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Harvard sued over alleged antisemitism · 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 m. A. A
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  Speaker 1: former Harvard employee has filed a federal lawsuit alleging religious
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  Speaker 1: discrimination and retaliation. Claiming his termination was a direct result
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  Speaker 1: of taking time off for the Jewish holiday of Rosh Hashanah.
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  Speaker 1: Daniel Lilienthal, who worked as a grant administrator at the
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  Speaker 1: Harvard School of Public Health, filed the 20-page complaint in
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  Speaker 1: the Southern District of New York on October 15, 2026.
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  Speaker 1: According to the complaint, Lilienthal's supervisor initially expressed concerns about
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  Speaker 1: his performance just days after he began a new role
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  Speaker 1: in late September 2024, then terminated him less than three
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  Speaker 1: weeks later, citing a lack of skills. Lilienthal's legal team
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  Speaker 1: alleges that his termination was willful and intentional. pointing to
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  Speaker 1: what they describe as Harvard's history of discrimination and retaliation
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  Speaker 1: towards Jewish employees and students. The lawsuit accuses the university
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  Speaker 1: of violating Title V.I.I. of the Civil Rights Act of
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  Speaker 1: 1964 and New York state law, seeking damages for emotional distress,
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  Speaker 1: reputational harm, and lost wages. Lilienthal had previously filed a
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  Speaker 1: charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, receiving a notice
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  Speaker 1: to proceed with a lawsuit in July 2026. Meanwhile, the
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  Speaker 1: Anti-Defamation League, or ADL, is reporting that Wikipedia continues to
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  Speaker 1: struggle with anti-Semitic and anti-Israel bias on its platform. In
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  Speaker 1: its 2025 report, Editing for Hate, the ADL uncovered a
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  Speaker 1: group of approximately 30 Wikipedia editors who appeared to be
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  Speaker 1: coordinating to inject misleading information and pro-Hamas narratives. The ADL's
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  Speaker 1: 2026 follow-up report, Damage Done, Wikipedia leaves biased edits unchecked
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  Speaker 1: despite editor bans, found that despite some editors being banned,
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  Speaker 1: much of the problematic content remains unedited or unremoved. According
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  Speaker 1: to ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt, speaking with Fox News Digital,
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  Speaker 1: almost nothing has changed, and no banned editor's body of
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  Speaker 1: work has been systemically reviewed. Greenblatt likened the situation to
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  Speaker 1: arresting a graffiti artist but leaving the vandalism on public buildings,
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  Speaker 1: stating that, if you're not doing it, If you aren't
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  Speaker 1: really taking action, there's really no ban at all. The
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  Speaker 1: ADL noted that one editor, Iskandar323, made hundreds of edits
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  Speaker 1: to key pages such as Israel, Gaza War, and October
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  Speaker 1: 7 attacks after the Hamas massacre, with many of these
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  Speaker 1: edits still live. In political and institutional news, President Trump's
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  Speaker 1: anti-Semitism czar, Leo Terrell, launched the American Tour Against Hate
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  Speaker 1: in Southfield, Michigan, with an event at Congregation Shari Zedek.
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  Speaker 1: The event, held in advance of contentious U.S. midterms, was
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  Speaker 1: co-hosted by the Zionist Organization of America, or ZOA, and
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  Speaker 1: featured a pre-recorded address from President Trump. Terrell, who chairs
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  Speaker 1: the administration's Task Force for Combating Antisemitism, stated that the
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  Speaker 1: initiative aims to address false and inaccurate statements made about
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  Speaker 1: this horrible subject of antisemitism. Reporting by JTA indicates the
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  Speaker 1: event also served as a fundraiser for the ZOA's Michigan chapter,
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  Speaker 1: with attendees handed donation forms, while organizers described the event
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  Speaker 1: as nonpartisan. Its timing and the participation of officials, from
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  Speaker 1: an administration critical of the Democratic Senate candidate in Michigan,
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  Speaker 1: who is a critic of Israel, drew attention from the
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  Speaker 1: state's Jewish population amid rising anxieties over anti-Semitism. Finally, leaders
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  Speaker 1: from the seven largest diaspora Jewish communities convened in London
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  Speaker 1: this week for a meeting of the J7, the large
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  Speaker 1: community's task force against antisemitism. According to J7' s latest annual report,
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  Speaker 1: 2025 saw over 23,000 antisemitic incidents recorded across seven countries,
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  Speaker 1: resulting in 20 deaths, marking it the deadliest year for
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic violence in the diaspora since 1994. The report also
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  Speaker 1: noted a 136% rise in incidents since 2022. At the gathering,
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  Speaker 1: leaders shared strategies and discussed a coordinated international response to
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  Speaker 1: combat rising online hate, threats from the Iranian regime, and
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  Speaker 1: what they described as the growing demonization of Israel. The
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  Speaker 1: task force proposed a new international intergovernmental ministerial initiative, and
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  Speaker 1: representatives announced that the UK's David Miliband agreed to host
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  Speaker 1: an inaugural meeting of ministers to begin this process. 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
• 5:03
  Speaker 1: Philadelphia region, listen to Antisemitism Watch, midatlantic at clockworkmedia.org slash
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  Speaker 1: m a. 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.