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Antisemitism Watch - August 9, 2026, 05 AM 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 disturbing incident from Sydney, Australia, where an Israeli
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  Speaker 1: influencer is set to testify in court against nurses accused
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  Speaker 1: of making death threats. The influencer has stated that his
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  Speaker 1: public profile means people know his face and name, and
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  Speaker 1: he referenced the alleged threats in the context of recent
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  Speaker 1: events in Australia and the broader rise of antisemitism, according
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  Speaker 1: to reporting. Turning to higher education, a government commissioned report
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  Speaker 1: based on a survey of nine hundred Jewish students reveals
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  Speaker 1: widespread issues on campuses across the country. According to the report,
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  Speaker 1: students have experienced widespread harassment, threats, and instances of Holocaust denial.
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  Speaker 1: In New York City, reporting indicates a dramatic surge in
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic incidents and violent attacks targeting Jews and synagogues. The
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  Speaker 1: iconic Park East Synagogue, for example, has been the object
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  Speaker 1: of violent episodes. Community leaders and officials have sharply criticized
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  Speaker 1: New York City Mayor Zoren Mamdani his absence from the
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  Speaker 1: annual Israel Independence Day parade and certain words and actions
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  Speaker 1: have drawn condemnation from the Israeli Consul general in New
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  Speaker 1: York and the President of Israel. According to news coverage.
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  Speaker 1: This follows a context where political rhetoric critical of Israel
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  Speaker 1: has been linked to increased antisemitism. Mayor Mamdani is described
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  Speaker 1: as a proponent of BDS who has refused to affirm
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  Speaker 1: Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. Examining the
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  Speaker 1: funding landscape, an investigation documented by OLAM reveals that Stephen
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  Speaker 1: Spielberg's Righteous Persons Foundation has directed two point four million
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  Speaker 1: dollars since twenty twenty to Jewish advocacy organizations with explicitly
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  Speaker 1: anti Israel positions. These groups, including Bend the Ark, t RUA,
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  Speaker 1: and Jews United for Justice, reportedly opposed the International Holocaust
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  Speaker 1: Remembrance Alliance or IHRA definition of antisemitism and provided critical
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  Speaker 1: support for Zurin Mamdani's mayoral campaign. Ben the Ark, the
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  Speaker 1: largest of these organizations, publicly opposed the IHRA definition and
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  Speaker 1: claimed credit for Mamdanni's victory. The report also notes that
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  Speaker 1: Stephen Spielberg hosted Mayor Mamdani at his apartment shortly after
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  Speaker 1: his inauguration on a university campus controversy arose this week
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  Speaker 1: regarding an invitation extended by the University of Washington's Office
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  Speaker 1: of Public Lectures for streamer Hassen Piker to speak in
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  Speaker 1: January twenty twenty seven. The university announcement praised Piker, an
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  Speaker 1: online commentator, as an authoritative voice for a generation hungry
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  Speaker 1: for honest political engagement. However, reporting highlighted Piker's history of
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  Speaker 1: controversial statements, including past comments cited in the article regarding
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  Speaker 1: the relocation of terrorists to campuses and the sentiments about
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  Speaker 1: nine slash eleven. Following public criticism, the university stated it
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  Speaker 1: was reviewing the process by which the event was planned
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  Speaker 1: and would update procedures. From a Watchdog perspective, analysis published
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  Speaker 1: this week suggests that the degradation of the word antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: its conversion from a name for hatred into an accusation
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  Speaker 1: of bad faith, is a deliberate funded project. This strategy,
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  Speaker 1: drawing parallels to the reframing of the term orientalism, aims
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  Speaker 1: to make the act of naming antisemitism the offense. As described.
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  Speaker 1: This approach can lead to instances where online personalities respond
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  Speaker 1: to condemnations by claiming the condemnation itself fuels antisemitism. The
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  Speaker 1: analysis also references the controversy surrounding Tucker Carlson platforming Nick Fuentes,
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  Speaker 1: where criticism prompted the defense of Carlson and led to
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  Speaker 1: resignations from an institution's antisemitism task force, indicating a reflex
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  Speaker 1: to locate the offense in the naming, not the content
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  Speaker 1: in Internationally, a new federal study in Canada has found
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  Speaker 1: that antisemitism is running rampant, according to reporting in the
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  Speaker 1: source material. Specific details from the study beyond its title
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  Speaker 1: were not available in the evidence provided. 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.