The morning his book tour was to launch in Baltimore, New York Senator Senator Chuck Schumer indefinitely postponed his public appearances this week amid a wave of backlash over his support for a Republican budget bill to avoid a government shutdown.
Schumer was scheduled to speak at the Enoch Pratt Library Central Branch at 7 p.m. on March 17 about his book “Antisemitism in America.” Pratt Library announced on social media at 10 a.m. that Schumer’s book tour events for the week of March 17 were being postponed for “security reasons.”
The Baltimore chapter of Jewish Voice for Peace planned to protest outside the library to assert that criticizing Israel is not antisemitic. JVP is a Jewish group committed to fighting antisemitism and supporting Palestinian liberation.
A demonstration organized by Jewish activists will continue, JVP confirmed to Baltimore Beat.
“Senator Schumer works with organizations like the ADL and AIPAC who support white supremacists like Trump and Elon Musk and Jewish supremacists like Netanyahu. If the Senator really cares about fighting antisemitism, it’s time to cut ties with these complicit organizations,” Baltimore resident Dr. Zackary Berger said in a JVP press release.
Schumer has also drawn the ire of many fellow Democratic lawmakers who saw rejecting the Republican budget bill as one of the few ways to leverage their power in Congress where Republicans control both chambers and refused to negotiate.
Schumer’s decision has been widely criticized as a strategic blunder, with some House Democrats reportedly supporting a primary challenge against him and some senators questioning whether he should remain in leadership.
Before the vote, House Democrats urged Schumer to vote against the bill, writing that the “American people sent Democrats to Congress to fight against Republican dysfunction and chaos” and that the party should not be “capitulating to their obstruction.”
Over the weekend, plans to protest Schumer’s book talk in Baltimore grew beyond JVP as progressive and liberal organizations in Baltimore and nationally, like Baltimore Artists Against Apartheid and Indivisible, encouraged members to join in.
JVP’s rally and town hall is scheduled for 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on March 17 in coordination with Baltimore Artists Against Apartheid and Greater Baltimore DSA.
The group is demanding Schumer publicly oppose President Trump’s Executive Order 14188, or Additional Measures to Combat Anti-Semitism, which calls for the deportation of students deemed antisemitic.
Additionally, they are urging him to withdraw support for Antisemitism Awareness Act, which directs the Department of Education to adopt the controversial International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism when investigating alleged antisemitic acts on campus. The American Civil Liberties Union and other critics argue the bill is designed to suppress legitimate criticism of Israel’s occupation of Palestinian Territories, which is considered illegal under international law.
JVP is also calling on Schumer to sever ties with groups like the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), a civil rights group that praised the detention of Columbia student and U.S. permanent resident Mahmoud Khalil but defended Elon Musk after his Nazi-salute-like hand gesture.
Activists say Schumer’s portrayal of pro-Palestine protests as antisemitic has helped legitimize the Trump administration’s crackdown on student activism — which is widely seen as an attack on First Amendment rights.