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

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

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You're listening to antisemitism. Watch I'm Rachel Adler. A significant
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  Speaker 1: government report from Canada's Department of Canadian Heritage reveals widespread
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism on university campuses. The survey of nearly nine hundred
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  Speaker 1: Jewish students found that ninety five point seven percent have
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  Speaker 1: experienced or witnessed antisemitism, with seventy percent feeling their university
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  Speaker 1: did not take the issue seriously and twenty two percent
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  Speaker 1: reporting physical violence. Jack Jedwab, the report's lead author, described
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  Speaker 1: the situation as systemic, detailing student experiences of rhetoric, discrimination, vandalism, intimidation,
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  Speaker 1: and physical attacks from peers, professors, and administrators. The report
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  Speaker 1: indicates that forty five percent of respondents encountered Holocaust denial
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  Speaker 1: or distortion, and thirty six percent found course content antisemitic
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  Speaker 1: or biased. Martha Pie, former president of the University of
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  Speaker 1: British Columbia, called the findings shocking and indicative of a
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  Speaker 1: troubling institutional failure in the literary world. Palestinian American novelist
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  Speaker 1: Susan Obulhaua is facing renewed criticism over alleged antisemitic rhetoric.
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  Speaker 1: An article published this week details her use of dehumanizing language,
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  Speaker 1: describing Israelis and Jews as demons, monsters, parasites, ghouls, and cockroaches.
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  Speaker 1: She has also claimed an extreme over representation of Jews
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  Speaker 1: in media and government, invoked dual loyalty, and used terms
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  Speaker 1: like Jewish vampires. Abulhawa has also reportedly engaged in Holocaust distortion,
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  Speaker 1: complaining about Holocaust whining and suggesting Jewish behavior contributed to
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  Speaker 1: the Holocaust. Further, she has expressed support for violence, reportedly
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  Speaker 1: praising Kozo Okamodo, a participant in the nineteen seventy two
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  Speaker 1: lad Airport massacre. Despite this record, Atria Books, an imprint
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  Speaker 1: of Simon and Shuster, plans to republish two of her novels.
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  Speaker 1: Zurin Mamdani has publicly called her rhetoric patently unacceptable and reprehensible.
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  Speaker 1: Former President Donald Trump's recent rhetoric invoking Red Scare tactics
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  Speaker 1: and labeling opponents as communists carries a dangerous risk of
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  Speaker 1: reviving historical antisemitic tropes. According to reporting this week, historians
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  Speaker 1: warned that this framing could reawaken the Judeo Balshevism myth,
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  Speaker 1: a conspiracy theory that falsely equated communism with Jewish plots
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  Speaker 1: and historically fueled pogrums and violence. Scholar Paul Hambrink notes
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  Speaker 1: that nationalist extremists have long used this myth and that
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  Speaker 1: it significantly influenced Adolf Hitler. The concern is that such rhetoric,
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  Speaker 1: echoing language from the interwar period, could embolden contemporary extremists
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  Speaker 1: and exacerbate the rise of antisemitism. In Michigan, Democratic Senate
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  Speaker 1: candidate Abdel Elsaide is facing criticism regarding his past rhetoric
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  Speaker 1: concerning Israel and anas to Semitism. Following his narrow primary
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  Speaker 1: victory on August fourth, Elsaide emphasized his commitment to Jewish safety. However,
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  Speaker 1: critics point to his previous statements, including his response to
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  Speaker 1: an antisemitic attack on a synagogue earlier this year, where
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  Speaker 1: he stated, hurt people do hurt people, a phrase he
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  Speaker 1: repeated multiple times, which some interpreted as sympathizing with the attacker.
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  Speaker 1: Reports note Elsaide frequently turned campaign issues into attacks on Israel,
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  Speaker 1: which many Jewish groups view as a form of antisemitism.
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  Speaker 1: On the campus front, Haverford College has settled a lawsuit
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  Speaker 1: alleging it fostered a hostile environment for Jewish students. The
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  Speaker 1: lawsuit was filed by the Deborah Project on behalf of
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  Speaker 1: five Jewish students. As part of the settlement confirmed on Friday,
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  Speaker 1: outgoing college president Wendy Raymond clarified in an email that
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  Speaker 1: all students, including Zionists, are welcome and have equal access
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  Speaker 1: to college programs. The college also agreed to state that
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  Speaker 1: harassing or vi silencing Jewish students on the basis of
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  Speaker 1: their identity or Zionism is anathema to the college's core principles.
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  Speaker 1: Lauri Lowenthal Marcus, legal director for the Debora Project, called
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  Speaker 1: this clarification an amazing change that will significantly improve the
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  Speaker 1: experience for future Jewish students. In the UK, the activist
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  Speaker 1: group People Against Genocide claimed responsibility for vandalizing a defense
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  Speaker 1: supplier's facility in Aberdeen and a logistics firm in Doncaster.
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  Speaker 1: The group stated these actions targeted Ultra I and C
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  Speaker 1: and DSV for their roles in supplying and transporting military
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  Speaker 1: hardware for Israel. Video footage from the Aberdeen incident showed
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  Speaker 1: extensive damage, with messages like Ultra killskids and for the
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  Speaker 1: poor children of Gaza scrawled on the Walls. Police Scotland
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  Speaker 1: arrested two men in connection with the Aberdeen incident. The
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  Speaker 1: group stated their action's aim to disrupt the UK Israel
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  Speaker 1: weapons trade. In a move addressing accusations of antisemitism within
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  Speaker 1: political circles, Reform UK has stated, according to the Telegraph,
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  Speaker 1: that it will not enter into a deal with Rupert
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  Speaker 1: Lowe's Restore Britain party unless Restore Britain expels a co
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  Speaker 1: founder who has been accused of antisemitism. Separately, Rye reporter
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  Speaker 1: Brenori has reported facing abusive messages, death threats against himself
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  Speaker 1: and his family, and antisemitic attacks. These incidents began after
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  Speaker 1: a report where he referred to murdered Israelis as hikers.
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  Speaker 1: And in Australia, former AFP Detective Superintendent David Craig is
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  Speaker 1: reportedly demanding answers regarding media grants awarded by the Home
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  Speaker 1: Affairs Department, which are now linked to a scandal involving
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism funding. I'm Rachel Adler, thank you for listening to
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  Speaker 1: Antisemitism Watch. This report was generated with AI assistance and
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  Speaker 1: may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important details with primary sources.