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Antisemitism Watch - October 5, 2026, 09 AM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch, I'm Rachel Adler. Antisemitism Watch, Mid-Atlantic,
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  Speaker 1: providing focused coverage from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and
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  Speaker 1: the Philadelphia region, is now available at clockworkmedia.org.ma. Today, we're
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  Speaker 1: tracking incidents and responses that highlight the escalating nature of
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  Speaker 1: antisemitism and its impact on Jewish identity. We begin in Belleville, Ontario,
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  Speaker 1: where the Jewish community is grappling with a disturbing wave
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  Speaker 1: of hate. Just days after a violent shooting attack on
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  Speaker 1: Yom Kippur targeted the sons of Jacob Synagogue, anti-Semitic flyers
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  Speaker 1: were discovered outside the building and distributed in the surrounding neighborhood.
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  Speaker 1: According to reporting reviewed for this episode, these materials are
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  Speaker 1: linked to the Neo-Nazi Goyim Defense League, or GDL, a U.S.-based network.
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  Speaker 1: The flyers blamed Jewish people for societal ills, including the
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  Speaker 1: COVID-19 pandemic and abortion. B'nai B'rith Canada has renewed its
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  Speaker 1: demand for a thorough investigation, calling the targeting of the
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  Speaker 1: synagogue a cowardly attempt to intimidate and terrorize. Simon Wohl,
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  Speaker 1: B'nai B'rith Canada's chief executive officer, stated that there must
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  Speaker 1: be zero tolerance for those who seek to endanger Jewish Canadians,
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  Speaker 1: adding that society has failed to combat the spread of
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  Speaker 1: hateful ideologies. Richard Robertson, B'nai B'rith Canada's director of research
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  Speaker 1: and advocacy, emphasised that the threat posed by the GDL
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  Speaker 1: can no longer be ignored, and that online hate is
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  Speaker 1: now emerging from the shadows to cause real-world harm. The
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  Speaker 1: Centre for Israel and Jewish Affairs, along with the UJA
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  Speaker 1: Federation of Greater Toronto, also condemned the flyers, noting that
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  Speaker 1: libels and conspiracies about Jews are fuelling hate and violence
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  Speaker 1: against Canadians. Across the Atlantic, a significant development emerged from
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  Speaker 1: the UK's Green Party. As reported, The party voted at
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  Speaker 1: its Congress to classify Zionism as a form of racism,
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  Speaker 1: becoming the first mainstream European party to adopt such a stance.
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  Speaker 1: This move has drawn sharp criticism from British Jews and
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  Speaker 1: the Israeli government, which stated it views the party as
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  Speaker 1: a body that gives legitimacy to terrorism. The Green Party
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  Speaker 1: characterized Zionism as an ethno-nationalist political project. This declaration follows
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  Speaker 1: a string of attacks on the Jewish community and has
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  Speaker 1: been condemned by other parties and even some Green MPs.
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  Speaker 1: We also turn to systemic issues in institutional responses to antisemitism.
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  Speaker 1: In Canada, an analysis by the National Post highlights how
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  Speaker 1: the promise of peace, order and good government has fallen
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  Speaker 1: short for Jewish Canadians, particularly in the aftermath of the
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  Speaker 1: October 7th attacks. The report details how Jewish federal public
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  Speaker 1: servants face discrimination, hate protests feature calls for violence, Jewish
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  Speaker 1: businesses are targeted, and almost every Jewish university student has
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  Speaker 1: experienced or witnessed antisemitism. The article notes a familiar pattern
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  Speaker 1: where governments and institutions fail to take responsibility or enforce rules,
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  Speaker 1: with responses often shifting when incidents are framed as criticism
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  Speaker 1: of Israel. Prime Minister Mark Carney is quoted as stating
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  Speaker 1: that Canada's civic compact is failing Jewish Canadians when institutions
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  Speaker 1: fail to uphold basic standards for Jews. In the United States,
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  Speaker 1: an appeals court is scheduled to hear arguments regarding the
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  Speaker 1: Trump administration's effort to terminate over $ 2 billion in grants
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  Speaker 1: to Harvard University. This action, framed as part of a
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  Speaker 1: campaign against universities, was justified by officials citing alleged failure
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  Speaker 1: to address harassment of Jewish students during campus protests. However,
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  Speaker 1: a U.S. district judge had previously ruled that the Trump
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  Speaker 1: administration used for a targeted, ideologically motivated assault on this
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  Speaker 1: country's premier universities. The Justice Department, appealing that decision, argued
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  Speaker 1: the government is not required to give taxpayer dollars to
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  Speaker 1: universities showing deliberate indifference to antisemitic conduct and discrimination on campus. Finally,
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  Speaker 1: research released in the UK sheds light on how these
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  Speaker 1: pressures are shaping Jewish identity. A study by the Institute
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  Speaker 1: for Jewish Policy Research found that between 2022 and 2025,
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  Speaker 1: British Jews identifying as Zionist rose 7 points to 66%.
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  Speaker 1: By June 2025, emotional attachment to Israel had increased by
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  Speaker 1: 13 points to 51%, with 45% feeling that supporting Israel
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  Speaker 1: was very important to their Jewish identity. Jonathan Boyd, the
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  Speaker 1: JPR's director, stated that the overall growth in British Jewish
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  Speaker 1: attachment to Israel is directly associated with concerns about antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: in Britain and the sense of Israel as a Jewish homeland.
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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
• 5:07
  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.