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Trump's Antisemitic 'Shylock' Slur Faces ADL Criticism · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. Today, we're
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  Speaker 1: covering serious allegations of direct threats, systemic failures in education,
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  Speaker 1: and the persistent use of antisemitic rhetoric in the political arena.
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  Speaker 1: We begin with a federal indictment against Duncan Fraser MacDonald,
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  Speaker 1: a Sarasota man charged with sending communications containing threats to injure,
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  Speaker 1: specifically targeting Jewish people in Instagram videos posted between September
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  Speaker 1: 16th and 17th. According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for
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  Speaker 1: the Middle District of Florida, MacDonald allegedly threatened to hunt
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  Speaker 1: Jewish people while displaying firearms. He was arrested in Arizona
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  Speaker 1: on September 18 and made his first court appearance on
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  Speaker 1: October 16. If convicted, MacDonald faces up to five years
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  Speaker 1: in federal prison. The case was investigated by the FBI,
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  Speaker 1: the Clay County Sheriff's Office, and the Florida Department of
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  Speaker 1: Law Enforcement. This indictment follows reporting from Mycincoast.com and Wengradio.com.
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  Speaker 1: In Montgomery County, Maryland, a federal-title VI civil rights complaint
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  Speaker 1: has been filed against Montgomery County Public Schools, or MCPS.
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  Speaker 1: The Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights under law
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  Speaker 1: alleges that an Orthodox Jewish student faced years of antisemitic threats, harassment,
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  Speaker 1: and ostracization, including a telephoned bomb threat followed by fireworks
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  Speaker 1: outside his home. The complaint, filed October 15, details alleged
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  Speaker 1: online targeting, accusations of genocide, and social exclusion for being Zionist.
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  Speaker 1: According to the Brandeis Center, school administrators allegedly minimized the
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  Speaker 1: severity of these incidents. The district has stated it is
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  Speaker 1: unable to provide further comment on the ongoing matter, while
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  Speaker 1: the superintendent has committed to dialogue. This reporting comes from Thebener.com, Jpost.com,
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  Speaker 1: and ClevelandJewishNews.com. On the political front, former President Donald Trump
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  Speaker 1: used the anti-Semitic slur, Shylock, during a rally for Republican
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  Speaker 1: Senator Roger Marshall in Kansas. Trump employed the term to
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  Speaker 1: defend Marshall against criticism for his aggressive medical debt collection practices,
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  Speaker 1: claiming Marshall was unfairly portrayed as a Shylock-type guy. Anti-Semitism
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  Speaker 1: watchdogs have condemned the use of the slur, which is
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  Speaker 1: rooted in age-old stereotypes of Jews and greed. The Anti-Defamation League,
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  Speaker 1: or ADL, issued a statement on social media calling Shylock
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  Speaker 1: a long-standing anti-Semitic stereotype that reinforces harmful tropes about Jews. However,
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  Speaker 1: the ADL did not name Donald Trump in its condemnation,
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  Speaker 1: drawing criticism from observers who noted the organization's typically more
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  Speaker 1: direct approach with other public figures. The ADL's statement was
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  Speaker 1: reported by TheGuardian.com, Inkle.com, and HuffPost.com, with MSNow, MercuryNews.com, and eastbaytimes.com
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  Speaker 1: detailing Trump's remarks in historical context. Turning to institutional responses
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  Speaker 1: in education, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
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  Speaker 1: has reached a settlement with the U.S. Justice and Education
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  Speaker 1: Departments to resolve federal investigations into campus antisemitism and race-based discrimination.
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  Speaker 1: As part of the agreement, UNC will implement mandatory antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: training for all students, faculty, and staff, and maintain race-blind
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  Speaker 1: admissions policies. This settlement resolves 18 separate investigations without adverse findings,
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  Speaker 1: according to jpost.com and thepostmillennial.com. In England, a government-commissioned review
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  Speaker 1: is expected to reveal that three in five Jewish pupils
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  Speaker 1: have experienced antisemitism in schools. The report, due to be
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  Speaker 1: published imminently, reportedly recommends adopting the IHRA working definition of antisemitism,
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  Speaker 1: and enhancing teacher training on the issue. According to dailymail.com
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  Speaker 1: and jewishnews.co.uk, review author Sir David Bell noted that general
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  Speaker 1: anti-racism efforts have often failed to specifically identify antisemitism. In
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  Speaker 1: political campaigns, Republican Senate nominee Mike Rogers in Michigan is
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  Speaker 1: leveraging his opponent Abdul El-Sayed's criticisms of Israel. Rogers has
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  Speaker 1: labeled El-Sayed anti-Jew for remarks suggesting Israel is not an
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  Speaker 1: ally of the United States, aiming to appeal to Jewish voters,
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  Speaker 1: as reported by JTA. New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani
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  Speaker 1: has appointed Douglas Keith, a Jewish judicial ethics attorney, to
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  Speaker 1: lead the mayor's advisory committee on the judiciary. This appointment
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  Speaker 1: follows criticism from Jewish legal groups and bar associations regarding
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  Speaker 1: the panel's previous lack of Jewish representation. News from news.bloomerglaw.com.
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  Speaker 1: An opinion piece in Business Recorder notes that Israeli Prime
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  Speaker 1: Minister Netanyahu accused Western governments and Mayor Mamdani of surrendering
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  Speaker 1: to anti-Semitic mobs for criticizing Israeli settlements. The opinion piece
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  Speaker 1: itself pushes back, stating that opposition to settlement expansion is
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  Speaker 1: not hatred of Jews and that anti-Semitism should not serve
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  Speaker 1: as a shield against scrutiny of state policy. And in
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  Speaker 1: Lowe's Angels, the Democratic Socialists of America are reviewing their
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  Speaker 1: endorsement of mayoral candidate Nithya Raman due to disputes over
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  Speaker 1: her stances on Israel, the BDS movement, and her use
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  Speaker 1: of the term genocide in relation to events in Gaza,
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  Speaker 1: as reported by aljaminer.com. Internationally, Germany has summoned Iran's ambassador
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  Speaker 1: following a court conviction of two men for spying for
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  Speaker 1: Tehran and plotting assassinations, targeting leaders of the German Jewish
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  Speaker 1: community and a prominent supporter of Israel. Germany's foreign ministry
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  Speaker 1: stated it will not allow Iran to threaten our free society.
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  Speaker 1: according to JTA. Locally, in Oak Park, Illinois, a rise
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  Speaker 1: in antisemitic incidents, including vandalism and harassment, is making community
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  Speaker 1: members feel threatened and unwelcome, as detailed by oakpark.com. 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 m-a.
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  Speaker 1: Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast app so you don't
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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.