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El-Sayed Campaign Ad Echoes Antisemitic Tropes · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. We're also
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  Speaker 1: launching Antisemitism Watch, Mid-Atlantic, which provides focused coverage from New York,
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  Speaker 1: New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Philadelphia region. Visit clockworkmedia.org slash
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  Speaker 1: MA for more. Today, we begin with a look at
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  Speaker 1: the broader landscape of hate crime statistics. Data analyzed from
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  Speaker 1: the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Justice
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  Speaker 1: Statistics shows a significant upward trend in hate crimes from
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  Speaker 1: 2015 to 2024. According to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting Program,
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  Speaker 1: police verified hate crime victimizations increased by 89% over that decade,
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  Speaker 1: rising from 1.8 to 3.4 per 100,000 people. The Bureau
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  Speaker 1: of Justice Statistics National Crime Victimization Survey, which includes incidents
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  Speaker 1: not reported to police, shows an even steeper increase of 225%,
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  Speaker 1: from 55 to 179 self-reported victimizations per 100,000 people. While
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  Speaker 1: race and ethnicity remain the most common bias categories, religion-motivated
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  Speaker 1: offenses also saw a significant rise, with anti-Jewish victimizations accounting
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  Speaker 1: for 54.9% of those religion-based crimes in the FBI data.
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  Speaker 1: On campuses and in schools, concerning incidents continue. At Solon
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  Speaker 1: Middle School in Ohio, students and parents reported antisemitic incidents
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  Speaker 1: on October 22 during Cultural Awareness Day, including Nazi salutes
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  Speaker 1: and chants of Heil Hitler directed at Jewish students. One
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  Speaker 1: student described being targeted while wearing a kippah and a
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  Speaker 1: shirt displaying Shalom. Parent Jacqueline Hostetler told the Board of Education,
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  Speaker 1: This is not a harmless joke. This is something that
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  Speaker 1: shouldn't be brushed off as kids being kids. This is antisemitism.
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  Speaker 1: and it's completely unacceptable in our schools. The school principal
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  Speaker 1: has condemned the behavior and is working with organizations like
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  Speaker 1: the Anti-Defamation League to develop educational programming. Meanwhile, UCLA is
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  Speaker 1: reportedly defending itself in court against a lawsuit that accuses
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  Speaker 1: the university of facilitating antisemitism in the aftermath of the
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  Speaker 1: Hamas attack on Israel. A controversial political advertisement has drawn
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  Speaker 1: criticism for echoing antisemitic tropes in the context of the
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  Speaker 1: Michigan Senate race. The ad, circulated by Rebellion PAC for
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  Speaker 1: Democratic Senate nominee Abdel El-Said, suggests that U.S. aid to
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  Speaker 1: Israel is responsible for economic hardships for ordinary Americans. Critics,
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  Speaker 1: including CNN's Van Jones, described the ad as anti-Jewish hate,
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  Speaker 1: while Scott Jennings called it economic incoherence wrapped up in anti-Semitism.
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  Speaker 1: Newsweek and Forward.com reported that the ad employs classic tropes
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  Speaker 1: blaming Jews for economic woes. While El-Sayed's campaign disavowed affiliation
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  Speaker 1: with the advertisement, its initial response was criticized for stopping
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  Speaker 1: short of explicitly condemning the anti-Semitic content, though El-Sayed later
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  Speaker 1: apologized to Michigan Jewish Democrats. News sources noted this occurred
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  Speaker 1: as El-Sayed's campaign has also featured comments from figures like
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  Speaker 1: Tucker Carlson. In France, a case outcome brings a resolution
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  Speaker 1: to antisemitic threats. Patrick O'Brien, 60, was convicted in Avignon
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  Speaker 1: for attempting to justify crimes against humanity and making antisemitic
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  Speaker 1: death threats against a Jewish woman. The conviction, reported by
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  Speaker 1: the Journalie, stemmed from an incident where O'Brien was filmed
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  Speaker 1: confronting tourists. According to prosecutor Stéphanie Ayoyne, the antisemitic remarks
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  Speaker 1: and threats followed an argument about Ireland's policies toward Israel.
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  Speaker 1: O'Brien received a six-month suspended prison sentence and was ordered
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  Speaker 1: to pay fines to the victims and Jewish humanitarian groups.
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  Speaker 1: Police also reportedly seized devices from his home containing further
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  Speaker 1: evidence of a racist nature. In institutional responses, the Centre
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  Speaker 1: for Israel and Jewish Affairs, CIJA, is urging Ontario legislators
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  Speaker 1: to confront antisemitism and violent extremism. This call comes after
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  Speaker 1: an armed attack on the Sons of Jacob Synagogue in Belleville,
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  Speaker 1: where two police officers were critically injured protecting worshippers. CIJA
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  Speaker 1: issued a statement commending the Ontario government's efforts, including a
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  Speaker 1: strengthened anti-hate directive for colleges and universities, and urged legislators
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  Speaker 1: to pass Bill 119, the Protecting Ontario Streets and Communities Act. Elsewhere,
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  Speaker 1: the St. Louis Blues released a statement condemning vile messages
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  Speaker 1: of hate, after anti-Israel banners reading, Free America from Israel,
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  Speaker 1: and Israel kills were displayed during a recent game. The
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  Speaker 1: team's chairman stated that antisemitism has no place in our community.
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  Speaker 1: In online spaces, Vancouver Canucks defenseman Ziv Buyem has reportedly
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  Speaker 1: faced harassment linking his Jewish identity and Israeli family roots
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  Speaker 1: to criticism of Israeli government policy, a pattern that sports.yahoo.com
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  Speaker 1: notes conflates legitimate policy debate with prejudice. Holocaust scholar Omer
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  Speaker 1: Bartov's April 2026 book, Israel, What Went Wrong? posits that
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  Speaker 1: Israel is becoming an authoritarian, ethno-nationalist state that breaches international law,
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  Speaker 1: warning of diaspora Jews disowning it amid worsening antisemitism. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: we turn to community response and resilience. Reporting from Forward.com
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  Speaker 1: highlights enduring lessons of solidarity learned in Pittsburgh following the
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  Speaker 1: October 27, 2018, Tree of Life synagogue shooting. the oral
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  Speaker 1: histories gathered emphasize the power of non-Jewish outreach, public presence
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  Speaker 1: at vigils and memorials, and the importance of building relationships
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  Speaker 1: between communities before tragedy strikes, offering wisdom for healing and
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  Speaker 1: bridging divides. I'm Rachel Adler, thank you for listening to
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  Speaker 1: Antisemitism Watch. For focused coverage from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut,
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  Speaker 1: and the Philadelphia region, listen to Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: Watch in your podcast app so you don't miss the
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  Speaker 1: next update. This report was generated with AI assistance and
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  Speaker 1: may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important details with primary sources.