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Antisemitism Watch - September 7, 2026, 05 PM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

• 0:06
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch. I'm Rachel Adler. We begin
• 0:10
  Speaker 1: with a disturbing incident of direct physical confrontation. Ohio gubernatorial
• 0:15
  Speaker 1: candidate Amy Acton was the target of an attack by
• 0:18
  Speaker 1: an armed individual at the Canfield Fair on Sunday. According
• 0:22
  Speaker 1: to the Manning County Sheriff's Office, the assailant, identified as
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: 38-year-old Patrick Havers, pushed through a crowd in a tent
• 0:30
  Speaker 1: where Acton was speaking, injuring multiple people. Authorities later found
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: two handguns and brass knuckles in Chavez's possession. Acton's campaign
• 0:39
  Speaker 1: stated she was unharmed and condemned the violence, with her
• 0:42
  Speaker 1: opponents stressing that candidates should meet voters without fear of
• 0:45
  Speaker 1: threats or violence, as reported by JTA. In Europe, judicial
• 0:50
  Speaker 1: action is underway in response to concerning anti-Semitic incidents. The
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: JDOTCA reported on September 1 that legal measures are being
• 0:59
  Speaker 1: taken concerning anti-Semitic threats in France, and separately, an ambulance
• 1:04
  Speaker 1: was the target of arson in London. Details on the
• 1:07
  Speaker 1: specific outcomes of these judicial actions were not provided in
• 1:10
  Speaker 1: the reports reviewed for this episode. Meanwhile, in Germany, the
• 1:14
  Speaker 1: rise of the far-right alternative for Germany, or AfD, party
• 1:18
  Speaker 1: has raised significant alarms. The AfD achieved its strongest-ever regional
• 1:23
  Speaker 1: result in Saxony-Anhalt on Sunday, securing nearly 44% of the vote,
• 1:27
  Speaker 1: according to the JTA. Germany's domestic intelligence service classifies the
• 1:34
  Speaker 1: party as right-wing extremist. Joseph Schuster, president of the Central
• 1:38
  Speaker 1: Council of Jews in Germany, expressed deep alarm, telling Welt
• 1:43
  Speaker 1: that he fears the party's influence on education policy could
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: permanently alter the nation's commitment to confronting antisemitism. Israeli ambassador
• 1:52
  Speaker 1: to Germany Ron Prosser told the funk media group that
• 1:55
  Speaker 1: it's alarming a party whose leaders have called Berlin's Holocaust
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: memorial a monument of shame. achieved such gains. The American
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: Jewish Committee notes the AFDI often employs camouflaged anti-Semitic ideas
• 2:09
  Speaker 1: and has neo-Nazi undertones, according to reporting reviewed for this episode.
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: Anti-Semitic incidents in Germany saw a substantial rise, from 4886
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: in 2023 to 8725 in 2025, with 68% of German
• 2:18
  Speaker 1: Jews reporting feeling less safe since October 7, 2023. As
• 2:30
  Speaker 1: detailed in reports analyzed for this episode, in Canadian politics,
• 2:35
  Speaker 1: a candidate for Windsor City Council has drawn significant concern
• 2:38
  Speaker 1: over her rhetoric. Video footage shared online by the ex-slash-Twitter
• 2:43
  Speaker 1: account Leviathan shows Rasha Zaid, a pro-Palestinian activist, stating at
• 2:48
  Speaker 1: a demonstration, Every person that announces they are a Zionist
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  Speaker 1: must be locked up. They are terrorists. She also reportedly
• 2:56
  Speaker 1: led chants calling Zionists racists and terrorists. Social media posts
• 3:01
  Speaker 1: attributed to Zaid allegedly claim antisemitism and attacks are staged
• 3:05
  Speaker 1: and deny the existence of antisemitism. In a statement to
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  Speaker 1: the Jerusalem Post, Zaid stated her opposition is directed at
• 3:13
  Speaker 1: actions and crimes, not at identity, and that selective quotes
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: misrepresent her position. However, Michael Tepper, president of several Jewish
• 3:22
  Speaker 1: organizations in Canada, told the Jerusalem Post he sees this
• 3:26
  Speaker 1: as part of a pattern of candidates targeting supporters of Israel.
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: Expressing concern about the organised Jewish community's response, campaign materials
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  Speaker 1: confirm Zaid is running for Ward 4 in Windsor. In Australia,
• 3:39
  Speaker 1: a major inquiry into antisemitism is facing strong criticism. The
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, established in January 2026,
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  Speaker 1: is being called a predetermined exercise by the article reviewed
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: for this episode. The Commission, with a reported cost of
• 3:57
  Speaker 1: 130 million Australian dollars, is accused of aiming to mainstream
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: anti-Palestinian racism and genocide denial by conflating antisemitism with anti-Zionism.
• 4:09
  Speaker 1: Although the Commission adopted the IHRA working definition of antisemitism,
• 4:14
  Speaker 1: critics allege it allowed witnesses to vilify the Palestinian cause
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: while denying testimony to Palestinian and Jewish anti-Zionist groups. The
• 4:23
  Speaker 1: commission is expected to deliver its report in December 2026.
• 4:28
  Speaker 1: On a British university campus, a non-Jewish student was allegedly
• 4:32
  Speaker 1: targeted and labelled a Mossad agent due to her work
• 4:35
  Speaker 1: promoting Holocaust education. Reports reviewed indicate this incident underscores the
• 4:41
  Speaker 1: ongoing issue of antisemitism among young people in higher education.
• 4:46
  Speaker 1: The persistent challenge of online antisemitism was highlighted by the
• 4:50
  Speaker 1: Combat Antisemitism Movement, or CAM. Their antisemitism research center documented
• 4:56
  Speaker 1: the scale and severity of an online operator's activity, noting
• 5:00
  Speaker 1: the individual return to platforms within a day of being
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: banned and continued their activity, demonstrating the ongoing difficulty in
• 5:08
  Speaker 1: combating such extremism online. I'm Rachel Adler. Thank you for
• 5:12
  Speaker 1: joining Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast app
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: so you don't miss the next update. This report was
• 5:20
  Speaker 1: generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify
• 5:25
  Speaker 1: important details with primary sources.