Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - October 1, 2026, 09 AM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - October 1, 2026, 09 AM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. Colorado Attorney
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  Speaker 1: General Phil Weiser spoke September 30th at the Bobby Yar
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  Speaker 1: commemoration about a significant rise in antisemitism. According to coag.gov,
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  Speaker 1: Weiser cited data indicating Jewish Americans were targeted an average
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  Speaker 1: of 17 times per day in 2025. He also reported
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  Speaker 1: a 39% increase in antisemitic assaults involving deadly weapons from
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  Speaker 1: the previous year. Weiser detailed painful examples including a car
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  Speaker 1: crashing into a Michigan synagogue, Jewish elected officials feeling unsafe,
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  Speaker 1: a Colorado student group calling for the release of a
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  Speaker 1: convicted assailant charged with a federal hate crime, and a
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  Speaker 1: Colorado school board member allegedly using an antisemitic slur. The
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  Speaker 1: attorney general framed rising antisemitism not just as hatred of
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  Speaker 1: Jewish people, but as a warning sign of a sickness
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  Speaker 1: in our society and the threat of a culture in decline.
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  Speaker 1: In the UK, a new report highlights a significant surge
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  Speaker 1: in antisemitic incidents at universities. According to algeminer.com, the Community
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  Speaker 1: Security Trust, or CSD, recorded 178 university-related antisemitic incidents between
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  Speaker 1: the 2024 and 2026 academic years. This represents a nearly
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  Speaker 1: 80% increase compared to the period before the October 2023 attacks.
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  Speaker 1: The CSD report noted a 14% increase in the 2025-26
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  Speaker 1: academic year alone, with 95 incidents recorded, compared to 53
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  Speaker 1: in 2022-23. Most incidents involved abusive behavior, verbal abuse, antisemitic comments,
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  Speaker 1: or graffiti-targeting students, staff, or Jewish organizations. However, The CSD
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  Speaker 1: report also documented two incidents of extreme violence in 2024-25
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  Speaker 1: and six assaults across the two-year period. The CSD also
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  Speaker 1: found that 16 anti-Semitic incidents were perpetrated by university staff
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  Speaker 1: during these two years. British Education Minister Lucy Powell stated,
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  Speaker 1: No student should have to choose between expressing their identity
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  Speaker 1: and feeling safe on campus, yet for too many Jewish
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  Speaker 1: students that remains a reality. In Italy, the Senate has
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  Speaker 1: approved a bill to formally adopt the IHRA definition of
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  Speaker 1: anti-Semitism into national law. The bill, approved on March 4, 2026,
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  Speaker 1: now awaits a final vote in the Chamber of Deputies,
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  Speaker 1: scheduled for October 2, 2026. Wanted in Rome reports that
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  Speaker 1: if passed, Italy would be the first country to write
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  Speaker 1: the IHRA definition directly into binding national legislation. The central
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  Speaker 1: provision is Article 1, which adopts the IHRA's 2016 operational
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  Speaker 1: definition and its illustrative examples. Wanted in Rome notes, these
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  Speaker 1: examples include describing Israel's existence as racist, applying double standards
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  Speaker 1: to Israel, and comparing Israeli policy to Nazi conduct. Backers
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  Speaker 1: cite data from the CDEC Foundation showing documented antisemitic incidents
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  Speaker 1: in Italy nearly doubled from 454 in 2023 to 877
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  Speaker 1: in 2024. Victor Fadlan, president of the Jewish Community of Rome,
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  Speaker 1: argued existing hate speech law is no longer adequate, and
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  Speaker 1: the Union of Italian Jewish Communities welcomed the Senate's approval.
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  Speaker 1: The bill has split the Democratic Party, with opponents focusing
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  Speaker 1: on the illustrative examples and concerns that it could chill
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  Speaker 1: criticism of Israeli government policy. A far-right politician has drawn
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  Speaker 1: criticism for using Holocaust inversion rhetoric. According to jpost.com, James Fishback,
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  Speaker 1: a critic of Israel, likened abortion to the Holocaust during
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  Speaker 1: a speech at the University of Mississippi's Turning Point USA chapter,
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  Speaker 1: stating it was worse than the other one. The combat
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism movement had previously flagged one of Fishback's social media
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  Speaker 1: posts for similar remarks. Fishback also used antisemitic terms like
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  Speaker 1: goislip and called for severing ties with Israel, a new
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  Speaker 1: initiative aims to strengthen Jewish leadership on campuses. Philanthropist Laura
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  Speaker 1: Lauder is launching the Jewish Leadership Accelerator, a nine-month paid
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  Speaker 1: fellowship for young Jewish campus leaders, reports eJewish Philanthropy. The program,
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  Speaker 1: set to launch with a pilot cohort in San Francisco
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  Speaker 1: in January, aims to retain leaders after college by providing stipends, mentorship,
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  Speaker 1: networking opportunities, and guidance on balancing careers with Jewish communal involvement.
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  Speaker 1: The Accelerator was conceived partly in response to observing how
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  Speaker 1: campuses have grappled with antisemitism, and the need to support
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  Speaker 1: young Jewish leaders pushing back against it, according to Lauder
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  Speaker 1: via eJewish Philanthropy. I'm Rachel Adler, thank you for listening
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  Speaker 1: to Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast app
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  Speaker 1: so you don't miss the next update. 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. Thank you.