Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - August 25, 2026, 05 PM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - August 25, 2026, 05 PM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. We begin
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  Speaker 1: today with significant political and media figures weighing in on
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  Speaker 1: concerning rhetoric. Influential livestreamer Hassan Piker has drawn widespread condemnation
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  Speaker 1: for comments made on August 20, which critics interpret as
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  Speaker 1: justifying threats against American Jews and blaming them for supporting Israel.
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  Speaker 1: Piker stated on a Twitch livestream that if Jews in
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  Speaker 1: America continue to present themselves as singularly invested in Israel,
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  Speaker 1: Eventually someone's going to come around and take action. Not
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  Speaker 1: against the state of Israel, mind you, but against American Jews.
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  Speaker 1: He also referred to Israel as Jewish ISIS. According to
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  Speaker 1: reporting reviewed for this episode, Piker made these comments while
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  Speaker 1: showing an image of Michigan State Senator Jeremy Moss, a
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  Speaker 1: pro-Israel Jewish Democrat running for Congress, and a link to
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  Speaker 1: a story about Moss's reluctance to back Michigan Senate candidate
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  Speaker 1: Abdel El-Said. In response, Michigan's Democratic U.S., Senate candidate Abdul
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  Speaker 1: El-Sayed distanced himself somewhat from Piker, who is a significant supporter,
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  Speaker 1: reiterating his commitment to Jewish safety and denouncing any rhetoric
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  Speaker 1: that puts the community at risk. House Minority Leader Hakeem
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  Speaker 1: Jeffries of New York issued a rare and strong rebuke,
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  Speaker 1: calling Piker's claim that American Jews are inviting violence against
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  Speaker 1: themselves dangerous and antisemitic and malicious. Jeffries stated there is
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  Speaker 1: Zero justification for threats against the safety of our Jewish
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  Speaker 1: brothers and sisters at a moment of rising hate. Democratic Rep.
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  Speaker 1: Hillary Skuldin of Michigan described Piker as a hack who
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  Speaker 1: thrives on hate, while Rep. Susie Lee of Nevada wrote
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  Speaker 1: that claims that American Jews are responsible for the violence
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  Speaker 1: being committed against their communities are unacceptable and cannot be tolerated. Rep.
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  Speaker 1: Josh Gottthamer of New Jersey called Piker's comments something right
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  Speaker 1: out of the Nazi playbook, according to Fox News. We
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  Speaker 1: turn now to incidents of hate crimes and vandalism. In Toronto,
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  Speaker 1: the police service's hate crimes unit is investigating teacher Abba's
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  Speaker 1: hams for remarks that Canadian Jewish groups have labeled blatant antisemitism.
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  Speaker 1: According to reporting from Sage Lattman, hams invoked antisemitic tropes,
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  Speaker 1: accusing Zionists of performing black magic, harming children and engaging
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  Speaker 1: in corruption, referencing Epstein Island and claiming they raped and
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  Speaker 1: killed and ate children at the same time. He also
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  Speaker 1: spoke of Zionists controlling figures like Donald Trump. The Jewish
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  Speaker 1: Federations of Canada's advocacy arm and BNI Briss Canada stated
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  Speaker 1: that Ham's claims are anti-Semitic blood libels. The University of
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  Speaker 1: Niagara Falls and Georgian College, where Ham's reportedly works, have
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  Speaker 1: distanced themselves from his statements and launched internal investigations. In Queens,
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  Speaker 1: New York, the NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force is investigating
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  Speaker 1: the vandalism of two synagogues. WABC reported that motor oil
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  Speaker 1: and feces were thrown at Young Israel of Jamaica estates
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  Speaker 1: on July 16, and a similar incident targeted the Young
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  Speaker 1: Israel of Holliswood prior to that. Worshippers discovered the damage,
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  Speaker 1: which was caught on camera. Adam Orlow, president of Young
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  Speaker 1: Israel of Jamaica estates, expressed concern about the neighborhood piece
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  Speaker 1: and noted increased security measures, stating that every synagogue in
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  Speaker 1: New York City has to worry about this in a
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  Speaker 1: way we never had to in the past. He added
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  Speaker 1: that the Jewish community will not be intimidated. The NYPD
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  Speaker 1: Hate Crime Task Force is also investigating an anti-Semitic incident
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  Speaker 1: on Staten Island involving graffiti, including a swastika on a
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  Speaker 1: classroom desk, according to reporting reviewed for this episode. In
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  Speaker 1: the UK, former BBC presenter Gary Leinke reposted an Instagram
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  Speaker 1: story video featuring British-Jewish activist Tony Greenstein. According to the Aljaminer, Greenstein,
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  Speaker 1: who was recently acquitted on charges of inviting support for Hamas,
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  Speaker 1: can be heard in the video stating that Zionism is,
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  Speaker 1: in the tradition of the Nazis, who persecuted Jews. Greenstein
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  Speaker 1: has a history of antisemitic remarks and was expelled from
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  Speaker 1: the UKS Labour Party and Green Party over allegations of antisemitism.
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  Speaker 1: Gary Leinker himself previously resigned from the BBC in May
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  Speaker 1: 2025 after sharing a post that included an emoji of
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  Speaker 1: a rat. a symbol historically used as an antisemitic insult,
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  Speaker 1: though he claimed it was a mistake. Also in the
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  Speaker 1: realm of media and entertainment, industry figures have publicly condemned
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  Speaker 1: alleged antisemitic tropes used by actor Mark Ruffalo. Reporting from
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  Speaker 1: Variety indicates that Haim Sabin, Teddy Schwarzman, Lawrence Bender, and
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  Speaker 1: over a thousand other Jews and allies in the entertainment
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  Speaker 1: industry have signed a statement criticizing Ruffalo's discourse concerning the
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  Speaker 1: Paramount's guidance acquisition. The statement asserts that singling out Jewish
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  Speaker 1: executives and describing them in terms lifted from centuries-old antisemitic
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  Speaker 1: conspiracy theories, while invoking Israel as the frame for that attack,
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  Speaker 1: is antisemitic. It further characterized the rhetoric as simple antisemitism,
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  Speaker 1: where Jewish executives are portrayed as a secretive and powerful
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  Speaker 1: wealth-hoarding elite delighting in mass death, comparing it to rhetoric
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  Speaker 1: weaponized by Nazis, Soviets, and the Klan. Paramount stated it
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  Speaker 1: was troubled when anti-Semitic tropes are invoked in purported service
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  Speaker 1: of a business dispute. A stance supported by the Simon
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  Speaker 1: Wiesenthal Center and Creative Communities for Peace. In Germany, amidst
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  Speaker 1: concerns over a hostile climate for Jews and Israelis fueled
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  Speaker 1: by rising anti-Semitic incidents, Felix Klein, the federal government commissioner
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  Speaker 1: for Jewish life and the fight against anti-Semitism, is advocating
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  Speaker 1: for stricter laws. According to the Aljaminer, Klein is calling
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  Speaker 1: for criminalizing public glorification of the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas,
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  Speaker 1: proposing a minimum six-month prison sentence for offenders. He also
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  Speaker 1: urged mandatory antisemitism training for educators, stating that anyone susceptible
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  Speaker 1: to antisemitism has no place in the teaching profession. These
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  Speaker 1: calls come as Germany recorded 8725 antisemitic incidents in 2025,
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  Speaker 1: marking a significant surge from previous years. Klein also expressed
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  Speaker 1: concern that potential gains by the right-wing AFD party could
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  Speaker 1: further deteriorate the situation for Jews in Germany. On the
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  Speaker 1: institutional response front, a former Justice Department attorney has submitted
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  Speaker 1: a disclosure alleging that the Trump administration's investigations into anti-Semitism
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  Speaker 1: at Harvard, Brown and Columbia universities were politically motivated and
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  Speaker 1: legally flawed. As reported by JTA, Haley Van Irem's August
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  Speaker 1: 17th testimony claims the outcomes of these investigations were predetermined,
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  Speaker 1: without regard to evidence. Van Irem, who left the Justice
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  Speaker 1: Department citing unwillingness to participate in politically motivated investigations unsupported
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  Speaker 1: by facts and contrary to law, alleges that officials rushed
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  Speaker 1: investigations and disregarded career attorneys' concerns. A DOJ spokesperson stated
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  Speaker 1: that Van Irem did not work on university investigations, and
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  Speaker 1: that the department stands behind the integrity of its own probes. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: amidst a broader context where manifestations of antisemitism, alongside anti-Muslim bigotry,
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  Speaker 1: are noted as troublingly on the rise, the Jewish Federation
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  Speaker 1: and partner agencies convened their first-ever panel on antisemitism. The
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  Speaker 1: urgency is underscored by statements that Jewish parents and Jewish
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  Speaker 1: students are very afraid right now, highlighting significant communal concern.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Rachel Adler, thank you for listening to Antisemitism Watch.
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  Speaker 1: This report was generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies.
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  Speaker 1: Please verify important details with primary sources.