Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - September 17, 2026, 09 AM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - September 17, 2026, 09 AM 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 a physical assault on a rabbi in Milan, Italy.
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  Speaker 1: According to the Jerusalem Post, three young men attacked a
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  Speaker 1: 60-year-old rabbi near the city's Jewish quarter. Reports indicate the
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  Speaker 1: assailants identified the rabbi by his clothing, surrounded him, insulted him,
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  Speaker 1: and physically attacked him, including kicking him and trampling his
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  Speaker 1: head covering. Milan's Jewish community stated that one suspect, a
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  Speaker 1: 20-year-old Tunisian man, was detained by police, and authorities are
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  Speaker 1: investigating whether antisemitic remarks were made. Italian Prime Minister, Giorgia Meloni,
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  Speaker 1: condemned the attack as cowardly and unacceptable, vowing government action
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  Speaker 1: against antisemitic hatred, while the Israeli embassy in Rome noted
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  Speaker 1: an intensification of antisemitism in Italy and across Europe, increasingly
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  Speaker 1: accompanied by violence. In France, the Union of French Jewish Students,
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  Speaker 1: or UEJF, has condemned a court's decision to drop antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: charges in the sentencing of a woman involved in a
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  Speaker 1: group assault on three Jewish students at the University of Strasbourg.
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  Speaker 1: As reported by Les Dernières Nouvelles d'Alsace, the attackers reportedly
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  Speaker 1: called the victims dirty Zionists. While one defendant received a
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  Speaker 1: suspended sentence and a fine for her role in the assault,
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  Speaker 1: an aggravated circumstance of antisemitic hate crime was removed from
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  Speaker 1: the charges, a decision the UEJF called scandalous. questioning when
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism will be properly recognized. Sweden has expelled an Iranian
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  Speaker 1: embassy employee and summoned the country's ambassador over alleged threats
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  Speaker 1: against Jewish and Israeli interests in Sweden. Justice Minister Gunnar
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  Speaker 1: Stromer stated, according to AFP, that Iran has a long
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  Speaker 1: history of conducting activities threatening Sweden's security, targeting both regime
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  Speaker 1: opponents and Jewish and Israeli interests, often by utilizing criminal networks.
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  Speaker 1: On U.S. campuses, a lawsuit alleging antisemitic content in Lowe's
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  Speaker 1: Angels Unified's ethnic studies curriculum has been revived. The U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reversed a lower
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  Speaker 1: court's dismissal, allowing parents and teachers to refile their case.
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  Speaker 1: The Deborah Project, representing the plaintiffs, stated this ruling upholds
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  Speaker 1: that Jews are protected from discrimination. Separately, Lincoln Memorial University
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  Speaker 1: has reached a federal settlement with the Department of Justice
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  Speaker 1: and Health and Human Services, to resolve an investigation into
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  Speaker 1: alleged discrimination against Jewish students. The DOJ announced that the
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  Speaker 1: university's medical school had denied Jewish students religious holiday accommodations
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  Speaker 1: while granting similar requests for non-Jewish students. Assistant Attorney General
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  Speaker 1: Harmeet Dhillon stated students of all backgrounds should receive equal treatment,
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  Speaker 1: and an LMU spokesperson affirmed the university does not tolerate
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism or discrimination. Meanwhile, Columbia University has loosened access restrictions
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  Speaker 1: following anti-Israel unrest, with its task force on antisemitism having
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  Speaker 1: documented hundreds of reports from Jewish and Israeli students. Broader
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  Speaker 1: controversies surrounding public figures and their rhetoric on Israel and
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  Speaker 1: Palestine are also impacting discourse, including on Australian campuses, where
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  Speaker 1: students at the University of Sydney are set to vote
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  Speaker 1: on related issues. according to reporting reviewed for this episode.
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  Speaker 1: An article reviewed for this episode discusses criticisms of musicians
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  Speaker 1: like Macklemore, who critics, including prominent Jewish voices, have accused
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  Speaker 1: of antisemitic rhetoric and imagery. Ed Sheeran faced scrutiny for
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  Speaker 1: his ambiguous stance amid these controversies, while Australian advocate Grace
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  Speaker 1: Tame drew criticism for describing reports of sexual violence against
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  Speaker 1: Israeli women as propaganda. The same reporting critiques the film NAZA,
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  Speaker 1: which won an award at the Venice Film Festival, for
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  Speaker 1: presenting allegations of Israel deliberately killing Palestinian civilians as documentary truth,
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  Speaker 1: noting the IDF's rejection of this characterization and questioning the
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  Speaker 1: filmmaker's presentation. In media critique, The Washington Times accused The
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  Speaker 1: New York Times of tipping an anti-Semitic hat. Internationally, senior
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  Speaker 1: figures from Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud party met with Herbert Kickle,
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  Speaker 1: leader of Austria's Freedom Party, or FPIR, in Strasbourg, calling
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  Speaker 1: the FPIR friends of Israel. This meeting has drawn attention
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  Speaker 1: given the FPIR history and ongoing concerns about antisemitism in Europe,
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  Speaker 1: though Likud representatives framed the discussions around combating Islamism. Also,
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  Speaker 1: critics claim the upcoming UN Durban commemoration is attempting to
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  Speaker 1: whitewash the antisemitic nature of the 2000 and one conference.
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  Speaker 1: In Policy Developments, Dozens of members of the European Parliament
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  Speaker 1: from the Patriots for Europe group signed a charter adopting
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  Speaker 1: the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IHRA, principles on combating antisemitism.
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  Speaker 1: One report indicates that antisemitism in the UK is becoming institutionalized,
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  Speaker 1: extending beyond individual acts. And regarding community security, a closed-door
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  Speaker 1: meeting took place between El-Sayed and Temple Israel rabbis, addressing
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  Speaker 1: online-driven violence as a top US security threat, specifically citing
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  Speaker 1: synagogue attacks. On a more positive note, proposed legislation seeks
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  Speaker 1: federal recognition and support for the Fort Ontario Historic Site
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  Speaker 1: in Oswego, New York, a former Holocaust refugee shelter, aiming
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  Speaker 1: for National Historical Park status. Additionally, the organization Eradicate Hate,
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  Speaker 1: founded in response to a significant antisemitic attack, is continuing
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  Speaker 1: its work. I'm Rachel Adler, thank you for listening to
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  Speaker 1: Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast app so
• 5:59
  Speaker 1: you don't miss the next update. This report was generated
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  Speaker 1: with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important
• 6:08
  Speaker 1: details with primary sources.