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Swastika Vandalism Investigated as Hate Crime in Newburgh · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. And we're
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  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. Find us at clockworkmedia.org
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  Speaker 1: slash m. A, we begin with a disturbing incident in
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  Speaker 1: the town of Newburgh, New York, where a campaign sign
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  Speaker 1: for Scott Manley, a Jewish candidate for town supervisor, was
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  Speaker 1: found vandalized with a swastika. According to midhitsanus.com, Manley discovered
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  Speaker 1: the spray-painted Nazi emblem on both sides of his sign
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  Speaker 1: on October 28. Manley, whose relatives died in the Holocaust,
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  Speaker 1: expressed shock and disgust. The town of Newburgh police are
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  Speaker 1: investigating the incident as a hate crime. Police Chief Bruce
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  Speaker 1: Campbell called the act cowardly. This incident occurs against a
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  Speaker 1: backdrop of rising antisemitism nationwide. The ADL recorded over 6,000
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic incidents in the U.S. in 2025. and FBI data
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  Speaker 1: shows Jewish Americans are disproportionately targeted in religion-based hate crimes.
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  Speaker 1: In Canada, the Law Society of Ontario is considering a
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  Speaker 1: motion to establish a task force to address serious concerns
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  Speaker 1: at Toronto Metropolitan University's Lincoln Alexander School of Law. Reporting
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  Speaker 1: from ca.news.yahoo.com details an external review by Justice Mary Lou Bonato,
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  Speaker 1: which described the institution as a cesspit of antisemitism. The
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  Speaker 1: review found that Jewish students have faced intimidation, dehumanization, and fear,
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  Speaker 1: and that TMU has too often failed to address discriminatory conduct.
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  Speaker 1: The proposed task force would explore options to ensure fairness
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  Speaker 1: and equality for law students at LSO-accredited institutions. Internationally, a
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  Speaker 1: report from the European Commission Against Racism and Intolerance confirms
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  Speaker 1: a massive, unprecedented surge in antisemitism in Czechia following the
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  Speaker 1: October 7 conflict. According to jpost.com, antisemitic incidents in the
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  Speaker 1: country rose sharply from just over 1,100 in 2021 to
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  Speaker 1: nearly 4,700 in 2024. The report notes that Holocaust denial
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  Speaker 1: and distortion increased by 47% in 2024, and physical assaults
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  Speaker 1: and property attacks targeting Jewish individuals and institutions have also risen.
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  Speaker 1: The majority of these incidents are linked to online hate speech,
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  Speaker 1: that holds the local Jewish community collectively responsible for the
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  Speaker 1: actions of the Israeli government. In the UK, comedian Nabil
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  Speaker 1: Abdelrashid has drawn condemnation for remarks made during a stand-up set. GBnews.com
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  Speaker 1: reports that the campaign against antisemitism condemned Abdelrashid after footage
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  Speaker 1: emerged of him targeting a Hebrew-speaking audience member. After asking
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  Speaker 1: what language the attendee spoke, Abdelrashid reportedly quipped, not quite.
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  Speaker 1: before making comments about Israel and chanting, Gaza till I die.
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  Speaker 1: The campaign against antisemitism stated, when Jews are the butt
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  Speaker 1: of a joke simply because of who they are, you
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  Speaker 1: know your society has taken a disastrous turn. Turning to
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  Speaker 1: online extremism. A study by the Anti-Defamation League, reported by WorldIsraelNews.com,
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  Speaker 1: has found measurable anti-Jewish and anti-Israel bias in four leading
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  Speaker 1: artificial intelligence large language models. The ADL tested models including ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini,
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  Speaker 1: and Lama. The study revealed that these AI systems, trained
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  Speaker 1: on vast, unfiltered internet data, have absorbed dangerous falsehoods, including
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  Speaker 1: conspiracy theories about Jewish involvement in events like 9-11, which
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  Speaker 1: they did not dismiss as readily as other conspiracy theories.
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  Speaker 1: The Anti-Defamation League has also analyzed commentary surrounding the recent
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  Speaker 1: Israeli elections. finding that bad actors across the ideological spectrum
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  Speaker 1: used the event to demonize Jews, Zionists, Israelis, and the
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  Speaker 1: State of Israel. According to ADL analysis, common antisemitic themes
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  Speaker 1: included tropes of alleged Jewish or Zionist control, such as
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  Speaker 1: false flags, and the use of the word Jew as
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  Speaker 1: an insult. Media outlets in Egypt, Qatar, Iran, and Lebanon
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  Speaker 1: employed dehumanizing language and historical analogies. with one Egyptian columnist
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  Speaker 1: comparing Israeli society to Nazi-like animality. On a more positive note,
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  Speaker 1: faith leaders are uniting against the rise of antisemitism. Jonathan
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  Speaker 1: Greenblatt of the Anti-Defamation League and Bishop Robert Stearns are
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  Speaker 1: warning of the threat and calling for Christian-Jewish solidarity, as
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  Speaker 1: noted on YouTube.com. Jewish Voices New Jersey highlights the necessity
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  Speaker 1: of the Black Jewish Alliance for defending democracy, addressing both
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism and racism. And in Australia, an article in Thaustralian.com
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  Speaker 1: argues for expanded Holocaust and antisemitism education for school students,
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  Speaker 1: emphasizing its importance for social cohesion in light of current concerns,
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  Speaker 1: referencing evidence presented to a royal commission. I'm Rachel Adler,
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  Speaker 1: thank you for listening to Antisemitism Watch. For focused coverage
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  Speaker 1: from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and the Philadelphia region,
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  Speaker 1: listen to Antisemitism Watch. midatlantic at clockworkmedia.org slash ma. Follow
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  Speaker 1: the next update. This report was generated with AI assistance
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  Speaker 1: and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important details with primary sources.