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Antisemitism Watch - August 4, 2026, 05 PM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to antisemitism, watch I'm Rachel Adler. Today we
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  Speaker 1: begin with a physical act of hate in Spain, followed
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  Speaker 1: by developments in British politics and American culture, and a
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  Speaker 1: look at how antisemitism is evolving online. JTA reports that
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  Speaker 1: sometime between Friday night and Saturday morning July thirty first
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  Speaker 1: and August first, twenty twenty six, a swastika was spray
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  Speaker 1: painted on the base of a bronze statue of Mimonodes
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  Speaker 1: in Cordoba, Spain's historic Jewish Quarter. Officials condemned the act,
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  Speaker 1: calling it an attack on heritage and a message of
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  Speaker 1: hate of extreme gravity. The paint was applied to the pedestal,
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  Speaker 1: but as one rabbi commented in JTA's coverage, the target
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  Speaker 1: was Mymonodes himself and the face of Judaism. The rabbi
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  Speaker 1: noted that such acts are not about Israel, but about
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  Speaker 1: Judaism itself, stating that Mymonodes diagnosed hatred as stemming from ignorance,
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  Speaker 1: which is the absence of wisdom. The commentary drew a
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  Speaker 1: parallel to historical periods when Mimonoides faced threats and ultimatums
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  Speaker 1: of forced conversion, highlighting how historical campaigns against Jews have
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  Speaker 1: taken various forms throughout history in British politics, JTA reports
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  Speaker 1: that Parliament's Standard's watchdog has opened an inquiry into Richard Tice,
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  Speaker 1: deputy leader of the right wing Reform UK Party. The
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  Speaker 1: investigation concerns whether Tys should have verbally declared a September
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty five trip to Israel sponsored by Reform Friends
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  Speaker 1: of Israel before speaking in a June twenty second debate
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  Speaker 1: on pro Israel influence. Tys has rejected the complaint, asserting
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  Speaker 1: its stems from his opposition to what he described as
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic claims about Israeli influence in British politics. He stated
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  Speaker 1: on x that he is being investigated for standing against
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism and alleged the complaint came from an antisemitic anti
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  Speaker 1: Israel lobby group. Tys also described the petition's premis as
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic in its very motivation and at its core, and
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  Speaker 1: that allegations of undue Jewish or Israel influence echo the
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  Speaker 1: oldest antisemitic trope in the book. Moving to the cultural sphere,
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  Speaker 1: Aljemina reports that Vogue's Global editorial director and metrustee Anna
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  Speaker 1: Wintour has consulted with Jewish leaders regarding the Metropolitan Museum
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  Speaker 1: of Arts decision to honor designer John Galliano at the
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  Speaker 1: twenty twenty seven met Gala. The exhibition, titled John Galliano Horizons,
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  Speaker 1: will highlight Galliano's influence on fashion while also addressing his
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  Speaker 1: twenty eleven antisemitic, racist, and anti Asian conduct. The museum
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  Speaker 1: stated the exhibition will directly address the rupture caused by
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  Speaker 1: Galliano's antisemitic, racist, and anti Asian conduct in twenty ten
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  Speaker 1: and twenty eleven, and consider how artistic achievements should be
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  Speaker 1: understood alongside ethical accountability. Among those consulted were Rabbi Rick
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  Speaker 1: Jacobs of the Union for Reform Judaism and Jonathan Greenblatt,
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  Speaker 1: CEO of the Anti Defamation League. Greenblatt told The New
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  Speaker 1: York Times that the ADL Beloe leeves Galliano has genuinely
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  Speaker 1: worked through the issues and has long since accepted his apology,
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  Speaker 1: while also acknowledging that some may question the decision given
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  Speaker 1: the recent spike in antisemitism. Galliano's twenty eleven conduct included
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  Speaker 1: vile antisemitic remarks for which he was convicted of a
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  Speaker 1: hate crime. Finally, Algemeiner details a significant global trend. The
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  Speaker 1: surge in antisemitism since October seventh, twenty twenty three, has
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  Speaker 1: evolved from overt attacks to subtler coded language on social
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  Speaker 1: media designed to evade detection. This contemporary antisemitism often uses emojis, numbers, memes,
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  Speaker 1: and seemingly innocuous symbols. Examples include the juice box emoji,
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  Speaker 1: a pun on Jews, the watermelon sometimes used for intimidation,
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  Speaker 1: numbers like eighty eight for Hyle Hitler or fourteen slash
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  Speaker 1: eighty eight referencing white supremacist slogans and triple parentheses around
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  Speaker 1: names as digital identification markers. The report notes that this
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  Speaker 1: coded communication serves to signal recognition, intimidation, and belonging among
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  Speaker 1: extremists modernizing historical methods of dehumanization to prepare targets for persecution.
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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.