Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - August 21, 2026, 09 PM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - August 21, 2026, 09 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 reports of physical violence and threats in New York City.
• 0:14
  Speaker 1: NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tish visited Central Synagogue on August twenty second,
• 0:19
  Speaker 1: addressing the congregation following a hate crime attack the previous week.
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  Speaker 1: According to the Daily News E edition, a suspect has
• 0:26
  Speaker 1: been charged with federal hate crimes. Commissioner Tish highlighted the
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  Speaker 1: incident as part of a broader pattern of bias attacks
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  Speaker 1: against Jews, noting the disproportionate targeting of the Jewish community
• 0:38
  Speaker 1: in the city's hate crime statistics. She stated that since
• 0:41
  Speaker 1: October seventh, hate has ricocheted across the globe and warned
• 0:46
  Speaker 1: that violence abroad can inspire local attacks, telling congregants individuals
• 0:51
  Speaker 1: already on the edge do not always need instructions. Sometimes
• 0:55
  Speaker 1: all they need is a spark. She pledged the NYPD's
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  Speaker 1: commitment to safeguarding Jewish dens New Yorkers. In Surfside, Florida,
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  Speaker 1: an antisemitic attack on a Jewish couple occurred on August sixteenth.
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  Speaker 1: News reports, citing a police report obtained by j NS
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  Speaker 1: state that Jordan Stephen Peroso allegedly approached the couple, made threats,
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  Speaker 1: and punched the man. Peroso also reportedly made antisemitic remarks
• 1:19
  Speaker 1: and statements about Israel and Palestine. He faces charges of
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  Speaker 1: battery with prejudice and harassment based on religious or ethnic heritage.
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  Speaker 1: Rabbi Gabriel Coscas of Magen David Congregation described the incident
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  Speaker 1: as deeply disturbing and unacceptable, but characterized it as an
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  Speaker 1: isolated incident that does not reflect the surfside community, urging
• 1:41
  Speaker 1: preparedness and vigilance. Turning to politics and media, a significant
• 1:46
  Speaker 1: controversy involves Daryl Cooper, identified as Tucker Carlson's favored historian.
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  Speaker 1: Reporting indicates Cooper wrote a foreword for a book by
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  Speaker 1: Thomas Seer, who is described as openly sympathetic to the
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  Speaker 1: Third Reich and associated with white supremacist symbols. According to
• 2:03
  Speaker 1: the reporting, Cooper's forward appears to frame Seer's views, suggesting
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  Speaker 1: that those sympathetic to Hitler and the Third Reich have
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  Speaker 1: been systematically excluded from the discourse. The reporting also notes
• 2:14
  Speaker 1: that Cooper has previously discussed Seer on Tucker Carlson's show,
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  Speaker 1: promoting perspectives that cast Adolph Hitler and the Third Reich
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  Speaker 1: in a favorable light. In a sharp diplomatic dispute, Israel's
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  Speaker 1: Prime Minister's office called Turkish President Receptae Yup Erdogan an
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic dictator. This statement, reported by the Times of Israel
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  Speaker 1: and JNS, followed Turkey's announcement that it had sought an
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  Speaker 1: international arrest warrant for Prime Minister Netaniahu. Netaniahu's office stated
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  Speaker 1: that Erdogan massacred Kurds, supports the massacre of the Hamas
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  Speaker 1: terrorist organization, and oppresses his own people, vowing that Israel
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  Speaker 1: would continue to act forcefully against Turkey's attempts to destabilize
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  Speaker 1: the region and extend aggression into Syria. On college campuses,
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  Speaker 1: Transportation's Secretary Sean Duffy is reportedly advising his daughter to
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  Speaker 1: avoid Harvard University, citing concerns that wokeness, DEI grade inflation,
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  Speaker 1: and antisemitism have replaced academic rigor. This critique, detailed in reporting,
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: notes that Harvard settled an antisemitism lawsuit last year and
• 3:21
  Speaker 1: discusses issues of students not engaging with coursework. In related
• 3:25
  Speaker 1: institutional oversight, Harvard NYU and twenty eight other universities are
• 3:30
  Speaker 1: undergoing Pentagon audits of their foreign affiliations. The Department of
• 3:35
  Speaker 1: Justice has also opened a probe into a prestigious college
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  Speaker 1: concerning alleged discrimination favoring minority students, as reported by Fox News,
• 3:44
  Speaker 1: Campus Radical's newsletter. In Chicago politics, the Democratic Socialists of
• 3:49
  Speaker 1: America's local chapter has faced criticism over its endorsement process.
• 3:54
  Speaker 1: The Chicago d Essay narrowly declined to endorse Alderman Daniel
• 3:58
  Speaker 1: Lospata for none identifying as Antizionist. The Anti Defamation League,
• 4:03
  Speaker 1: in a statement quoted by the Times of Israel, responded
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  Speaker 1: that requiring Antizionist positioning as a prerequisite for public office
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  Speaker 1: is antisemitism. The ADL contends such requirements risk fueling anti
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: Jewish sentiment, harassment, and ultimately violence, and contribute to the
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  Speaker 1: normalization of the exclusion of Jews. This development comes as
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  Speaker 1: Chicago Police Department data cited shows that in twenty twenty five,
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  Speaker 1: eighty eight percent of all hate crimes motivated by religion
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  Speaker 1: were committed against Jewish Chicagoans. A new report from Stop
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  Speaker 1: Antisemitism evaluating tik tok, Instagram, and x from July twenty
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  Speaker 1: twenty five to July twenty twenty six, reveals disparities in
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  Speaker 1: their handling of antisemitic content. According to the report shared
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  Speaker 1: exclusively with JNS, TikTok demonstrated the most effective enforcement, with
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  Speaker 1: forty nine percent of reported accounts and forty eight percent
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  Speaker 1: of posts removed an action taken on antisemitic audio. Instagram
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  Speaker 1: removed thirty three percent of accounts and forty percent of posts,
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  Speaker 1: often addressing specific content but allowing repeat offenders to remain active.
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  Speaker 1: X removed only twelve percent of reported accounts, with less
• 5:17
  Speaker 1: than forty percent of posts acted upon. Leorres, president and
• 5:21
  Speaker 1: CEO of Stop Antisemitism, stated, We've seen time and again
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  Speaker 1: how hatred that starts online doesn't stay online. It emboldens people,
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  Speaker 1: it normalizes antisemitism, and ultimately we see the consequences in
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  Speaker 1: the real world. Finally, in terms of institutional response, a
• 5:39
  Speaker 1: Department of Justice whistleblower has reportedly criticized the handling of
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: antisemitism probes into universities. This occurs as Cornell University is
• 5:49
  Speaker 1: also investigating antisemitism on its campus, highlighting ongoing scrutiny surrounding
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  Speaker 1: how academic institutions and government bodies address the issue according
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  Speaker 1: to reporting reviewed for this episode, I'm Rachel Adler. Thank
• 6:03
  Speaker 1: you for listening to Antisemitism Watch. This report was generated
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  Speaker 1: with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: details with primary sources.