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London Teacher's Antisemitic Remark to Child · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. Today, we're
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  Speaker 1: tracking new incidents and responses shaping the fight against antisemitism globally.
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  Speaker 1: We're also launching Antisemitism Watch, Mid-Atlantic, providing focused coverage from
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  Speaker 1: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Philadelphia region. Find
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  Speaker 1: us at clockworkmedia.org slash MA in North London. A disturbing
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  Speaker 1: report from VIN News details an incident at a state
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  Speaker 1: primary school. A teacher allegedly told a nine-year-old Jewish pupil
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  Speaker 1: that Jews were responsible for the October 7th Hamas massacre.
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  Speaker 1: According to the pupil's father, the teacher further justified the
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  Speaker 1: actions by describing the perpetrators as freedom fighters. The parents,
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  Speaker 1: deeply concerned, removed their son from the school and enrolled
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  Speaker 1: him in a Jewish institution, citing a loss of trust.
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  Speaker 1: This situation has drawn responses from the Jewish Leadership Council.
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  Speaker 1: which underscored the urgent need for government action on antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: in schools, and the Community Security Trust, emphasizing that schools
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  Speaker 1: must be safe havens free from extremist ideas. The school
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  Speaker 1: itself did not comment to the Jewish Chronicle on the allegations.
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  Speaker 1: In New Jersey politics, VIN News reports that Democratic House
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  Speaker 1: candidate Rebecca Bennett was seen campaigning alongside Lyndon Mayor Derek
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  Speaker 1: Armstead on October 15. Armstead faces allegations of anti-Semitic discrimination
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  Speaker 1: in an ongoing lawsuit, as reported by Jewish Insider and
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  Speaker 1: detailed by the NRCC. According to the lawsuit, Armstead made
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  Speaker 1: comments referring to the growing Orthodox Jewish population with terms like,
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  Speaker 1: guys with big hats and curls, and expressed a desire
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  Speaker 1: to keep our community from being taken over by them.
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  Speaker 1: The suit also cites recordings where he allegedly complained about
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  Speaker 1: prospective employees selling houses to members of the Orthodox community.
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  Speaker 1: Representative Josh Gottthamer has previously urged state and federal investigations
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  Speaker 1: into Lyndon's alleged discriminatory measures against the Orthodox community through
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  Speaker 1: zoning laws. On the international stage, United Nations Special Rapporteur
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  Speaker 1: Francesca Albanese is facing condemnation for her remarks supporting the
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  Speaker 1: Green Party's Zionism is racism policy, as reported by the JC.
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  Speaker 1: Speaking at an event in Oxford, Albanese commended the party
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  Speaker 1: for doing something extremely human and declared Zionism to be racist,
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  Speaker 1: though she later attempted to moderate her statement. Critics, including
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  Speaker 1: Alex Hearn of Labor Against Antisemitism and Gavin Stoller of
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  Speaker 1: Liberal Democrats Friends of Israel, have denounced her comments, with
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  Speaker 1: Hearn stating they support an antisemitic policy which casts the
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  Speaker 1: overwhelming majority of Jews as racist, and Stoller calling it
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  Speaker 1: an attempt to delegitimize Jewish self-determination. Albanese also discussed the
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  Speaker 1: BDS movement and criticized Western countries for anti-Arab sentiment. Leftist
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  Speaker 1: commentator Hassan Piker has drawn accusations of invoking anti-Semitic tropes,
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  Speaker 1: according to Breitbart. In response to a CNN report on
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  Speaker 1: Jewish voters reportedly leaving the Democratic Party, Piker suggested this
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  Speaker 1: shift was solely due to Israel policy. He stated, It's
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  Speaker 1: just Israel. It's literally over the continuation of Israel's belligerence.
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  Speaker 1: a real shame. The Republican Jewish Coalition's communications director, Sam Markstein,
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  Speaker 1: countered that Piker's statement plays into the oldest anti-Semitic trope
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  Speaker 1: of dual loyalty and trivializes rising Jew hatred. The RJC
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  Speaker 1: argues that American Jews are fleeing the Democratic Party due
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  Speaker 1: to its embrace of radical elements, citing Piker's past controversial
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  Speaker 1: statements as an example. In New York City, local politicians
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  Speaker 1: have formally complained to Amazon about a Halloween decoration. The
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  Speaker 1: New York Post reports that the city council's antisemitism task
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  Speaker 1: force wrote to the e-commerce giant regarding a witch decoration
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  Speaker 1: featuring a Star of David on its spellbook. The task
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  Speaker 1: force argued that, in this context, the symbol may associate
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  Speaker 1: it with sinister or threatening imagery. Is particularly disturbing, given
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  Speaker 1: the history of antisemitism. and may also incite violence against
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  Speaker 1: the Jewish community. They urged Amazon to remove the product,
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  Speaker 1: citing its policies on hateful content. Amazon has not yet
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  Speaker 1: responded to requests for comment. Separately, Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthy is
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  Speaker 1: demanding action against online hate speech following a foiled plot
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  Speaker 1: targeting a Hindu temple. Police report that a 19-year-old suspect,
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  Speaker 1: described as a white supremacist, allegedly planned a mass shooting
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  Speaker 1: at the temple before his weapon jammed, and he was
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  Speaker 1: reported by a co-worker. Speaking at a Unity event, Krishnamoorthy
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  Speaker 1: stated that Big Tech profits off this hate. Big Tech
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  Speaker 1: will not police itself. We must police Big Tech, urging
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  Speaker 1: Congress to change laws that grant social media companies immunity.
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  Speaker 1: He also called for an FBI investigation into the plot
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  Speaker 1: as a hate crime, criticizing federal silence on the matter.
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  Speaker 1: This incident highlights ongoing concerns about radicalization via online platforms,
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  Speaker 1: and demands for greater accountability. In Israel, experts convened at
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  Speaker 1: Reikman University for the Shabtai Shavit World Summit on Counterterrorism
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  Speaker 1: to examine the growing threat of antisemitism. A workshop titled
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  Speaker 1: Extremism and Antisemitism brought together former intelligence officials, diplomats, and
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  Speaker 1: counterterrorism experts. Sacha Reutemann, CEO of the Combat Antisemitism Movement,
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  Speaker 1: stated that the global surge in antisemitism reflects an entrenched
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  Speaker 1: infrastructure of hatred. Tracing modern anti-Israel propaganda narratives back to
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  Speaker 1: Soviet campaigns and noting their influence through international institutions and universities,
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  Speaker 1: the summit emphasized the importance of intelligence-led prevention and early
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  Speaker 1: warning systems in identifying extremist threats. Turning to legislative action,
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  Speaker 1: Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro has indicated he will sign a
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  Speaker 1: bill defining antisemitism using the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition,
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  Speaker 1: provided it passes the state legislature. This move represents a
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  Speaker 1: significant step toward formalizing the IHRA definition as a standard
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  Speaker 1: for recognizing and combating antisemitism within the state. I'm Rachel Adler.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Antisemitism Watch. For focused coverage
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  Speaker 1: from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Philadelphia region,
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  Speaker 1: listen to Antisemitism Watch. midatlantic at clockworkmedia.org slash ma. Follow
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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.