Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - September 10, 2026, 01 PM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - September 10, 2026, 01 PM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. The Metropolitan
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  Speaker 1: Police in London has launched a major security operation ahead
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  Speaker 1: of the Jewish High Holy Days, increasing patrols and enhanced
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  Speaker 1: measures at synagogues and community sites. This action follows a
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  Speaker 1: 23% surge in antisemitism across London in the last 12 months,
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  Speaker 1: according to Scotland Yard. The operation is also a response
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  Speaker 1: to past attacks, including an incident last year on Yom Kippur,
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  Speaker 1: where two people were killed in a car and knife
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  Speaker 1: attack at a synagogue in Manchester, as reported by the
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  Speaker 1: Metropolitan Police. A spokesperson for Campaign Against Antisemitism welcomed the
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  Speaker 1: commitment to reinforcing security, but called for the government to
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  Speaker 1: articulate a plan for tackling the surge, stating, The Jewish
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  Speaker 1: community cannot be expected to live behind ever-higher walls. In
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  Speaker 1: the United States, the U.S. Department of Education's Office for
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  Speaker 1: Civil Rights has opened two federal civil rights investigations. These
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  Speaker 1: probes target the Etiwanda School District in California and the
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  Speaker 1: American Musical Dramatic Academy, or AMDA, in New York. The
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  Speaker 1: investigations stem from complaints filed by the Louis D. Brandeis
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  Speaker 1: Center for Human Rights Under Law, the Anti-Defamation League, ADL,
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  Speaker 1: and Stand With Us, alleging that Jewish students faced antisemitic
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  Speaker 1: harassment and retaliation, and that their schools failed to adequately
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  Speaker 1: protect them. as reported by the ADL and echoed by
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  Speaker 1: other outlets. At Etiwanda Intermediate School, a seventh-grade Jewish student
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  Speaker 1: was allegedly subjected to repeated harassment, including being struck with
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  Speaker 1: a stick and choked, and told to shut her stupid
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  Speaker 1: Jewish ass up. Subsequent incidents reportedly included students giving Nazi salutes,
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  Speaker 1: drawing swastikas, praising Hitler, and making anti-Jewish slurs. One student
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  Speaker 1: allegedly said, I love making Jews uncomfortable, especially with Hitler jokes.
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  Speaker 1: according to the complaint detailed by the Brandeis Center, ADL,
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  Speaker 1: and Stand With Us. At AMDA, a Jewish student reportedly
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  Speaker 1: faced retaliation after reporting anti-Semitic harassment, which included flyers glorifying
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  Speaker 1: violence against Jews being placed under her dorm room door.
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  Speaker 1: Although AMDA reportedly found students responsible, it imposed a mutual
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  Speaker 1: no-contact directive, which the complaint alleges placed additional burdens on
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  Speaker 1: the Jewish student who had reported the incident. according to
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  Speaker 1: the Louis D., Brandeis Centre and ADL. Separately, a man
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  Speaker 1: has been charged in the UK with a racially or
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  Speaker 1: religiously aggravated Section 5 public order offence for performing a
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  Speaker 1: Nazi salute outside a synagogue as worshippers were leaving, according
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  Speaker 1: to reporting reviewed for this episode. In politics, US representatives
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  Speaker 1: Mike Lawler and August P. Pfluger are calling on New
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  Speaker 1: York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani to skip the upcoming 25th
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  Speaker 1: anniversary of 11 memorial events. As reported by Fox News,
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  Speaker 1: Rep Lawler stated, I think Mayor Mamdani has proven himself
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  Speaker 1: to be a vile antisemite. I think he has associated
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  Speaker 1: with people who believe America deserved 9-11. An online petition,
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  Speaker 1: signed by over 100,000 people and led by family members
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  Speaker 1: of 9-11 victims, reportedly cites Mamdani's praise for Imam Suraj Wahaj,
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  Speaker 1: who has been linked to radical Islam, and his endorsement
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  Speaker 1: of candidates like Aberkawas, who described 9-11 with controversial language. Rep. P.
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  Speaker 1: Pfluger also stated that Mamdani should not attend memorial events
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  Speaker 1: until he can. Actually call out terror groups around the
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  Speaker 1: world for what they want to do to this country,
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  Speaker 1: and that includes Hamas. On the campus front, Professor Jennifer M.
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  Speaker 1: Nookin became Columbia University's 21st president on July 1, 2026,
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  Speaker 1: the first Jewish leader in three decades. As noted by
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  Speaker 1: reporting on her appointment, she arrives after two turbulent years
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  Speaker 1: of campus antisemitism controversy at the university. Brian Cohen, a
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  Speaker 1: Hillel leader at Columbia, expressed hope that President M. Nookin
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  Speaker 1: would bring the reputation, experience, and understanding that we need.
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  Speaker 1: Historian James Loeffler believes American Jews are more vulnerable than ever.
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  Speaker 1: Caught between the antisemitic MAGA right and left-wing demagogues, including
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  Speaker 1: figures like Tucker Carlson and Hassan Piker. This assessment, reported
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  Speaker 1: by Haaretz, attributes this vulnerability to continuing reverberations from the
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  Speaker 1: Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the Iran war, characterizing the American conversation
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  Speaker 1: about antisemitism as dysfunctional. In Toronto, Mayor Olivia Chow was
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  Speaker 1: absent from a recent debate on antisemitism and community safety.
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  Speaker 1: Her campaign cited that she would not participate in any
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  Speaker 1: debates before her re-election campaign officially launched on September 9, 2026,
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  Speaker 1: as reported by the Jewish Lawyers of Canada, which hosted
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  Speaker 1: the forum. Challengers criticized her absence, with city councillor Brad
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  Speaker 1: Bradford stating, I'm disappointed that the mayor wasn't here tonight
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  Speaker 1: because we're not having a real conversation about anti-Semitism, about Jew-hatred. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese and protesters are warning that
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  Speaker 1: Italy's proposed anti-Semitism bill could conflate criticism of Israel with anti-Semitism,
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  Speaker 1: potentially risking censorship and restricting freedom of expression. The bill,
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  Speaker 1: currently under parliamentary committee review, could adopt the International Holocaust
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  Speaker 1: Remembrance Alliance's definition of anti-Semitism. As reported by Amnesty International
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  Speaker 1: Italy and others, Activists argue that this definition, which includes
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  Speaker 1: denying Jewish people self-determination or comparing Israeli policy to Nazi actions,
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  Speaker 1: could be used to silence political criticism of Israel. At
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  Speaker 1: the international level, Israel's UN ambassador Danny Danon announced the
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  Speaker 1: launch of a new task force in response to rising
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism around the world and within the UN itself. Ambassador
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  Speaker 1: Danon stated that the organization cannot turn a blind eye
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  Speaker 1: to it, according to reporting by the Jerusalem Post. In
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  Speaker 1: a case outcome, the U.S. Department of Justice moved to
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  Speaker 1: drop its appeal of seven felony wiretapping charges against Florida-based
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  Speaker 1: journalist Tim Burke. Burke had exposed unaired anti-Semitic remarks made
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  Speaker 1: by musician Kanye West, who goes by Yee. The DOJS
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  Speaker 1: motion asks the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th
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  Speaker 1: Circuit to dismiss its appeal, which would leave intact a
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  Speaker 1: September 2025 ruling that rejected the Wiretap Act charges, as
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  Speaker 1: detailed by news outlets. Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at
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  Speaker 1: the Freedom of the Press Foundation, commented, Prosecutors were right
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  Speaker 1: to drop their appeal of the Wiretap Act counts, but
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  Speaker 1: they're wrong to continue to pursue other charges to punish
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  Speaker 1: a journalist who exposed anti-Semitism. Turning to community responses and
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  Speaker 1: positive developments, major Jewish groups in New York City announced
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  Speaker 1: a rally against anti-Semitism in to be held during the
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  Speaker 1: UN General Assembly. Organizations including the UJA Federation of New York,
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  Speaker 1: the ADL, and the American Jewish Committee are calling on
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  Speaker 1: world leaders to act decisively to stop the growing tide
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  Speaker 1: of antisemitism, according to the Times of Israel. And in
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  Speaker 1: Stockton University, a $ 100, 000 donation from two Holocaust survivor advocates
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  Speaker 1: will establish a new annual lecture series on antisemitism, school
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  Speaker 1: officials announced. I'm Rachel Adler. Thank you for listening to
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  Speaker 1: Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast app so
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  Speaker 1: you don't miss the next update. This report was generated
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  Speaker 1: with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important
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  Speaker 1: details with primary sources.