Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - October 2, 2026, 09 PM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - October 2, 2026, 09 PM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. Britain has
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  Speaker 1: charged two Iranian nationals with terrorism offences over an alleged
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  Speaker 1: plot targeting Manchester's Jewish community on the eve of Yom Kippur.
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  Speaker 1: Counter-terrorism police stated that Rahman Salehi, 35, and Salim Ahmadian, 36,
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  Speaker 1: allegedly sought to acquire components for an improvised explosive device
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  Speaker 1: and conducted reconnaissance, Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood remarked. It is
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  Speaker 1: no secret that this country faces a range of serious
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  Speaker 1: threats from the Iranian regime. They target our Jewish communities.
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: According to reporting reviewed for this episode, Britain has seen
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  Speaker 1: a significant rise in antisemitism since October 2023. Senior National
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  Speaker 1: Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism Policing Vicky Evans acknowledged the concern the
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  Speaker 1: alleged plot, occurring during the High Holy Days, has caused
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  Speaker 1: the Jewish community. In Belleville, Canada, Days after a shooting
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  Speaker 1: attack on the Sons of Jacob synagogue, neo-Nazi propaganda from
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  Speaker 1: the Goyim Defense League was found distributed around the city,
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  Speaker 1: including outside the synagogue. Police described the shooting, which occurred
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  Speaker 1: during Yom Kippur prayers, as a premeditated and targeted attack.
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  Speaker 1: During the confrontation, the shooter, Sean Ward, reportedly asked an
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  Speaker 1: intervening officer, you are going to die for the Jews.
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  Speaker 1: Ward later died from injuries sustained in the incident. B'nai
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  Speaker 1: B'rith Canada CEO Simon Wohl called the distribution of propaganda
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  Speaker 1: a cowardly attempt to intimidate, terrorise and taunt the Jewish community,
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  Speaker 1: adding that the GDL has been active in Canada since
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  Speaker 1: at least 2023. In Ontario, 12 Jewish teachers have filed
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  Speaker 1: human rights complaints against multiple school boards and teachers' unions,
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  Speaker 1: alleging workplace discrimination and antisemitism. According to their lawyer, Catherine Marshall,
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  Speaker 1: These institutions allegedly failed to act on reported incidents and,
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  Speaker 1: in some cases, penalized the teachers for coming forward. The
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  Speaker 1: teachers are seeking $ 150, 000 each in damages and want the
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  Speaker 1: tribunal to order the development of transparent, enforceable policies to
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  Speaker 1: combat antisemitism in schools. Marshall stated that swastikas drawn on
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  Speaker 1: desks or teachers being shut down at union meetings for
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  Speaker 1: raising concerns are not gray areas. Jewish students and the
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  Speaker 1: advocacy coalition CAPE, ED, have refiled a federal lawsuit against
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  Speaker 1: George Washington University, accusing the institution of failing to adequately
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  Speaker 1: address antisemitic harassment and discrimination. This amended complaint follows a
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  Speaker 1: dismissal of the original filing. The lawsuit centers partly on
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  Speaker 1: an anti-Israel encampment in 2024 where protesters allegedly shouted, Zionists,
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  Speaker 1: go to hell, and we don't want no Jewish state.
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  Speaker 1: The students claim the university's response denied them equal access
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  Speaker 1: to education, echoing a 2025 US Department of Justice investigation
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  Speaker 1: that found GWU acted with deliberate indifference toward a hostile
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  Speaker 1: educational environment. In British Columbia, Arthur Roberts has been sentenced
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  Speaker 1: to eight months in jail for defacing Victoria's historic congregation
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  Speaker 1: Emmanuel Synagogue, with unquestionably hateful anti-Semitic statements. BC Provincial Court
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  Speaker 1: Judge Micah Rankin ruled Roberts' actions constituted a hate crime,
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  Speaker 1: citing messages describing Jewish people as evil and monsters. The
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  Speaker 1: judge noted that while criticism of Israel is not necessarily antisemitic,
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  Speaker 1: the collective attribution of responsibility to all Jews for the
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  Speaker 1: actions of Israel that renders the words antisemitic. The ruling
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  Speaker 1: detailed the profoundly negative effect on congregants. On the campus front,
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  Speaker 1: an antisemitic incident occurred at Newport High School when a
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  Speaker 1: swastika was displayed in a bathroom. Separately, a social media
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  Speaker 1: post promoting a student walkout at Sammamish High School on
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  Speaker 1: October 7 used antisemitic rhetoric, including scheming Zionist bureaucrats. The
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  Speaker 1: Bellevue School District expressed concern about the rhetoric's impact on students,
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  Speaker 1: particularly Jewish students. Meanwhile, in Oakland, California, Educators are debating
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  Speaker 1: the nature of antisemitism training within the Oakland Unified School District,
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  Speaker 1: with some teachers arguing for a distinction between hatred of
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  Speaker 1: Jewish people and criticism of Israel or Zionism. In New
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  Speaker 1: York City, Mayor Zoran Mamdani has launched the city's inaugural
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  Speaker 1: municipal strategy aimed at combating antisemitism. The initiative is reportedly
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  Speaker 1: being led by a dedicated individual. The mayor also discussed
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism and affordability in New York during a recent UN speech,
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  Speaker 1: where he was singled out by the Israeli prime minister.
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  Speaker 1: In France, Marine Le Pen's remark calling the investigative outlet
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  Speaker 1: Mediapart to put on a bulletproof suit has been decried
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  Speaker 1: by French newsroom editorial committees as a direct threat and
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  Speaker 1: intimidation tactic. Mediapart had recently published alleged antisemitic comments by
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  Speaker 1: a National Rally Party president. Journalists stated Le Pen's comment,
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  Speaker 1: is putting a target on journalists' backs. On social media
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  Speaker 1: platform X, antisemitic conspiracy theories have spread rapidly, suggesting the
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  Speaker 1: recent thwarted Flyjubai terror attack was an Israeli false flag operation.
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  Speaker 1: The Combat Antisemitism Movement's Antisemitism Research Center identified nearly 3,000
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  Speaker 1: posts within 12 hours, describing it as a pre-existing narrative
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  Speaker 1: adapted to fuel hatred. British MP Ayyap Khan also made
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  Speaker 1: comments alluding to suspicions about the attack's origins. In Lancaster, Pennsylvania,
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  Speaker 1: Joshua Reisinger was arrested for allegedly posting anti-Semitic signs featuring
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  Speaker 1: Nazi symbols outside Degal Israel congregation on September 19 and 20,
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  Speaker 1: near Yom Kippur. A congregant reported seeing Reisinger make threatening gestures.
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  Speaker 1: Rabbi Elazer Rosenberg noted the congregation has taken extra security precautions. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: actress Selma Blair announced the making of a documentary titled Hindney,
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  Speaker 1: Here I Am, about antisemitism. Blair described the project, which
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  Speaker 1: will explore her people and the land of Israel, as
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  Speaker 1: a way to express what she couldn't two years ago
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  Speaker 1: following controversy over her past remarks. She stated the film
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  Speaker 1: is for those who are not in this room and
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  Speaker 1: aims to show why Israel is not an abstraction to us.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Rachel Adler. Thank you for listening to Antisemitism Watch.
• 6:35
  Speaker 1: Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast app so you don't
• 6:38
  Speaker 1: miss the next update. This report was generated with AI
• 6:42
  Speaker 1: assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important details with
• 6:47
  Speaker 1: primary sources.