Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - September 29, 2026, 09 AM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - September 29, 2026, 09 AM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. At Duke
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  Speaker 1: Wesleyan University, a Jewish professor alleges he endured ongoing antisemitic
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  Speaker 1: harassment and discrimination. The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human
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  Speaker 1: Rights Under Law filed a federal complaint with the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Equal Employment Opportunity Commission on behalf of Alexander Kranjek, an
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  Speaker 1: associate professor of psychology. According to the complaint, Kranjic believes
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  Speaker 1: the university treated anti-Zionist hostility directed at him differently than
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  Speaker 1: other forms of discrimination, and he has expressed disappointment that
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  Speaker 1: raising concerns led to retaliation. The complaint also states that
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  Speaker 1: graduate students in the psychology department feared reporting antisemitism could
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  Speaker 1: negatively impact their grades, clinical training, licensure, or future career prospects.
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  Speaker 1: An emeritus Jewish faculty member described an antisemitic work environment
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  Speaker 1: Predating October 7, 2023, Duquesne University's Vice President of Marketing
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  Speaker 1: and Communications, Gabriel Welsh, stated the university takes such allegations
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  Speaker 1: seriously and follows established procedures, adding that the university takes
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  Speaker 1: proactive measures to prevent antisemitism and has a robust process
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  Speaker 1: for reviewing and investigating claims. The complaint details how, after
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  Speaker 1: a Gaza-related petition was circulated, Kranjek distributed a survey, identifying
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  Speaker 1: what he believed were discriminatory assumptions about Jews, Israelis, and Zionists.
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  Speaker 1: A visiting faculty member reportedly responded by calling Kranjek's survey deceptive, offensive,
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  Speaker 1: and ideologically motivated. Kranjek noted that in academic settings, Jews
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  Speaker 1: are often seen as Zionists and collectively cast as colonizers.
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  Speaker 1: Dina Margulies, a litigation staff attorney for the Brandeis Center,
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  Speaker 1: stated there's a lack of understanding of what constitutes antisemitism,
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  Speaker 1: emphasizing that while anti-Israel protests are permissible, blocking Jewish supporters
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  Speaker 1: of Israel is not. The complaint also cites an incident
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  Speaker 1: where a graduate student defended her right to support violent
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  Speaker 1: acts against Israeli civilians by Hamas during a town hall.
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  Speaker 1: And Dukwesna's alleged failure to intervene after Kranjek reported antisemitic
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  Speaker 1: and anti-Israel content on social media. including a student posting
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  Speaker 1: his name and calling him a racist. In France, Jordan Bardella,
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  Speaker 1: a key ally of far-right presidential frontrunner Marine Le Pen,
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  Speaker 1: is facing allegations of anti-Semitic comments made in 2013. Bardella
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  Speaker 1: and Le Pen have dismissed these accusations, calling them part
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  Speaker 1: of a total war orchestrated by opponents to destabilize their
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  Speaker 1: party's presidential campaign ahead of the 2027 elections. the allegations
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  Speaker 1: were published by the investigative website Mediapart, which Bardella has denied.
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  Speaker 1: Le Pen has expressed total confidence in Bardella, who has
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  Speaker 1: been instrumental in the National Rally Party's efforts to decontaminate
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  Speaker 1: its image and shed the legacy of Jean-Marie Le Pen's
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  Speaker 1: repeated anti-Semitic remarks. Bardella previously made an unprecedented visit to
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  Speaker 1: Israel in 2025, an effort to demonstrate the RN's evolving credentials.
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  Speaker 1: In the United States, Senate Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer
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  Speaker 1: stated at a New York Public Library event in May
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  Speaker 1: 2025 that people who do not believe Israel should exist
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  Speaker 1: as a Jewish state are antisemites. According to resurfaced video
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  Speaker 1: of the event, where he was promoting his book, Antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: in America, a warning, Schumer said, to be anti-Zionist, to
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  Speaker 1: not believe the Jewish people should have a state, is
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  Speaker 1: in my view a form of antisemitism. He further clarified
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  Speaker 1: that if one believes every other people should have their
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  Speaker 1: own state, but not the Jewish people, that is anti-Semitic.
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  Speaker 1: The report indicates this definition could extend to figures like
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  Speaker 1: Mayor Zoran Mamdani and Democratic candidate Abdel El-Sayed. Mamdani drew
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  Speaker 1: criticism during a mayoral race for declining to state whether
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  Speaker 1: Israel should exist as a Jewish state. Later saying, Israel
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  Speaker 1: has a right to exist with equal rights for all.
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  Speaker 1: He has been a critic of Israel. supporting BDS campaigns
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  Speaker 1: and accusing the nation of genocide in Gaza. Earlier, Netanyahu
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  Speaker 1: accused Mamdani of fanning hatred and making New York less
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  Speaker 1: safe for Jews. El-Sayed, when asked about Israel's right to
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  Speaker 1: exist as a Jewish state, has sought to reframe the question,
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  Speaker 1: disputing the idea of an ethno-state and questioning why tax
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  Speaker 1: dollars are sent to Israel for alleged genocide and apartheid
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  Speaker 1: rather than domestic investment. the New York Public Library emphasized
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  Speaker 1: its presentation of diverse viewpoints on hot-button topics. In Canada,
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  Speaker 1: Brandon Taylor Moore has been sentenced to an 18-month conditional
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  Speaker 1: sentence order, including house arrest, for publicly inciting hatred against
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  Speaker 1: Jewish people. Between February 2024 and December 2025, Moore operated
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  Speaker 1: an ex, formerly Twitter, account with approximately 180,000 followers. posting
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  Speaker 1: statements that included hateful invective and calls for the removal
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  Speaker 1: or exclusion of Jewish people. Crown Prosecutor David Pitch described
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  Speaker 1: these as hateful communications. Victim impact statements, including from David
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  Speaker 1: Katzman of Congregation Agudas Israel, spoke of the anxiety, hurt
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  Speaker 1: and fear caused by Moore's posts, drawing on familiar antisemitic tropes.
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  Speaker 1: Rochelle Dierenfeld of the Alliance of Canadians Combating Antisemitism said,
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  Speaker 1: noted that the posts used dehumanizing narratives common in the
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  Speaker 1: persecution of Jewish people. Richard Robertson of Bainé Brith, Canada,
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  Speaker 1: stated the sentence did not adequately reflect the gravity of
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  Speaker 1: the charges or the harm inflicted. Moore's sentence includes house
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  Speaker 1: arrest for the first six months, a curfew for the
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  Speaker 1: subsequent six months, mandatory personal counseling and educational programming for
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  Speaker 1: hate speech, and 150 hours of community service. Finally, an
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  Speaker 1: opinion piece in the Times of Israel described an encounter
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  Speaker 1: with a London barber who openly expressed anti-Jewish sentiments to
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  Speaker 1: the author. The author characterized this as a shift from
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  Speaker 1: veiled dog whistles to a direct expression of prejudice. I'm
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  Speaker 1: Rachel Adler, thank you for listening to Antisemitism Watch. Follow
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  Speaker 1: Antisemitism Watch in your podcast app so you don't miss
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  Speaker 1: the next update. This report was generated with AI assistance
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  Speaker 1: and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important details with primary sources.