Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - September 30, 2026, 01 PM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - September 30, 2026, 01 PM 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: with a critical intervention. In 2024, the arrest of self-proclaimed
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: neo-Nazi Mason Reynolds in Hove prevented an antisemitic attack on
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  Speaker 1: a synagogue, according to reporting reviewed for this episode. This
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  Speaker 1: incident underscores the persistent threat of far-right extremism. Across the
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  Speaker 1: United States, organized white supremacist groups continue to distribute antisemitic propaganda.
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  Speaker 1: The ADL reports multiple instances this past spring and summer.
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  Speaker 1: In Lewiston, Maine, individuals associated with the New England White
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  Speaker 1: Network placed flyers calling to boycott Jewish business alongside Holocaust imagery.
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  Speaker 1: In Henderson, Texas, members of the Goyim Defense League distributed
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  Speaker 1: flyers with anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ plus messages. Patriot front members
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  Speaker 1: posted flyers stating, no Zionists in government. In Athens, Georgia,
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  Speaker 1: the neo-Nazi group Blood Tribe marched, shouting Heil Hitler and
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  Speaker 1: carrying a swastika flag. In Lubbock, Texas, a sticker with
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  Speaker 1: an anti-Semitic caricature reading, The Jews Did This, was found
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  Speaker 1: on a gas pump. In Linwood, Washington, Inject Division distributed
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  Speaker 1: flyers with messages like Uniformed Thugs Serve the Jews and
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  Speaker 1: Resist International Judaism. The Goyim Defense League was also active
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  Speaker 1: in Jacksonville, Florida, distributing propaganda stating, every single aspect of
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  Speaker 1: the slave trade was Jewish. And in Berkeley and Huntington Woods, Michigan,
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  Speaker 1: with flyers alleging every single aspect of Disney child grooming
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  Speaker 1: is Jewish, and linking Jews to genocide white people. In Tallahassee, Florida,
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  Speaker 1: Patriot Front posted stickers including No Zionists in Government. These incidents,
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  Speaker 1: reported by the ADL, demonstrate a coordinated effort to spread hate.
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  Speaker 1: On the education front, Local rabbis are raising alarms about
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  Speaker 1: a perceived normalization of antisemitism within Montgomery County Public Schools,
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  Speaker 1: or MCPS. According to reporting reviewed for this episode, a
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  Speaker 1: letter signed by over 40 rabbis notes a 137% increase
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  Speaker 1: in reported hate bias incidents between the 2024-2025 and 2025-2026
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  Speaker 1: school years. with the total number of incidents rising from
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  Speaker 1: 253 to 600. The clergy are urging MCPS leadership to
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  Speaker 1: implement more substantive, specific training and guidelines. This follows an
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  Speaker 1: incident where a swastika was found on a student's desk
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  Speaker 1: at Walter Johnson High School and previous discoveries of antisemitic
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  Speaker 1: graffiti at Greenwood Elementary. District officials attributed the increase partly
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  Speaker 1: to staff training in hate bias reporting. In the United Kingdom,
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  Speaker 1: Antisemitism at universities has seen a significant rise. A report
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  Speaker 1: by the Community Security Trust, or CSD, indicates that university-related
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic incidents have increased by nearly 80% compared to the
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  Speaker 1: period before the October 2023 Hamas attacks. Reporting by Aljaminer
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  Speaker 1: and other sources notes that the CSD recorded 178 such
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  Speaker 1: incidents between the 2024 and 2026 academic years. with 95
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  Speaker 1: incidents in the 2025-26 academic year alone. This is substantially
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  Speaker 1: higher than the 53 incidents recorded in 2022-23. While most
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  Speaker 1: incidents involved abusive behavior, verbal attacks, or graffiti, the report
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  Speaker 1: also documented two occurrences of extreme violence and six assaults
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  Speaker 1: across the two-year period. Worryingly, the CSD also reported that
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  Speaker 1: 16 anti-Semitic incidents were perpetrated by university staff. In Lowe's Angels,
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  Speaker 1: mayoral candidates Karen Bass and Nithya Raman recently clashed over
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  Speaker 1: rhetoric surrounding the Gaza war at a forum organized by
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  Speaker 1: the Jewish community. As reported by JTA, council member Raman
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  Speaker 1: defended her use of the term genocide to describe events
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  Speaker 1: in Gaza, stating she relied on expert opinions. Incumbent Mayor
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  Speaker 1: Bass rejected that characterization. The forum also touched on Raman's
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  Speaker 1: past appearance on streamer Hassan Piker's show, who has made
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  Speaker 1: derogatory statements about Israel. In France, political tensions flared after
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  Speaker 1: President Emmanuel Macron called reports of anti-Semitic messages sent by
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  Speaker 1: national rally figurehead Jordan Bardella between 2013 and 2015, extremely
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  Speaker 1: serious and unacceptable. Bardella pushed back against Macron's comments. Further
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  Speaker 1: complicating the situation, Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai chickly defended Bardella,
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  Speaker 1: accusing the French left of character assassination, according to reporting
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  Speaker 1: by Euronews and Haaretz. The government of Canada has taken
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  Speaker 1: a significant step, officially acknowledging antisemitism as a national security threat.
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  Speaker 1: Reporting reviewed for this episode details a government progress report
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  Speaker 1: that links antisemitism to extremism and the erosion of social cohesion.
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  Speaker 1: Canada has also passed the Combating Hate Act, though concerns
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  Speaker 1: remain about the practicalities of enforcing such legislation. In Italy,
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  Speaker 1: divisions on the left have emerged over a proposed bill
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  Speaker 1: to combat antisemitism. The main opposition Democratic Party, or PD,
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  Speaker 1: boycotted a parliamentary committee vote on the bill, which includes
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  Speaker 1: the IHRA definition of antisemitism. A PD source stated the
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  Speaker 1: party considered the definition divisive and feared it could curtail
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  Speaker 1: legitimate criticism of Israel. the bill's supporters argue stronger safeguards
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  Speaker 1: are needed, citing a record 963 antisemitic cases recorded in
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  Speaker 1: Italy in 2025, according to reporting by Aljamina. New York
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  Speaker 1: City Mayor Zoran Mamdani has released his administration's $ 7. 4 million
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  Speaker 1: strategy to combat antisemitism. This plan allocates funding for hate
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  Speaker 1: crime prevention and Jewish cultural centers. However, critics, as reported
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  Speaker 1: by various outlets, have pointed out that the strategy omits
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  Speaker 1: a clear definition of antisemitism and fails to identify the
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  Speaker 1: specific movements driving antisemitic sentiment. Governor Kathy Hochul, when questioned,
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  Speaker 1: deferred to New York State's existing definition and declined to
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  Speaker 1: comment directly on the city's plan. On the legal front,
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  Speaker 1: Michael C., Dorff's submission to the U.S. Civil Rights Commission
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  Speaker 1: provides a critical analysis of the federal response to campus antisemitism.
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  Speaker 1: As detailed in reporting reviewed for this episode, Dorff scrutinizes
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  Speaker 1: the legality of the Trump administration's funding cutoffs under Title VI,
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  Speaker 1: labeling them as unlawful, unconstitutional, and destructive, due to procedural
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  Speaker 1: and substantive statutory limitations. I'm Rachel Adler, thank you for
• 6:59
  Speaker 1: listening to Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast
• 7:04
  Speaker 1: app so you don't miss the next update. This report
• 7:07
  Speaker 1: was generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies, please
• 7:11
  Speaker 1: verify important details with primary sources.