Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - August 15, 2026, 05 PM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - August 15, 2026, 05 PM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to antisemitism. Watch, I'm Rachel Adler. Today we
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  Speaker 1: examine a disturbing physical assault at a New York synagogue,
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  Speaker 1: a landmark legal settlement addressing campus antisemitism and critical case outcomes,
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  Speaker 1: and international incidents that underscore the pervasive nature of anti
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  Speaker 1: Jewish hate. We begin with a physical assault and hate
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  Speaker 1: crime incident at Manhattan's Central Synagogue. On Friday night, August fourteenth,
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  Speaker 1: Larry Montes, forty six, of the Bronx, disrupted Shabbat services.
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  Speaker 1: According to sources cited by The New York Post, Montes
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  Speaker 1: allegedly told responding officers fk the Jews. After the attack,
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  Speaker 1: Mont's assaulted a congregant and spat at and head budded
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  Speaker 1: a security guard, while also damaging synagogue property. According to
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  Speaker 1: NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tish, he faces charges including assault as
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  Speaker 1: a hate crime and criminal mischief as a hate crime.
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  Speaker 1: The incident was live streamed and drew swift condemnation from
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  Speaker 1: New York officials, including Mayor Zorn Mamdonni, Governor Cathy Hotchell,
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  Speaker 1: Attorney General Lettisha James, and Senator Chuck Schumer. Mayor Mamdanni
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  Speaker 1: called the attack horrifying and vowed to uproot antisemitism from
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  Speaker 1: across the Five boroughs. Rabbi Rebecca thou described the intrusion
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  Speaker 1: into the sacred space as the imperfect and cruel world
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  Speaker 1: keeping flooding in. This attack occurs as hate crimes in
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  Speaker 1: New York City have risen more than nine percent this year,
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  Speaker 1: with over half of those confirmed crimes being anti Jewish,
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  Speaker 1: according to NYPD data reported by Spectrum News. Central Synagogue
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  Speaker 1: itself noted the incident highlighted ongoing threats and community unease,
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  Speaker 1: as reported by the Associated Press. Turning to campus antisemitism,
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  Speaker 1: Haverford College has reached a landmark settlement with Jewish students
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  Speaker 1: and faculty agreeing to confront antisemitism and insure Jewish safety
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  Speaker 1: on campus. This agreement follows a wave of intimidation and
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  Speaker 1: violence that began after October seventh, twenty twenty three. Professor
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  Speaker 1: Barack Mendelsohone, an Israeli American professor of political science at Haverford,
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  Speaker 1: shared his personal experience of the past several years. He
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  Speaker 1: recounted how his classes were boycotted, he was investigated for
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  Speaker 1: linking anti Zionism and antisemitism, chased by a mob and
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  Speaker 1: had the mezuza on his office door stolen. Mendelssohne also
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  Speaker 1: described receiving death threats that made it unsafe for his
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  Speaker 1: children to play in their yard and being called slurs
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  Speaker 1: like filthy Jew and wished a happy Holocaust Day with
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  Speaker 1: his home address included. The lawsuit brought by the public
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  Speaker 1: interest law firm The Deborah Project, detailed a litany of
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic abuses, intimidation and threats, alongside alleged indifference from college administrators.
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  Speaker 1: This comes as new rules targeting antisemitism at federally funded
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  Speaker 1: colleges and universities are being introduced, with faculty antisemitism increasingly
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  Speaker 1: framed as a civil rights violation according to reports reviewed
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  Speaker 1: for this episode. In terms of case outcomes, a London
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  Speaker 1: man has been sentenced to six and a half years
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  Speaker 1: in prison for the antisemitic stabbing of a Jewish building
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  Speaker 1: superintendent Alfonso Pina fifty one was convicted of wounding with intent.
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  Speaker 1: The attack, which occurred in July twenty twenty five, saw
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  Speaker 1: Pena accuse the superintendent of being a Jewish terrorist and
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  Speaker 1: shout further abuse before stabbing him. Britain's Crown Prosecution Service
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  Speaker 1: successfully argued that hostility towards the victim's religion was an
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  Speaker 1: aggravating factor, resulting in the increased sentence handed down at
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  Speaker 1: Croydon Crown Court. Sophie Marge Mattilla, a senior prosecutor for
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  Speaker 1: the CPS, stated that such deliberate violence is disgusting and
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  Speaker 1: hopes the sentence sends a clear message that such hatred
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  Speaker 1: will not be tolerated. This sentencing occurs against a backdrop
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  Speaker 1: of sustained and unprecedented antisemitism in Britain. Since our October seventh.
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  Speaker 1: The Community Security Trust recorded over forty two zero antisemitic
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  Speaker 1: incidents in twenty twenty three and more than thirty five
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  Speaker 1: zero in twenty twenty four. The first half of twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty six has seen a significant increase in physical assaults,
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  Speaker 1: an eighty two percent rise compared to the same period
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  Speaker 1: last year, marking the highest half year figure on record.
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  Speaker 1: In politics and media, scrutiny is growing over antisemitic rhetoric
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  Speaker 1: emanating from within Republican circles. A CNN investigation uncovered extensive
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic material from David Allan sheer Ai, the son in
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  Speaker 1: law of Republican Congressman Mike Collins Sheer, a social media influencer,
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  Speaker 1: has promoted conspiracy theories, including the notion of Jewish Bolsheviks,
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  Speaker 1: blamed Jews for various societal ills, and questioned why gen
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  Speaker 1: Z doesn't hate Hitler. According to the CNN report, Congressman
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  Speaker 1: Collins himself faced criticism for a response on X to
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  Speaker 1: a reporter identified Jewish, where he stated never was a
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  Speaker 1: second thought after the reporter was described as a garbage human.
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  Speaker 1: Colin's insisted people were misunderstanding him, arguing he was agreeing
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  Speaker 1: with the characterization based on her views about America being
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  Speaker 1: built on stolen land. On a separate note, Florida Democratic
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  Speaker 1: Senate candidate alex Vinman has addressed rising left wing antisemitism,
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  Speaker 1: as covered by Jewish Insider. Internationally, Portugal's attorney general is
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  Speaker 1: investigating allegations of antisemitic posters, hesbelah, flags, death threats, and
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  Speaker 1: an assault against an Israeli doctoral student at Combra. This
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  Speaker 1: investigation points to significant security and political tensions. I'm Rachel Adler,
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Antisemitism Watch. This report was
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  Speaker 1: generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify
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  Speaker 1: important details with primary sources