Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - September 25, 2026, 05 AM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - September 25, 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 deeply concerning incident in Belleville, Ontario, where a
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  Speaker 1: shooting outside the Sons of Jacob synagogue on Yom Kippur
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  Speaker 1: was confirmed by police as a hate-motivated crime. Belleville Police
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  Speaker 1: Chief Murray Rod stated Thursday that the attack was an
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  Speaker 1: exclusive threat to the Jewish community, with no indication of
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  Speaker 1: a threat to other groups. The shooting occurred as const.
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  Speaker 1: Jeff Smith was providing security for the synagogue. According to
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  Speaker 1: Chief Rod, the gunman, Sean Ward, ambushed Const, Smith, who
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  Speaker 1: was still inside his vehicle. During the confrontation, Ward asked Smith,
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  Speaker 1: you are going to die for the Jews. As reported
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  Speaker 1: by police, Const, Smith sustained multiple life-threatening gunshot wounds to
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  Speaker 1: his head and body and faces a lengthy recovery. Const,
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  Speaker 1: Mike McCurdy arrived shortly after and joined the engagement, preventing
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  Speaker 1: what Chief Rod called a potential, unimaginable tragedy. Police said
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  Speaker 1: Ward had the capability and means to cause mass casualties
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  Speaker 1: and destroy the synagogue. Ward later died in hospital. The
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  Speaker 1: Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs CEO Noah Schack called
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  Speaker 1: the attack a wake-up call on rising antisemitism and extremism
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  Speaker 1: in Canada, noting that hate targets schools, seniors' homes, and
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  Speaker 1: universities across the country. But in a brith Canada, CEO
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  Speaker 1: Simon Wohl also highlighted a marked increase in violent antisemitic incidents,
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  Speaker 1: and called for enhanced security measures, Jewish university students speaking
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  Speaker 1: on Parliament Hill described feeling unsafe, with their identity increasingly politicized.
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  Speaker 1: On the international stage, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu used
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  Speaker 1: his address at the United Nations on Thursday to accuse
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  Speaker 1: New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani of endangering Jewish New
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  Speaker 1: Yorkers with his criticism of Israel's military actions in Gaza. Netanyahu,
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  Speaker 1: who called Mamdani the anti-Semitic mayor of New York, stated
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  Speaker 1: that many Jews no longer feel safe in New York.
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  Speaker 1: Mayor Mamdani, a vocal critic of Israel's operations in Gaza
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  Speaker 1: who has called Netanyahu a war criminal, rejected the anti-Semitism charge.
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  Speaker 1: In a statement, Mamdani said Netanyahu's speech repeated baseless lies,
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  Speaker 1: and that he remains the subject of an international criminal court,
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  Speaker 1: arrest warrant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.
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  Speaker 1: Mamdani maintains his criticism of Israel and advocacy for Palestinian
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  Speaker 1: rights do not amount to anti-Semitism. In campus news, UC
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  Speaker 1: Berkeley has faced significant delays in honoring a legal settlement
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  Speaker 1: with Israeli dance scholar Yale Nativ. The university's civil rights
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  Speaker 1: office concluded that Nativ experienced discrimination based on her Israeli
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  Speaker 1: identity following the October 7 Hamas attack. A settlement reached
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  Speaker 1: in December 2025 included an apology and a promised job offer. However,
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  Speaker 1: the university failed to deliver the offer, citing internal miscommunication,
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  Speaker 1: according to university spokesperson Dan Mogulof. Nadev, who taught at
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  Speaker 1: Berkeley as a visiting professor, has expressed frustration, stating that
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  Speaker 1: while she is tired of the case, her goal is accountability.
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  Speaker 1: A retired UC Berkeley law professor, Malcolm Feely, Describe the
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  Speaker 1: situation as justice delayed in the extreme. I'm Rachel Adler,
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  Speaker 1: thank you for listening to Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism Watch
• 3:31
  Speaker 1: in your podcast app so you don't miss the next update.
• 3:34
  Speaker 1: This report was generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies.
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: Please verify important details with primary sources.