to voice support for Israel’s right to defend itself. In a recent interview with the New York Times, Chuck Schumer defended Israel from false accusations of “genocide” in Gaza and lambasted the United Nations as “antisemitically against Israel.”
“Genocide is described as a country or some group tries to wipe out a whole race of people, a whole nationality of people. So, if Israel was not provoked and just invaded Gaza and shot at random Palestinians, Gazans, that would be genocide. That’s not what happened,” Schumer told the Times. “In fact, the opposite happened. And Hamas is much closer to genocidal than Israel.”
Schumer lamented the rising tide of anti-Jewish hatred across the country, claiming that antisemites often use the word “Zionist” as a placeholder for “Jew.”
“I’ve criticized the Israeli government, and I’ve criticized [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu, as you know. Criticism of Israel and how it conducted the war is not antisemitic. But it begins to shade over, and it shades over in a bunch of different ways. When you use the word ‘Zionist’ for Jew — you Zionist pig — you mean you Jewish pig,” Schumer said.
The post Chuck Schumer Postpones Book Tour on Antisemitism Amid Planned Protests, Outrage Over Funding Bill 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.