Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - October 2, 2026, 05 PM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - October 2, 2026, 05 PM Eastern · 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 significant developments from alleged terrorism plots to policy debates
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  Speaker 1: and campus incidents. Authorities in the UK have charged two
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  Speaker 1: Iranian nationals with terrorism offences following an investigation into an
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  Speaker 1: alleged plot to target the Jewish community in Manchester. Counter-terrorism
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  Speaker 1: policing stated that Salim Ahmadian and Rahman Salehi were arrested
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  Speaker 1: on September 20, and charged on October 2nd. Deputy Assistant
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  Speaker 1: Commissioner Vicki Evans noted the seriousness of the charges and
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  Speaker 1: the disruption of a plot, while assuring the public there
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  Speaker 1: is no ongoing threat. Evans also acknowledged the timing, coinciding
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  Speaker 1: with the High Holy Days and the anniversary of a
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  Speaker 1: previous attack, and noted it comes amid increasing antisemitic incidents
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  Speaker 1: across the UK. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania, antisemitic signs containing Nazi
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  Speaker 1: symbols and hate speech were posted outside Dijel Israel congregation
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  Speaker 1: during Yom Kippur services. Police arrested Joshua Albert Reisinger, charging
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  Speaker 1: him with ethnic intimidation and terroristic threats. According to the
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  Speaker 1: synagogue's executive director, Elazar Rosenberg, the signs were a direct threat,
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  Speaker 1: with one referencing a firearm caliber and another using the phrase,
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  Speaker 1: from the river to the sea Palestine will be free.
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  Speaker 1: A congregant reported seeing a man point his finger like
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  Speaker 1: a gun at them as they discovered the signs. In Belleville, Ontario,
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  Speaker 1: police are investigating the distribution of antisemitic flyers targeting the
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  Speaker 1: sons of Jacob Synagogue and surrounding neighborhoods. This incident follows
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  Speaker 1: a shooting at the same synagogue less than two weeks prior.
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  Speaker 1: The synagogue president described the flyers as disturbing, coming after
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  Speaker 1: the community was already shaken by the earlier attack. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: Toronto police report that 80% of hate crimes in the
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  Speaker 1: city are antisemitic in nature. a trend that has affected
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  Speaker 1: Jewish communities, schools, and institutions for the past three years.
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  Speaker 1: This statistic emerged during a mayoral debate where the issue
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  Speaker 1: of anti-Semitic hate crimes was raised. On the political front,
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  Speaker 1: Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas reportedly honored past and present terrorists,
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  Speaker 1: including individuals responsible for mass murders and plane hijackings. The
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  Speaker 1: al-Jameena reported that Abbas praised figures like Yasser Arafat and
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  Speaker 1: Leila Khaled, referring to them as martyrs and founding brothers,
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  Speaker 1: a pattern documented by Palestinian Media Watch. Additionally, Palestinian Authority
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  Speaker 1: TV allegedly featured prominent terrorists in its programming. In Lowe's Angels,
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  Speaker 1: mayoral candidate Nithya Raman faced backlash after reaffirming her belief
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  Speaker 1: that Israel committed genocide in Gaza during a forum for
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  Speaker 1: the Jewish community. Raman stated she based her opinion on
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  Speaker 1: reports from international and Israeli experts. acknowledging the weight of
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  Speaker 1: the term for the Jewish community, but also expressing concern
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  Speaker 1: over civilian deaths. Her comments drew audible protest from the audience.
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  Speaker 1: Rahman had previously appeared with streamer Hassan Piker, who has
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  Speaker 1: a history of rhetoric that sanitizes violence and denigrates Jewish people.
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  Speaker 1: In Canada, media reports indicate that Neil Herland, a Jewish
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  Speaker 1: reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, was reportedly suspended after
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  Speaker 1: posting a video of pro-Palestinian protesters, outside Yom Kippur services
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  Speaker 1: in Toronto, and describing his negative reaction. A pro-Palestinian group,
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  Speaker 1: Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East, filed
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  Speaker 1: a complaint against Herland, alleging he mischaracterized the protest. The
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  Speaker 1: CBC declined to confirm the suspension, stating they do not
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  Speaker 1: comment on internal matters, but acknowledged reporting that contained errors.
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  Speaker 1: Press freedom advocates criticized the reported suspension. calling the act
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  Speaker 1: of recording and reporting events in public journalism. New York
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  Speaker 1: City Mayor Zoran Mamdani has unveiled a new strategy to
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  Speaker 1: combat antisemitism, committing significant funding. However, the plan has drawn
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  Speaker 1: criticism for its partnership with the Arab American Association of
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  Speaker 1: New York AANY, an organization previously led by Linda Sarsour
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  Speaker 1: and known for supporting pro-Gaza protests. The strategy also notably
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  Speaker 1: declines to adopt any specific definition of antisemitism as official
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  Speaker 1: city policy, a move that has concerned some Jewish community leaders.
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  Speaker 1: This comes as NYPD figures show a citywide hate crime increase,
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  Speaker 1: with antisemitic incidents being the largest category. In New York
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  Speaker 1: City schools, a teacher, Mira M., Mangaroo, has been removed
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  Speaker 1: from her classroom and is under investigation by the Department
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  Speaker 1: of Education for an alleged TikTok comment stating, Yeah, we
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  Speaker 1: don't support Jews here. The DOE spokeswoman stated that hate
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  Speaker 1: has no place in city schools and that they stand
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  Speaker 1: against all forms of antisemitism and discrimination. Jewish graduate students
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  Speaker 1: are experiencing insidious antisemitism on campus, impacting their sense of safety,
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  Speaker 1: freedom of expression, and future careers, according to reporting from
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  Speaker 1: Rhode Island. These students navigate specialized academic environments while facing
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  Speaker 1: subtle hostility and the burden of self-censorship. They are increasingly
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  Speaker 1: engaging in advocacy, including meetings with Congress, to address these issues.
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  Speaker 1: The Jewish Grad Organization's partners, Summit, brought together leaders to
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  Speaker 1: compare experiences and advocate for change. The Southern Poverty Law
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  Speaker 1: Center has updated its antisemitism resource, adding weaponization to its
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  Speaker 1: examples of prominent antisemitic narratives. The SBLC states this dynamic
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  Speaker 1: has intensified since the October 7th attack. with accusations of
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism increasingly deployed to silence pro-Palestinian voices, especially on college campuses.
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  Speaker 1: The center has faced backlash for focusing primarily on far-right antisemitism,
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  Speaker 1: with critics arguing it neglects examples from the political left
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  Speaker 1: or anti-Israel groups. Following a fly-to-buy flight diversion to Saudi Arabia,
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  Speaker 1: ADL analysis shows at least 25,000 posts on X within
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  Speaker 1: 48 hours included conspiracy theory narratives. such as false flag
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  Speaker 1: allegations and theories blaming Jews. Notable influencers from across the
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  Speaker 1: political spectrum, including Ana Kasparian, Nick Fuentes, and Sneeko, contributed
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  Speaker 1: to the spread of these narratives. Jackson Hinkle theorized Israeli
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu orchestrated the incident, while others described
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  Speaker 1: it as false flag terrorism. In British Columbia, a man
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  Speaker 1: named Arthur Roberts has been sentenced to eight months in
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  Speaker 1: jail for for defacing Victoria's Congregation Emanuel Synagogue with anti-Semitic messages. B.C.
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  Speaker 1: Provincial Court Judge Micah Rankin ruled the crime a hate crime,
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  Speaker 1: stating that Roberts pleaded guilty to mischief and uttering threats
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  Speaker 1: for messages describing Jewish people as evil and monsters. The
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  Speaker 1: judge noted that while Roberts may have been motivated by
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  Speaker 1: events in Gaza, the condemnation was directed at Jews themselves,
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  Speaker 1: not the state of Israel, making it anti-Semitic. New York
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  Speaker 1: City has launched what its administration calls the country's first
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  Speaker 1: comprehensive municipal strategy to fight antisemitism. The plan commits $ 29
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  Speaker 1: million annually and creates a new interagency structure. This initiative
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  Speaker 1: includes funding for the Queen's Holocaust Memorial and the Center
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  Speaker 1: for New Jewish Culture. However, the strategy has drawn criticism
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  Speaker 1: for declining to adopt an official definition of antisemitism, and
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  Speaker 1: for its partnership with the Arab American Association of New York.
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  Speaker 1: This follows a rise in hate crimes, with anti-Semitic incidents
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  Speaker 1: accounting for over half of those recorded by the NYPD.
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  Speaker 1: In California, Governor Gavin Newsom signed SB 1387, making it
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  Speaker 1: the first state to legally define Jewish as an ethnic
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  Speaker 1: and racial identity, rather than solely religious. Starting January 1, 2029,
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  Speaker 1: Public entities will include a Jewish category in demographic data collection,
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  Speaker 1: aiming to provide better data for policy and support for
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  Speaker 1: the community. Nuzam expressed some reservations about compliance challenges but
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  Speaker 1: supported the bill's goal of accurate data. In Italy, Meloni's
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  Speaker 1: coalition is pushing Parliament to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism.
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  Speaker 1: This move is supported by Holocaust survivor Liliana Seger and
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  Speaker 1: Jewish leaders amidst a surge in antisemitic incidents. However, the
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  Speaker 1: center-left warns that adopting the definition could chill legitimate criticism
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  Speaker 1: of Israel. The Anti-Defamation League has released a new initiative,
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  Speaker 1: State of the Arts, documenting the exclusion and suppression of
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  Speaker 1: Jewish and Israeli artists, performers, and writers in American culture.
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  Speaker 1: The report, which includes an assessment of 40 leading art museums,
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  Speaker 1: found that Jewish identity is not included in DEI commitments
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  Speaker 1: at these institutions. ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt stated that Jewish
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  Speaker 1: artists are being cancelled, blacklisted and pushed out, citing trends
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  Speaker 1: like boycotts of Israeli publishing and the harassment of performers.
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  Speaker 1: In the Netherlands, an Israeli man was reportedly rejected from
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  Speaker 1: a Dutch-language course after refusing to label Israel's actions in
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  Speaker 1: Gaza as genocide during an admissions interview. The Centre for
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  Speaker 1: Information and Documentation on Israel, CIDI, shared a recording where
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  Speaker 1: the teacher stated he only wanted to work with students
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  Speaker 1: who shared his views on the Palestinian genocide. The student,
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  Speaker 1: who had lost an uncle in the October 7th attacks,
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  Speaker 1: stated he did not believe genocide was being committed, though
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  Speaker 1: war crimes might have been. The teacher then accused the
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  Speaker 1: student of denial and deemed him unsuitable for the course.
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  Speaker 1: Public Safety Canada recently published a document that describes anti-Zionism
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  Speaker 1: wholly as a form of antisemitism. Critics argue this conflation
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  Speaker 1: is an attempt to censor speech and activism in support
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  Speaker 1: of Palestinian human rights. Canadians for Justice and Peace in
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  Speaker 1: the Middle East stated that opposing Zionism is a legitimate
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  Speaker 1: form of expression against injustices, and that the government should
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  Speaker 1: not silence these perspectives. A national survey conducted for the
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  Speaker 1: ADL found significant public interest in exhibitions of Jewish artists' work.
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  Speaker 1: 88% of U.S. adults surveyed stated they would visit a
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  Speaker 1: gallery exhibiting Jewish artists, and 85% expressed similar interest, indicating
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  Speaker 1: public demand for such cultural representation. These are complex issues
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  Speaker 1: demanding our constant attention. I'm Rachel Adler, thank you for
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  Speaker 1: listening to Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast
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  Speaker 1: app so you don't miss the next update. This report
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  Speaker 1: was generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please
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  Speaker 1: verify important details with primary sources.