Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - September 28, 2026, 05 PM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - September 28, 2026, 05 PM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. We begin
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: with deeply disturbing incidents of antisemitic violence and threats. In Belleville, Ontario,
• 0:16
  Speaker 1: police report that Sean Ward, 29, carried out a hate-motivated
• 0:20
  Speaker 1: shooting at the Sons of Jacob synagogue on Yom Kippur.
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  Speaker 1: A police officer, Konst, Jeff Smith, was injured in a
• 0:27
  Speaker 1: shootout with the gunman and remains in critical but stable condition.
• 0:31
  Speaker 1: Investigators believe the Jewish community was the intended target, with
• 0:36
  Speaker 1: Ward reportedly bringing additional resources for a larger assault. This
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: incident follows other recent arrests in Ontario for anti-Semitic threats.
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: Waterloo Regional Police arrested Justin Arnold Galvez, 33, for online
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  Speaker 1: threats directed at the Jewish community. Durham Regional Police charged
• 0:54
  Speaker 1: 19-year-old Alexander Parfit with making online threats to a synagogue. B.
• 1:00
  Speaker 1: Nybris Canada reports a significant increase in anti-Semitic violence in Ontario.
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  Speaker 1: noting 32 incidents in 2026 compared to 10 in 2025.
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  Speaker 1: The advocacy group also highlighted previous incidents including swastika graffiti
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  Speaker 1: on a Winnipeg synagogue, overnight shootings at Toronto synagogues, and
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  Speaker 1: an attempted arson at a Montreal synagogue. Across the Atlantic,
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  Speaker 1: Belgium's Intelligence Agency Coordination Unit for Threat Analysis, or CUTA,
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  Speaker 1: has confirmed that Iran was behind two attacks targeting the
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  Speaker 1: Jewish community in March. an explosion outside a synagogue in Liege,
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  Speaker 1: and an arson attack in Antwerp's Jewish Quarter. Authorities view
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  Speaker 1: these as part of a coordinated global campaign by Iran
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  Speaker 1: against Jewish interests, with similar plots disrupted in the Netherlands
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  Speaker 1: and identified in Australia. In Melbourne, Australia, a Muslim preacher
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  Speaker 1: identified as Abu Ahmed has drawn national attention for urging
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  Speaker 1: his followers to take up arms against Christians and Jews,
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  Speaker 1: citing religious obligation. Reports indicate his institution, the Al-Bayyinah Islamic Center,
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  Speaker 1: has ties to networks linked to the gunmen in the
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  Speaker 1: Bondi attack. Senator Pauline Hanson and the Australian Jewish Association
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  Speaker 1: have criticized the government's response to such extremism, with the
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: AJA calling for a crackdown on radical preachers and extremist centers.
• 2:23
  Speaker 1: In France, far-right leader Jordan Bardella is facing allegations of
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism stemming from private messages reportedly sent over a decade ago.
• 2:33
  Speaker 1: Investigative website Mediapart published a report alleging a pattern of
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic and conspiratorial rhetoric, including a claim about Jewish ownership
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  Speaker 1: of banks. Bardella has formally disputed the accusations, calling them
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  Speaker 1: crude fabrications and deranged remarks made when he was a minor,
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  Speaker 1: and has instructed his lawyer to pursue legal proceedings. Marine
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  Speaker 1: Le Pen, his party leader, has also defended him, suggesting
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  Speaker 1: the report is a manipulation. On campuses, The U.S. Commission
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  Speaker 1: on Civil Rights has released a unanimous, bipartisan report detailing
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  Speaker 1: campus antisemitism and institutional responses since October 7, 2023. In
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  Speaker 1: K-12 education, over 40 clergy members are calling on the
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: superintendent of Montgomery County's school district to implement specific teacher
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  Speaker 1: training on antisemitism and enforce consequences for hateful actions, citing
• 3:28
  Speaker 1: a surge in incidents. Separately, a Jewish professor at Duke
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: Wesleyan University has filed an EEOC complaint alleging antisemitism. In Australia,
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  Speaker 1: Glen Eyre City Council in Victoria has become the first
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  Speaker 1: council in that state, and the second in the country,
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  Speaker 1: to endorse a strategy to combat antisemitism. Representing Australia's largest
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  Speaker 1: Jewish community, the municipality has seen a rise in incidents,
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  Speaker 1: with 43% of reported antisemitic incidents in Victoria last year
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  Speaker 1: occurring there. The new strategy includes annual antisemitism and trauma-informed
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: training for counsellors, public information initiatives, and efforts to improve
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  Speaker 1: security and incident response times. Mayor Simon Zimud noted that
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  Speaker 1: some residents feel unsafe and have relocated overseas. Official Palestinian
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  Speaker 1: Authority television broadcasts continue to feature rhetoric that meets IHRA's
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  Speaker 1: criteria for antisemitism. An interview with Egyptian cleric Sheikh Yasser
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  Speaker 1: Mostafa Younes on PA TV described Israel as the state
• 4:31
  Speaker 1: of Satan on earth, and Jews as morally corrupt and evil. Separately,
• 4:36
  Speaker 1: Fatah spokesman Dr. Meher Al-Namra stated that Israelis will go
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  Speaker 1: to hell and that the Jewish state will be destroyed,
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  Speaker 1: according to broadcasts and Fatah's social media. In Sweden, an
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: individual defaced an Israeli flag at a book fair, with
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: the Israeli ambassador to Sweden, Tammy Rahimimoff, involved in the
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  Speaker 1: reporting of the incident, following the Yom Kippur shooting incident
• 4:57
  Speaker 1: in Belleville, Ontario. Barineh Brith Canada has called for legislative
• 5:02
  Speaker 1: changes to allow synagogues to hire armed, qualified security guards.
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  Speaker 1: The organization is also demanding the allocation of law enforcement
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  Speaker 1: resources to ensure a police presence at every Jewish institution
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  Speaker 1: across Canada, stating the community can no longer wait for
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  Speaker 1: authorities to act. A recent survey conducted by Public Square
• 5:22
  Speaker 1: Research for the Hub found that, while 87% of Canadians
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: agree that Jewish individuals should not be punished for actions
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  Speaker 1: taken by Israel, only 49% can define antisemitism. This indicates
• 5:35
  Speaker 1: a significant gap in public understanding and measurement of the issue.
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: In a clarification, UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese apologized for
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  Speaker 1: misinterpreting the term muselman. and retracting her assertion that antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: originally meant hatred of all Semitic peoples. Historical sources, including
• 5:54
  Speaker 1: the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, confirm the term was coined
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  Speaker 1: specifically to denote hatred of Jews. I'm Rachel Adler. Thank
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: you for listening to Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism Watch in
• 6:07
  Speaker 1: your podcast app so you don't miss the next update.
• 6:11
  Speaker 1: This report was generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies.
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: Please verify important details with primary sources.