Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - October 4, 2026, 05 PM Eastern

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

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch, I'm Rachel Adler. And we're
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: launching Antisemitism Watch, Mid-Atlantic, providing focused coverage from New York,
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  Speaker 1: New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Philadelphia region. Visit clockworkmedia.org slash
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  Speaker 1: MA today. We begin with a chilling report from Manchester, England,
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  Speaker 1: where prosecutors allege two Iranian men conducted surveillance of a
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  Speaker 1: synagogue and the Jewish museum as part of a plot
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  Speaker 1: to bomb them this year. According to reporting by worldisraelnews.com,
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  Speaker 1: Prosecutor Mark Luckett stated the duo were directed by a
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  Speaker 1: third person believed to be in Iran. The Heaton Park
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  Speaker 1: Congregation Synagogue was previously the site of a deadly terror
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  Speaker 1: attack in October 2025. The two men have been arrested
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  Speaker 1: and charged with engaging in conduct in preparation for terrorist acts,
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  Speaker 1: with their court appearance scheduled for later this month. Counter-terror
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  Speaker 1: policing acknowledged the timing and context of increasing anti-Semitic incidents
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  Speaker 1: across the UK. In Britain, the Green Party has formally
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  Speaker 1: adopted a policy equating Zionism with racism, a move that
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  Speaker 1: has drawn sharp condemnation from the Israeli government and concern
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  Speaker 1: from Jewish community groups. The motion, passed at the party's
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  Speaker 1: annual conference with a vote of 1,022 to 813, argues
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  Speaker 1: Zionism is an ethnonationalist ideology that promotes subjugation. Israel's Ministry
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  Speaker 1: of Foreign Affairs stated that the party has become a
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  Speaker 1: body that gives legitimacy to terrorism and that the resolution
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  Speaker 1: calls for Israel's destruction, supporting a Palestinian state, from the
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  Speaker 1: river to the sea. Reporting from JTA notes, the motion
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  Speaker 1: was opposed by most Green MPs and could face legal
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  Speaker 1: challenge for potentially breaching Equality's legislation. The Guardian and WTVBAM.com
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  Speaker 1: also detailed the controversy, highlighting that the motion argues Zionism
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  Speaker 1: will be treated as any other form of racism. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: in French politics, Jordan Bardella, a leading ally of Marine
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  Speaker 1: Le Pen, is reportedly fighting for his political life amidst
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  Speaker 1: allegations of making anti-Semitic comments as a teenager in 2013.
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  Speaker 1: Investigative outlet Mediapart published screenshots of alleged Facebook messenger messages
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  Speaker 1: from Bardella containing statements like, The Jew has to dominate
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  Speaker 1: other peoples, crush them, and rob them. A Zionist is
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  Speaker 1: necessarily a Jew, and fundamentally so. According to reporting from Inkle.com
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  Speaker 1: and UN News, Bardella denies these claims, calling them a
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  Speaker 1: total war by opponents. While Marine Le Pen has publicly
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  Speaker 1: expressed confidence in Bardella, some analysts suggest this could become
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  Speaker 1: a liability for her presidential campaign, especially given Bardella's role
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  Speaker 1: in the party's strategy to shed its anti-Semitic legacy. He
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  Speaker 1: notably made a visit to Israel in 2025. In New
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  Speaker 1: York City, a coalition of over 25 Jewish organizations, has
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  Speaker 1: sharply criticized Mayor Zoran Mamdani's newly released municipal strategy to
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  Speaker 1: combat antisemitism. As reported by jpost.com, the group's argue the
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  Speaker 1: plan falls dangerously short by focusing on older, right-wing incidents
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  Speaker 1: and failing to address contemporary anti-Zionist animus that they say
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  Speaker 1: fuels anti-Jewish harassment and violence. The coalition stated that Jewish
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  Speaker 1: New Yorkers are currently facing exclusion and violence cloaked as
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  Speaker 1: anti-Israel activism. citing incidents like free Palestine, chance, and offensive accusations.
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  Speaker 1: They also noted the report explicitly declines to adopt a
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  Speaker 1: definition of antisemitism, a key point of contention. On the
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  Speaker 1: policy front, Italy's parliament is nearing a final vote to
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  Speaker 1: formally adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance, or IHRA, working
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  Speaker 1: definition of antisemitism into law. Italy's Senate previously passed the bill,
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  Speaker 1: which aims to enshrine the IHRA definition while explicitly preserving
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  Speaker 1: freedom of political criticism and expression. Despite revisions, the bill
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  Speaker 1: has faced opposition, with critics arguing it could hinder criticism
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  Speaker 1: of Israel. The Union of Italian Jewish Communities, however, supports
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  Speaker 1: the bill, calling it a democratic antibody against prejudice and hatred,
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  Speaker 1: as detailed by jpost.com. Turning to broader trends, The Combat
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  Speaker 1: Antisemitism Movement's Antisemitism Research Center reported 104 antisemitic incidents globally
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  Speaker 1: in the past week, including seven violent acts, threats, or
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  Speaker 1: foiled plots. Following a foiled hijacking of a fly-to-buy flight,
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  Speaker 1: CAMSARC detected over 2,000, 900 antisemitic conspiracy theories online claiming
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  Speaker 1: the incident was an Israeli false flag operation, according to jpost.com.
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  Speaker 1: the Middle East and North Africa region was identified as
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  Speaker 1: the primary hotspot for antisemitic activities. In legal news, a U.S.
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  Speaker 1: judge dismissed a defamation lawsuit against the watchdog group Stop Antisemitism.
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  Speaker 1: As reported by jpost.com, the group had posted warnings about
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  Speaker 1: a musician's allegedly antisemitic social media activity, which included denying
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  Speaker 1: Jewish connection to Israel and calling Zionism a terror movement.
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  Speaker 1: the judge ruled that Stop Antisemitism's characterizations constituted protected opinion
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  Speaker 1: under the First Amendment, allowing readers to evaluate the musician's
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  Speaker 1: original posts. Finally, in online extremism efforts, TikTok and Meta
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  Speaker 1: are supporting an EU hackathon aimed at developing new tools
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  Speaker 1: to combat online antisemitism, including improvements in content moderation and
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  Speaker 1: AI bias removal, according to brusselstimes.com. I'm Rachel Adler. Thank
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  Speaker 1: you for listening to Antisemitism Watch. For focused coverage from
• 5:52
  Speaker 1: New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Philadelphia region, listen
• 5:56
  Speaker 1: to Antisemitism Watch. MidAtlantic at ClockworkMedia.org.ma. Follow Antisemitism Watch in
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  Speaker 1: your podcast app so you don't miss the next update.
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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. Thank you.