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NYC School Buses Defaced Amid Rising Antisemitism · 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, covering New York, New Jersey, Connecticut,
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  Speaker 1: and the Philadelphia region. You can find it at clockworkmedia.org
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  Speaker 1: slash MA in New York City. Swastikas and antisemitic messages
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  Speaker 1: were spray-painted on four school buses serving Orthodox Jewish schools
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  Speaker 1: in Williamsburg. Photos shared by Williamsburg News showed the Nazi
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  Speaker 1: symbols and phrases like USA First, FK Israel, and Free Palestine.
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  Speaker 1: The NYPD's Hate Crime Task Force is investigating this incident,
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  Speaker 1: as reported by Newsweek. This vandalism occurs amidst a noted
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  Speaker 1: rise in antisemitism. NYPD figures show 245 confirmed anti-Jewish hate
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  Speaker 1: crimes in the first nine months of 2026, up from
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  Speaker 1: 242 in the same period last year, according to Newsweek. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: in Germany, Authorities registered 670 Islamist-motivated anti-Semitic offences in 2025,
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  Speaker 1: a 6% increase from the previous year, according to reporting
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  Speaker 1: from UA News and the Jerusalem Post, citing a German
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  Speaker 1: government response to a parliamentary inquiry. Data from Germany's Federal
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  Speaker 1: Criminal Police Office, obtained by Welt AM Sonntag, indicated nearly
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  Speaker 1: half of these cases involved symbols of banned organisations like
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  Speaker 1: Hezbollah and ISIS. The most serious incident recorded was an
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  Speaker 1: attempted murder charge for a knife attack on a Spanish
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  Speaker 1: tourist in Berlin in February 2025, perpetrated by a Syrian man,
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  Speaker 1: as reported by UA News and jpost.com. Overall, Germany recorded 6,500
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  Speaker 1: and 48 antisemitic offenses across all categories in 2025, with 48.3%
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  Speaker 1: having an Israel-related connection. though right-wing extremism remains the largest
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  Speaker 1: ideological category, according to jpost.com. In political discourse, Fox News
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  Speaker 1: host Rachel Campos-Duffy has drawn scrutiny for remarks that critics
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  Speaker 1: say echo anti-Semitic tropes. The Washington Examiner reported that she
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  Speaker 1: questioned whether Democratic nominee Abdul El-Sayed should disavow a political
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  Speaker 1: ad and suggested that foreign wars might be a better
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  Speaker 1: phrase than Israel. Her statements have also included questioning Israeli
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister Netanyahu's responsibility for the rise of antisemitism and
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  Speaker 1: stating that the highest number of child amputees in any
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  Speaker 1: modern-day conflict is in Gaza, implying blame on Israel, as
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  Speaker 1: detailed by the Washington Examiner. This comes as Democratic campaigns
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  Speaker 1: grapple with antisemitism. In Michigan, an ad from a group
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  Speaker 1: backing Abdel El-Sayed linked U.S. aid to Israel to the
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  Speaker 1: price of groceries in the state, prompting condemnation and criticism.
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  Speaker 1: Representative Haley Stevens withdrew her endorsement of El-Sayed over the ad,
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  Speaker 1: with The New York Times and JPost.com reporting that the
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  Speaker 1: campaign theme has been linked to the normalization of anti-Semitism.
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  Speaker 1: On Tuesday, ahead of Michigan's midterms, former President Donald Trump
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  Speaker 1: announced he and Prime Minister Netanyahu had agreed to end
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  Speaker 1: nearly $ 4 billion in annual U.S. military aid to Israel
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  Speaker 1: by year's end. a move the Jerusalem Post suggests was
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  Speaker 1: intended to counter democratic talking points on the issue. In Philadelphia,
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  Speaker 1: a planned boycott ride targeting Jewish and Israeli-owned businesses has
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  Speaker 1: been condemned as anti-Semitic. Organizers use slogans like No Business
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  Speaker 1: for Zionists and These Zionist Establishments Must Go, explicitly naming
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  Speaker 1: businesses associated with Chef Michael Solomonov. The Anti-Defamation League Philadelphia,
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  Speaker 1: American Jewish Committee, and other groups have called the event,
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  Speaker 1: Jew hatred. Noting it falls on the eve of Kristallnacht
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  Speaker 1: and is an attempt to exclude Jews from public life,
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  Speaker 1: as reported by the Jewish Exponent and Cleveland Jewish News.
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  Speaker 1: The ADL and AJC stated, the public targeting of Jewish
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  Speaker 1: businesses should alarm every person of conscience. Online, antisemitic content
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  Speaker 1: continues to proliferate. A new study cited by Calculistec.com indicates
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  Speaker 1: that X and Instagram account for 98% of views of
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic material. with the ADL chief describing antisemitism as like
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  Speaker 1: a virus. Separately, reporting in The Crimson highlights how political
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  Speaker 1: videos on TikTok often gain significant engagement by covering hateful
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  Speaker 1: topics including antisemitism, contributing to polarization and desensitization among young users.
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  Speaker 1: On college campuses, Michigan Hillel has denounced an antisemitic group
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  Speaker 1: chat message from a University of Michigan fraternity member. affirming
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  Speaker 1: that antisemitism has no place at the university and vowing
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  Speaker 1: to ensure student safety, according to MLive.com. Internationally, U.S. State
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  Speaker 1: Department envoy Yehuda Kaplan has criticized the International Holocaust Remembrance
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  Speaker 1: Alliance for its membership policy, which excludes countries like Saudi
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  Speaker 1: Arabia and the UAE. Kaplan called IHRA's stance of only
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  Speaker 1: accepting democracies deeply concerning and archaic arguing at risks excluding
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  Speaker 1: vital partners in combating Jew hatred, as reported by JNS.org.
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  Speaker 1: In positive developments, tens of thousands of Jews and Christians
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  Speaker 1: gathered in Lima, Peru, on November 2 for a large
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  Speaker 1: demonstration against antisemitism and in support of Israel, organized by
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  Speaker 1: the March of Life movement. The event drew between 40,000
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  Speaker 1: and 60,000 supporters, with remarks from Israeli Ambassador Ghali Dagan.
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  Speaker 1: As reported by the Aljaminer and ejpress.org, Peru's recent adoption
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  Speaker 1: of the IHRA definition of antisemitism was also highlighted. In Canada,
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  Speaker 1: institutions are marking November as Holocaust Education Month with nationwide
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  Speaker 1: events aimed at preserving memory and combating rising antisemitism, particularly
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  Speaker 1: against Jewish Canadians who face disproportionate numbers of religion-motivated hate crimes.
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  Speaker 1: According to the Jerusalem Post, This initiative includes widespread adoption
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  Speaker 1: of the IHRA definition of antisemitism as a tool against ignorance.
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  Speaker 1: I'm Rachel Adler. Thank you for listening to Antisemitism Watch.
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  Speaker 1: For focused coverage from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and
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  Speaker 1: the Philadelphia region, listen to Antisemitism Watch. midatlantic at clockworkmedia.org
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  Speaker 1: slash ma. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast app so
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  Speaker 1: you don't miss the next update. This report was generated
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  Speaker 1: with AI assistance, and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important
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  Speaker 1: details with primary sources.