Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - August 22, 2026, 01 PM Eastern

Transcript

Antisemitism Watch - August 22, 2026, 01 PM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You're listening to antisemitism. Watch, I'm Rachel Adler. Today we're
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: tracking an NYPD commissioner's stark warning about bias attacks, unsettling
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: reports from university campuses, and significant accusations involving public figures.
• 0:21
  Speaker 1: NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tish spoke this week at Central Synagogue
• 0:25
  Speaker 1: in Manhattan, addressing the community directly after a recent antisemitic
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: hate attack at the house of worship. According to reporting
• 0:33
  Speaker 1: by The Daily News Eedition. Commissioner Tish called the incident,
• 0:37
  Speaker 1: for which a man faces federal hate crime charges, part
• 0:40
  Speaker 1: of a broader pattern of bias against Jews in New
• 0:43
  Speaker 1: York City and globally. Tish highlighted that Jewish New Yorkers,
• 0:47
  Speaker 1: who constitute about ten percent of the city's population, are
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: disproportionately targeted, accounting for roughly half of all hate crimes
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: in New York City. She noted that since October seventh,
• 0:58
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three, hey has ricocheted across the globe, with
• 1:02
  Speaker 1: the Jewish community repeatedly targeted and rhetoric shifting from slogans
• 1:06
  Speaker 1: to direct calls for violence. The commissioner assured the congregation
• 1:11
  Speaker 1: that the NYPD is actively working to safeguard Jewish New
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: Yorkers and intervene before hatred escalates to violence. On university campuses,
• 1:20
  Speaker 1: reports continue to paint a disturbing picture. According to the
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: Campus Antisemitism and Student Experiences Report, ninety six percent of
• 1:28
  Speaker 1: Jewish students on Canadian campuses have experienced or witnessed at
• 1:32
  Speaker 1: least one instance of antisemitism over the past year, leading
• 1:36
  Speaker 1: many to feel unsafe identifying as Jewish, as noted in
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: reporting by both the National Post and The Toronto Star.
• 1:44
  Speaker 1: A review of Toronto Metropolitan University also found numerous students
• 1:48
  Speaker 1: and staff no longer feel safe. While TMU has established
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: a task force, it's not set to convene until twenty
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: twenty seven, and concerns exist about its composition. This situationation
• 2:00
  Speaker 1: is driving interest in Jewish educational institutions. Yeshiva University and
• 2:05
  Speaker 1: Touro Universities. Lander colleges have reported significant increases in transfer
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: students fleeing antisemitism. Meanwhile, in New York City, a report
• 2:15
  Speaker 1: by United Jewish Teachers documented over two hundred and fifty
• 2:19
  Speaker 1: antisemitic and anti Israel incidents in city schools since October seventh,
• 2:24
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty three. Most Spern, president of United Jewish Teachers,
• 2:29
  Speaker 1: remarked that these incidents have seen an uptick since Mayor
• 2:32
  Speaker 1: Zorin Mamdani, a Muslim and socialist, took office in January
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: twenty twenty six, a tenure marked by what the report
• 2:39
  Speaker 1: describes as actions rolling back protections for Jews and targeting Israel.
• 2:44
  Speaker 1: Incidents ranged from harassment and vandalism to biased curriculum, with
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: Brooklyn seeing the highest concentration of attacks. In the realm
• 2:52
  Speaker 1: of politics and media, accusations of antisemitic rhetoric have surfaced.
• 2:57
  Speaker 1: Paramount has accused actor Mark Ruffalo of inn evoking antisemitic tropes,
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: specifically genocide and aparteate in his commentary on the Warner Bros.
• 3:07
  Speaker 1: Discovery merger dispute, linking it to the Israel Gaza conflict
• 3:11
  Speaker 1: and Oracle's involvement the company, stated that applying such terms
• 3:14
  Speaker 1: to a corporate transaction is a bridge too far and
• 3:18
  Speaker 1: cheapens the very real suffering those words are meant to describe.
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: This follows Ruffalo's remarks citing Saffrakts and Oracle's alleged support
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: for the Israeli military. Curtis Houke, managing editor at the
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: Media Research Center's NewsBusters told Fox News Digital that Paramount
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: was absolutely right to respond to what he called a
• 3:37
  Speaker 1: serious anti Semitic smear. Separately, US Representative Randy Fine stated
• 3:43
  Speaker 1: that Islamism and antisemitism are gaining traction on the political right,
• 3:48
  Speaker 1: a trend he observes alongside similar movements on the left. Finally,
• 3:52
  Speaker 1: concerning institutional responses, former Justice Department attorney Hailey van Irem
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: has filed a complaint related to antisemitism probes into universities,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: highlighting potential issues within the Civil Rights Division. That's all
• 4:06
  Speaker 1: for today's antisemitism watch. I'm Rachel Adler. Thank you for listening.
• 4:11
  Speaker 1: This report was generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: Please verify important details with primary sources.