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Manhattan Stabbing Leads Hate Crime Charges · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. We're also
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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 at clockworkmedia.org slash ma.
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  Speaker 1: We begin today with deeply disturbing news out of Manhattan,
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  Speaker 1: where a woman is facing hate crime charges following a
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  Speaker 1: pair of assaults on Jewish men. According to prosecutors, Anna Mokalova, 32,
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  Speaker 1: allegedly stalked a young rabbi, Yosef, through the Diamond District
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  Speaker 1: before stabbing him in the back with a syringe. Just
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  Speaker 1: five minutes later, she assaulted a second Jewish man, wearing
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  Speaker 1: a yarmulke, repeatedly bumping into him and threatening to shoot him.
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  Speaker 1: Assistant District Attorney Emily Hong stated in Manhattan Criminal Court
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  Speaker 1: that Mokolova selected both her targets because she believed them
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  Speaker 1: to be Jewish. The NYPD's Hate Crimes Task Force investigated
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  Speaker 1: both attacks as antisemitic. Rabbi Yosef told the New York
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  Speaker 1: Post he believes he was singled out because he is
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  Speaker 1: visibly Jewish, and that this was his first personal experience
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  Speaker 1: with antisemitism in America. The attacks come as the NYPD
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  Speaker 1: reported hate crimes in the city rose nearly 13% in
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  Speaker 1: the first nine months of the year, with anti-Jewish incidents
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  Speaker 1: making up more than half of them. Mokaleva is due
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  Speaker 1: back in court October 29. Rabbi Yosef, meanwhile, returned to
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  Speaker 1: the same street the day after the attack, citing his grandparents,
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  Speaker 1: Holocaust survivors who rebuilt a Jewish life after their ordeal.
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  Speaker 1: On college campuses, severe incidents underscore ongoing concerns. A tenured
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  Speaker 1: Haverford College faculty member, Guangxian Ha, has been arrested and
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  Speaker 1: indicted by the FBI for allegedly sending over 50 vicious
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  Speaker 1: and unmistakably threatening anti-Semitic messages to a Jewish colleague. According
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  Speaker 1: to prosecution pleadings, these messages contained classically anti-Jewish images and
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  Speaker 1: Nazi language, including phrases like Jewish cockroaches, exterminate the Jews,
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  Speaker 1: and make it six million. The threats often targeted the
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  Speaker 1: victim's family's neighborhood and home. Haverford's administration initially dismissed similar
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  Speaker 1: complaints as differing political views before President Wendy Raymond later
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  Speaker 1: acknowledged the heinous online attacks, which were antisemitic in nature.
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  Speaker 1: This follows a federal civil rights lawsuit filed by students
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  Speaker 1: and faculty in who alleged widespread mistreatment tolerated by the administration. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: in New York City's public school system, a national Jewish
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  Speaker 1: advocacy group has formally requested the U.S., Department of Justice
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  Speaker 1: investigate alleged rampant antisemitism. The National Jewish Advocacy Center, NJAC,
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  Speaker 1: cited parental withdrawal of children from public schools since October 7, 2023,
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  Speaker 1: due to incidents. Mark Goldfeder, CEO and director of NJAC, stated,
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  Speaker 1: When antisemitism drives Jewish children out of public schools, that
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  Speaker 1: is segregation by intimidation. United Jewish Teachers, an advocacy group
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  Speaker 1: for Jewish educators, documented 250 antisemitic and anti-Israel incidents in
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  Speaker 1: city schools between October 2023 and July 2026, with nearly
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  Speaker 1: two-thirds involving direct acts like harassment and assaults. the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights, opened a separate
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  Speaker 1: investigation into the city's school system in April 2026 over
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  Speaker 1: allegations of Jew hatred. In politics and media, alleged anti-Semitic
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  Speaker 1: rhetoric has surfaced in a new ad for Michigan Senate
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  Speaker 1: hopeful Abdul El-Sayed, produced by Sank Eiger. The New York
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  Speaker 1: Post described the ad as portraying Jews as controlling American
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  Speaker 1: politics and blaming them for societal ills, calling it vile,
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  Speaker 1: unapologetically Nazi drivel. Reports indicate El-Sayed was previously denied entry
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  Speaker 1: to the United Kingdom. Representative Dan Goldman, who co-chairs the
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  Speaker 1: House Antisemitism Task Force, has stated that El-Sayed needs to
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  Speaker 1: demand the ad be taken down, signalling political pressure surrounding
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  Speaker 1: the issue. In case outcomes, the BBC has paid £ 400, 000
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  Speaker 1: to Lucy Khan, a former commissioning editor, following her allegations
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  Speaker 1: of antisemitism. Khan claimed she was told Zionists like her
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  Speaker 1: were evil after the October 7th attacks. While the BBC
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  Speaker 1: stated its internal investigation did not uphold her allegations, it
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  Speaker 1: acknowledged shortcomings and the personal impact on Khan. Khan told
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  Speaker 1: The Telegraph, I think I made too much noise about
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  Speaker 1: being a Jew inside the BBC. Elsewhere, the St. Louis
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  Speaker 1: Blues hockey team has condemned what they called an anti-Semitic
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  Speaker 1: protest during a recent game, where fans displayed signs reading,
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  Speaker 1: Israel Kills, and free America from Israel. Team owner Tom
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  Speaker 1: Stillman called the signs vile messages of hate. The group
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  Speaker 1: responsible for the protest, however, disagreed, stating that criticizing Israel
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  Speaker 1: is not antisemitic. Globally, antisemitic incidents are on the rise.
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  Speaker 1: One report highlights an increase across multiple countries, driven by
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  Speaker 1: threats against Jewish institutions and acts of vandalism, indicating a
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  Speaker 1: significant danger to the Jewish diaspora. On the policy front,
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  Speaker 1: Peru has signaled its intention to adopt the International Holocaust
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  Speaker 1: Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism. An October 20 letter
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  Speaker 1: from Peru's foreign minister to Israel's foreign minister Gideon Saar
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  Speaker 1: indicates the country's decision. This move aligns Peru with other
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  Speaker 1: Latin American nations and follows incidents within Peru where former
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  Speaker 1: officials made antisemitic remarks. The Peruvian Ethics Tribunal has also
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  Speaker 1: begun requiring media outlets to moderate antisemitic comments. Finally, we
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  Speaker 1: mark the eight-year anniversary of the Pittsburgh synagogue shooting. This
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  Speaker 1: commemoration serves as a somber reminder of the need to
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  Speaker 1: remember such tragedies to protect the future, and highlights ongoing
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  Speaker 1: security efforts and collaboration within Jewish communities. 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.ma. Follow Antisemitism Watch
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  Speaker 1: in your podcast app so you don't miss the next update.
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  Speaker 1: This report was generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies.
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  Speaker 1: Please verify important details with primary sources.