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UK Schools Review Tackles Antisemitism Amid Student Abuse · 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. Find us at clockworkmedia.org slash m. A,
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  Speaker 1: a significant government review in the United Kingdom has accepted
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  Speaker 1: 27 recommendations aimed at combating antisemitism in schools, following alarming
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  Speaker 1: reports that three in five Jewish students have experienced abuse.
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  Speaker 1: According to The Telegraph, The review, commissioned by the Department
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  Speaker 1: for Education, suggests potential bans on teachers wearing pro-Palestinian badges,
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  Speaker 1: aiming to ensure political impartiality in classrooms. Sir David Bell,
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  Speaker 1: who led the review, told Sky News that clearer guidance
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  Speaker 1: is needed for students to debate difficult issues without teachers
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  Speaker 1: imposing their views. Bell emphasized the importance of naming antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: as a distinct form of prejudice and harm, arguing that
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  Speaker 1: general commitments to tackling racism, have not adequately addressed it.
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  Speaker 1: The recommendations also call for staff policies to explicitly prohibit
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism and establish effective procedures for students to report incidents
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  Speaker 1: and receive appropriate responses. This follows reports detailed by UNIT,
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  Speaker 1: where pupils hide kippahs and families are giving up on
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  Speaker 1: reporting abuse, highlighting the deep impact on Jewish children's sense
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  Speaker 1: of safety. Education Secretary Lucy Powell stated this is a
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  Speaker 1: point to draw a line in the sand. for clear change.
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  Speaker 1: In France, President Emmanuel Macron was forced to backtrack after
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  Speaker 1: falsely claiming that a recent terror attack in traps was
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  Speaker 1: the first to be motivated by race or religion. As
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  Speaker 1: reported by Breitbart, Macron's assertion was met with swift pushback
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  Speaker 1: from users and politicians who cited numerous past religiously motivated
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  Speaker 1: terror attacks, including the 2012 anti-Semitic attack at the Azar
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  Speaker 1: Hadara Jewish School in Toulouse. where Mohamed Merah murdered three
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  Speaker 1: children and a father, and the 2015 hyper-cashier-kosher supermarket attack,
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  Speaker 1: national rally leader Jordan Bardella and French MEP Marion Marichal
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  Speaker 1: were among those who pointed out these earlier attacks, reminding
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  Speaker 1: the president of Jewish victims. Macron eventually conceded that there
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  Speaker 1: have been attacks that have struck Christians because they were
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  Speaker 1: Christians and Jews because they were Jews, stating that none
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  Speaker 1: of these victims should be forgotten. No pain should be ranked.
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  Speaker 1: Also in the United States, Pastor Doug Wilson, widely considered
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  Speaker 1: the dean of Christian nationalists, is warning of rising antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: within his own movement. However, as reported by NewsChannel5. com, Wilson
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  Speaker 1: himself faces scrutiny over past statements and associations. At a
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  Speaker 1: recent conference, Wilson spoke of arrogant antisemitism and Jew hatred
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  Speaker 1: seeping into the conservative movement. Critics note that Wilson has
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  Speaker 1: sometimes appeared slow to address these issues. and he declined
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  Speaker 1: to name specific pastors promoting hate. The ADL has noted
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  Speaker 1: his endorsement of Andrew Torba, founder of a social media
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  Speaker 1: platform described as a haven for hate and disinformation, who
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  Speaker 1: regularly promotes antisemitism. Wilson's writings have also suggested that Jews
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  Speaker 1: should not be eligible for public office, and he has
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  Speaker 1: posited that Jews are disproportionately represented in a number of
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  Speaker 1: highly destructive cultural activities and movements, such as the porn industry.
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  Speaker 1: On the political front, U.S. Representative Mike Lawler stated on
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  Speaker 1: Fox News' Hannity that the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA,
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  Speaker 1: movement is absolutely rooted in antisemitism and Jew hatred. Lawler,
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  Speaker 1: representing a district with a large Jewish population, described the
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  Speaker 1: DSA as also rooted in Marxist theory and a hatred
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  Speaker 1: for America and its foundational Judeo-Christian values, listing policies such
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  Speaker 1: as abolishing ICE and defunding the police. Universities across the U.S.
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  Speaker 1: are also reevaluating how to frame and house Israel studies programs.
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  Speaker 1: Following the October 7th Hamas attacks and subsequent anti-Israel protests
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  Speaker 1: on campuses, Forward.com reports that private donors are growing wary
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  Speaker 1: of endowing these programs, fearing their names might be attached
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  Speaker 1: to problematic curricula. Silicon Valley philanthropists Eli and Jeanette Reinhardt
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  Speaker 1: noted for their past generosity to Jewish causes, described having
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  Speaker 1: to answer internal family questions about why they would fund
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  Speaker 1: such programs. Professor Alvin Rosenfeld of Indiana University observed that
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  Speaker 1: splits are real and donors are reassessing their contributions. Schools
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  Speaker 1: like Indiana University, NYU, the University of Michigan, and Brandeis
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  Speaker 1: have adopted models similar to Indiana's Institute for the Study
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  Speaker 1: of Contemporary Antisemitism, while others, like Harvard Kennedy School, have
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  Speaker 1: folded Israel Studies into broader Middle East initiatives. Stanford University,
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  Speaker 1: for instance, inaugurated its Jan Koum Israel Studies program within
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  Speaker 1: its Center on Democracy, Development, and the Rule of Law,
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  Speaker 1: with a program director citing the university's track record of
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  Speaker 1: intellectual independence and seriousness of purpose. Finally, in Michigan, Democratic U.S.
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  Speaker 1: Senate nominee Abdel El-Sayed refused to discuss a 2012 statement
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  Speaker 1: related to the Muslim Brotherhood during a Fox News interview,
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  Speaker 1: asserting that the questions were an attempt to probe his
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  Speaker 1: allegiance and loyalty. El-Sayed told host Brett Baier that he
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  Speaker 1: was not interested in discussing a ridiculous 2012 statement in
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  Speaker 1: a letter, and added that he never has been and
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  Speaker 1: never will be a member of the Muslim Brotherhood. I'm
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  Speaker 1: Rachel Adler, thank you for listening to Antisemitism Watch. For
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  Speaker 1: focused coverage from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and the
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  Speaker 1: Philadelphia region, Listen to Antisemitism Watch, midatlantic at clockworkmedia.org slash ma.
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  Speaker 1: miss the next update. This report was generated with AI
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  Speaker 1: assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important details with
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  Speaker 1: primary sources.