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Flight Diversion After Antisemitic Assault and Threat · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. We're launching
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  Speaker 1: Antisemitism Watch, Mid-Atlantic, providing focused coverage from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut,
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  Speaker 1: and the Philadelphia region. Visit clockworkmedia.org slash MA today. We
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  Speaker 1: examine escalating threats, disturbing rhetoric, and institutional responses to antisemitism worldwide.
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  Speaker 1: In a dramatic incident aboard American Airlines Flight 618, A
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  Speaker 1: passenger allegedly assaulted author Jonathan Cahn and made antisemitic threats,
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  Speaker 1: forcing the plane to divert to Baltimore-Washington International Airport. According
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  Speaker 1: to CBS12. com, the seatmate, identified as Arthur Lane Lundeen, became
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  Speaker 1: violent after a conversation turned to religion, shouting obscenities and
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  Speaker 1: making derogatory statements about God and Jesus. Cahn recounted that
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  Speaker 1: Lundeen placed his hands around his neck and told him,
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  Speaker 1: I'm going to punch your expletive Jewish face. Other passengers intervened,
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  Speaker 1: restraining Lundin until the plane landed. Khan, a Messianic Jewish rabbi,
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  Speaker 1: described the encounter as spiritual warfare. Meanwhile, the UK Green
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  Speaker 1: Party passed a resolution declaring Zionism a form of racism,
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  Speaker 1: calling for an end to arms sales to Israel and
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  Speaker 1: endorsing the elimination of Israel as a Jewish state. According
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  Speaker 1: to the Aljaminer, the party wrapped its platform in high-minded language,
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  Speaker 1: claiming to be anti-racist. However, the publication decried the resolution
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  Speaker 1: as a morally bankrupt perversion of history and security that
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  Speaker 1: whitewashes Islamic religious extremism and targets the world's only Jewish
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  Speaker 1: state by rejecting its right to exist. The Jewish Chronicle
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  Speaker 1: reported that this exemplifies anti-Zionist antisemitism, which denies to Jews
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  Speaker 1: alone the right to national self-determination. On college campuses, data
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  Speaker 1: reveals a deeply concerning trend. According to the Aljaminer, There
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  Speaker 1: has been a horrifying tenfold increase in antisemitic incidents in
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  Speaker 1: the 2024-25 school year compared to 2022-23. While overt incidents
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  Speaker 1: have declined since 2025, a new normal of marginalization persists,
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  Speaker 1: with 42% of Jewish higher education students reporting experiencing antisemitism,
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  Speaker 1: 25% feeling excluded from groups or events, 34% avoiding displaying
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  Speaker 1: their Jewish identity, and 38% censoring their views on Israel.
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  Speaker 1: Students at Columbia University described feeling unwelcome and being subjected
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  Speaker 1: to slurs. In politics, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has
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  Speaker 1: made New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani a central figure
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  Speaker 1: in his election campaign, accusing him of antisemitism and support
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  Speaker 1: for Hamas. JTA reported that Netanyahu's criticism, voiced in a
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  Speaker 1: UN speech and social media, targets Mamdani as a boogeyman. Mamdani,
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  Speaker 1: a critic of Israel, recently unveiled a $ 7. 4 million plan
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  Speaker 1: to combat antisemitism in New York City. However, according to Yahoo.com,
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  Speaker 1: some Jewish community members are skeptical. Citing his past criticism
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  Speaker 1: of Israel and the plan's omission of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,
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  Speaker 1: Phyllis O'Wisdom, appointed by Mamdani to lead the city's office
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  Speaker 1: to combat antisemitism, stated that it is not the city's
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  Speaker 1: role to define antisemitism. physical acts of vandalism also continue
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  Speaker 1: to surface. In Waxhaw, North Carolina, authorities are investigating swastikas
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  Speaker 1: spray-painted on the campaign sign of Alexis Stadler, an at-large
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  Speaker 1: Union County School board candidate whose husband is Jewish. WBTV.com
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  Speaker 1: reported that Stadler called it a targeted and deliberate attack,
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  Speaker 1: and deputies are investigating the possibility of ethnic intimidation. In Pennsylvania,
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  Speaker 1: A playground in Abington Township was vandalized with spray-painted swastikas
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  Speaker 1: and the N-word, as reported by Forward.com. That same outlet
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  Speaker 1: noted that swastikas and a racial slur were carved into
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  Speaker 1: the greens of Yardley Country Club, a private golf course
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  Speaker 1: located near the Jewish Elementary School Abrams Hebrew Academy. Online,
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  Speaker 1: a dispute has emerged regarding antisemitism on the social media
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  Speaker 1: platform X, according to Haaretz.com. The U.S. Envoy to Combat Antisemitism,
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  Speaker 1: Yehuda Kaplan, stated that Elon Musk has overseen a significant
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  Speaker 1: drop in antisemitism on X. However, experts dispute this claim,
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  Speaker 1: insisting that anti-Jewish hate remains rampant on the platform. In
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  Speaker 1: terms of accountability, Italy has deported two foreign nationals suspected
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  Speaker 1: in an antisemitic attack on Rabbi Tzemach Mizrahi in Milan. Jpost.com
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  Speaker 1: reported that Italian Interior Minister Matteo Piantadosi announced the action, stating,
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  Speaker 1: No antisemitic act will be tolerated. The attack involved the
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  Speaker 1: suspects mocking the rabbi's religious attire and then assaulting him.
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  Speaker 1: We also look at specific instances within educational settings. JTA
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  Speaker 1: reported that concerns were repeatedly raised about Hannah Gann, a
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  Speaker 1: Philadelphia high school teacher, regarding her anti-Israel activism and alleged
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic content in classroom materials. Critics claim the school district
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  Speaker 1: of Philadelphia ignored these concerns for years. Meanwhile, UNIT reported
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  Speaker 1: that Jewish school enrollment in New York has surged as
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  Speaker 1: thousands of families leave public schools amid reports of antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: and hostility. The Jewish Chronicle also highlighted broader trends in
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  Speaker 1: the UK, noting a rise in anti-Zionist antisemitism, which it
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  Speaker 1: defines as denying Jews the right to national self-determination. The
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  Speaker 1: publication suggests this ideology is institutionally embedded across the UK,
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  Speaker 1: especially in the public sector. Responding to these challenges, Israel's
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  Speaker 1: consul invited New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani to a
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  Speaker 1: screening of a film depicting the October 7 events, as
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  Speaker 1: noted by the New York Sun, amidst rising antisemitism in
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  Speaker 1: the city. Combat Antisemitism Monitor reported that CAM is mobilizing
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  Speaker 1: Northeast mayors for a coordinated regional push against antisemitism. And
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  Speaker 1: reporting reviewed for this episode mentioned rising antisemitism in Maryland
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  Speaker 1: and and the role of the Anti-Defamation League in combating
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  Speaker 1: hate there. Finally, in positive developments, U.S. Senators Jackie Rosen
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  Speaker 1: and James Lankford were honored by the Anti-Defamation League with
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  Speaker 1: the Levinson Family Defender of Democracy Award. According to a
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  Speaker 1: statement from Senator Rosen's office, the award recognized their bipartisan
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  Speaker 1: leadership in combating antisemitism and protecting Jewish communities, including their
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  Speaker 1: work founding the Senate Bipartisan Task Force for Combating Antisemitism.
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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, midatlanticatclockworkmedia.org.ma. Follow Antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: Watch in your podcast app so you don't miss the
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  Speaker 1: next update. This report was generated with AI assistance and
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  Speaker 1: may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important details with primary sources.