Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - September 17, 2026, 05 PM Eastern
Transcript
- 0:06Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. A French
- 0:10Speaker 1: court has dismissed antisemitism-motivated charges against a woman convicted of
- 0:15Speaker 1: assaulting three Jewish students in 2024. Aljamina reported that the
- 0:19Speaker 1: Correctional Tribunal of Strasbourg handed one defendant a four-month suspended
- 0:24Speaker 1: prison sentence and ordered her to pay damages, but did
- 0:28Speaker 1: not recognize antisemitism as an aggravating circumstance. The Union of
- 0:33Speaker 1: French Jewish Students, or UEJF, called the ruling, scandalous and
- 0:37Speaker 1: questioned how antisemitic violence is treated by the French justice system.
- 0:42Speaker 1: Noting this follows other cases where sentences for antisemitic crimes
- 0:46Speaker 1: have been overturned or reduced. In Jerusalem, Jewish youths threw
- 0:50Speaker 1: eggs at worshippers at a reform synagogue on September 15,
- 0:54Speaker 1: the second day of Rosh Hashanah, the JTA reported. The
- 0:58Speaker 1: congregation described the incident as an escalation in attacks on
- 1:02Speaker 1: reform communities in Israel. noting it was the second attack
- 1:05Speaker 1: on Khal HaNeshama within a month. Rabbi Debai Schwaheim told
- 1:09Speaker 1: the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that the group had engaged in
- 1:13Speaker 1: homophobic and bordered on harassment comments before the egging. The
- 1:17Speaker 1: Reform Movement stated, this is violence against Jews for the
- 1:21Speaker 1: way they choose to practice Judaism. According to the JTA,
- 1:25Speaker 1: the congregation filed a police complaint and provided security footage.
- 1:29Speaker 1: No injuries were reported. In Kansas, A man was arrested
- 1:33Speaker 1: for making death threats and antisemitic comments toward Ben Shapiro,
- 1:37Speaker 1: according to reporting reviewed for this episode. Sweden has expelled
- 1:41Speaker 1: an Iranian diplomat for engaging in activities that pose security threats,
- 1:46Speaker 1: including targeting a synagogue, according to reporting reviewed for this episode.
- 1:51Speaker 1: In New York City, a woman verbally assaulted a Jewish
- 1:54Speaker 1: man at a gym, calling him a racist and Zionist
- 1:57Speaker 1: pig without any prior confrontation. according to reporting reviewed for
- 2:02Speaker 1: this episode. New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft admitted to
- 2:06Speaker 1: pressuring venue owners to drop artist Macklemore due to the
- 2:09Speaker 1: rapper's pro-Palestinian comments, citing alleged anti-Semitic rhetoric, the Aljamina reported. Kraft,
- 2:16Speaker 1: along with Ed Sheeran, subsequently pledged $ 2 million to the
- 2:20Speaker 1: Middle East region. Kraft stated his stance was not intended
- 2:24Speaker 1: to dismiss the struggle of Palestinian people or restrict McLemore's advocacy.
- 2:29Speaker 1: Wall Street Journal editorial board member Elliot Kaufman spoke on
- 2:33Speaker 1: September 15 about how media and public perceptions misrepresent the
- 2:38Speaker 1: Israeli war by downplaying Hamas's role and promoting anti-Semitic narratives.
- 2:43Speaker 1: Kaufman argued that this obscures the reality of urban warfare
- 2:47Speaker 1: and promotes a narrative of Jews murdering civilians. Separately in Sweden,
- 2:52Speaker 1: the center-left coalition narrowly won a general election, preventing a
- 2:56Speaker 1: far-right party with neo-Nazi roots from joining the cabinet, according
- 3:00Speaker 1: to the JTA. The election campaign itself was significantly shaped
- 3:04Speaker 1: by accusations of antisemitism, with politicians on all sides seeking
- 3:09Speaker 1: to position themselves as defenders against it. Aaron Verstandig, chair
- 3:13Speaker 1: of the Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities, told the
- 3:17Speaker 1: Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Public schools accused of antisemitism are signing
- 3:22Speaker 1: private legal settlements that impose intrusive policies and curriculum changes,
- 3:27Speaker 1: according to reporting reviewed for this episode. In California, two
- 3:32Speaker 1: lawsuits were filed demanding prominent museums return Nazi-looted artwork to heirs.
- 3:37Speaker 1: One targets the Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum for Seven Watercolor
- 3:41Speaker 1: Paintings by Holocaust survivor Dina Gottlieb-Owe-Babbitt, who was forced to
- 3:46Speaker 1: paint for Joseph Mengel. A second lawsuit, filed by the
- 3:49Speaker 1: Jewish Federation of Greater Lowe's Angels, targets the Norton Simon
- 3:53Speaker 1: Museum for a pair of 16th-century masterpieces stolen by Herman Goering,
- 3:59Speaker 1: Aljamina reported. I'm Rachel Adler, thank you for listening to
- 4:02Speaker 1: Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast app so
- 4:07Speaker 1: you don't miss the next update. This report was generated
- 4:11Speaker 1: with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important
- 4:15Speaker 1: details with primary sources. Thank you.