Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - September 26, 2026, 09 PM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - September 26, 2026, 09 PM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. A violent
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic attack occurred last Sunday at the Sons of Jacob
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  Speaker 1: Synagogue in Belleville, Ontario. Police have described the incident as
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  Speaker 1: a premeditated and targeted hate crime. The gunman, identified as
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  Speaker 1: 29-year-old Sean Ward, a former member of the Canadian Armed Forces,
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  Speaker 1: opened fire on the synagogue, reportedly shouting, You are going
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  Speaker 1: to die for the Jews. Officers engaged Ward in a
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  Speaker 1: shootout as he was armed with a shotgun, ammunition, and gasoline.
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  Speaker 1: Ward died in the exchange, and a Belleville police officer conced.
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  Speaker 1: Jeff Smith was injured and remains hospitalized. No other casualties
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  Speaker 1: were reported. Bullet holes pierced stained glass windows inside the synagogue,
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  Speaker 1: and a nearby residence was also hit by gunfire. The
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  Speaker 1: attack occurred on the eve of Yom Kippur. Congregants returned
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  Speaker 1: for services Friday, seeking to rebuild a sense of safety.
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  Speaker 1: The incident is under investigation by Ontario's Special Investigations Unit. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 1: a UN special rapporteur has made controversial claims that distort
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  Speaker 1: historical understanding of the Holocaust and antisemitism. Francesca Albanese, the
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  Speaker 1: UN special rapporteur on the Palestinian territories, claimed in an
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  Speaker 1: interview that Jews being taken to gas chambers in Nazi
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  Speaker 1: concentration camps were referred to as the Muslims. The Auschwitz-Birkenau
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  Speaker 1: Memorial states the term Muselman referred to prisoners in a
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  Speaker 1: state of extreme exhaustion or suffering, and its etymology is
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  Speaker 1: not definitively explained. But it was not a Nazi racial
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  Speaker 1: classification identifying Jews as Muslims. Albanese has also faced scrutiny
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  Speaker 1: for other statements. According to the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance,
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  Speaker 1: the term antisemitism was coined in 1879 by Wilhelm, more
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  Speaker 1: specifically to designate anti-Jewish campaigns, and has always referred to
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  Speaker 1: hostility toward Jews alone. Albanese's broader argument suggested that antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: originally encompassed discrimination against the broader category of Semitic peoples,
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  Speaker 1: a claim that contradicts historical definitions. She has previously drawn
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  Speaker 1: criticism for statements such as calling Israel the common enemy
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  Speaker 1: of humanity, and asserting that victims of the October 7th
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  Speaker 1: Hamas attack were not killed because of their Judaism but
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  Speaker 1: in response to Israel's oppression. I'm Rachel Adler, thank you
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  Speaker 1: for listening to Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your
• 2:36
  Speaker 1: podcast app so you don't miss the next update. This
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  Speaker 1: report was generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies.
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  Speaker 1: Please verify important details with primary sources.