Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - August 5, 2026, 05 PM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - August 5, 2026, 05 PM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to antisemitism. Watch, I'm Rachel Adler. Today we
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  Speaker 1: begin with alarming new figures from the United Kingdom. Britain's
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  Speaker 1: Community Security Trust or CSD, reported nearly two thousand antisemitic
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  Speaker 1: incidents in the first half of twenty twenty six, a
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  Speaker 1: twenty one percent increase over the same period last year.
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  Speaker 1: The CSD notes this is the second highest total ever
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  Speaker 1: recorded for the first six months of a year, with
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  Speaker 1: rates remaining well above pre October seven, twenty twenty three levels.
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  Speaker 1: According to reports from JTA and Algemeiner, this surge was
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  Speaker 1: driven by both violent attacks and a sharp rise in
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  Speaker 1: online abuse. While abusive behavior constituted the largest category, physical
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  Speaker 1: assaults reached a record high for any January to June period,
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  Speaker 1: with a eighty two percent jumped to one hundred and
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  Speaker 1: thirty five recorded attacks. Incidents targeting synagogues and Jewish in
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  Speaker 1: stitutions also saw significant increases among the specific incidents highlighted
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  Speaker 1: with the April stabbing of two visibly Jewish men in
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  Speaker 1: London's Golder's Green neighborhood, which authorities treated as a terrorist attack,
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  Speaker 1: and a series of arson attacks on synagogues and Jewish
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  Speaker 1: organizations including the destruction of ambulances belonging to the Jewish
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  Speaker 1: emergency service Hatsala. The CSD report also cited suspected hostile
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  Speaker 1: activity linked to Iranian intelligence targeting Britain's Jewish community. CSD
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  Speaker 1: Chief Executive Mark Gardner stated these attacks are directed against
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  Speaker 1: British Jews, but also against Britain and its society. In response,
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  Speaker 1: the British government announced an additional twenty five million pounds
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  Speaker 1: in funding for security at Jewish institutions. Policing Minister Sarah
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  Speaker 1: Jones affirmed the government's commitment to protecting Jewish communities across
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  Speaker 1: the Atlantic. New York City is seeing a concerning rise
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  Speaker 1: in anti Jewish hate crimes. According to NYPS data released
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  Speaker 1: this year, Antai Jewish incidents accounted for fifty six point
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  Speaker 1: nine percent of all confirmed hate crimes in the city,
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  Speaker 1: despite Jewish New Yorkers making up only about ten percent
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  Speaker 1: of the population. Between January and July of twenty twenty six,
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  Speaker 1: anti Jewish hate crimes climbed eight point five percent compared
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  Speaker 1: to the same period last year, with two hundred and
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  Speaker 1: five confirmed incidents. Israeli President Isaac Herzog, speaking with Fox
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  Speaker 1: News Digital, issued a stern warning about the global spread
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  Speaker 1: of antisemitism, directly accusing New York City Mayor Zurin Mamdani
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  Speaker 1: of spreading antisemitic rhetoric and endangering citizens. Herzog pointed to
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  Speaker 1: Mamdani's comments calling Israeli Prime Minister Netaniahu a war criminal
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  Speaker 1: and architect of a horrific genocide as contributing to a
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  Speaker 1: dangerous climate. Mamdani's office has stated the administration is committed
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  Speaker 1: to combating antisemitism and has boosted the Office of Hate
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  Speaker 1: Crime Prevention's budget. The Department of Justice has also sent
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  Speaker 1: a letter to Mayor Mamdani seeking answers regarding the rise
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  Speaker 1: in antisemitism and allegations of unequal treatment of Jewish residents.
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  Speaker 1: In a related development, Mamdani's appointment of an eighteen member
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  Speaker 1: judicial screening panel that excluded all Jewish lawyers has drawn
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  Speaker 1: protests from Jewish organizations who see it as a troubling signal. Separately,
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  Speaker 1: the Anti Defamation League has filed a civil rights complaint
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  Speaker 1: against Colorado's Boulder Valley School District over alleged years of
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic harassment, including Nazi salutes and Holocaust mockery on Canadian
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  Speaker 1: university campuses. A national report has documented an alarming prevalence
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  Speaker 1: of systemic antisemitism. The report, commissioned by the federal government,
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  Speaker 1: found that ninety five point seven per cent of Jewish
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  Speaker 1: students experienced or witnessed at least one antisemitic incident in
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  Speaker 1: the past year. The study highlights widespread failures by universities
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  Speaker 1: to address the problem, with many Jewish students feeling unsafe
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  Speaker 1: and reporting that their campus life is not inclusive. The
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  Speaker 1: report indicated that eighteen percent of antisemitic events were perceived
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  Speaker 1: by victims to have been caused by faculty members. This
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  Speaker 1: follows an authorized class action lawsuit against McGill University filed
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  Speaker 1: on behalf of Jewish students who alleged the university failed
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  Speaker 1: to take reasonable action to protect them from discrimination and harassment.
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  Speaker 1: Following October seventh, twenty twenty three, In politics, the UK
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  Speaker 1: Conservative Party faced scrutiny over its selection of Joshua Bonehill Pain,
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  Speaker 1: a former extremist jailed in twenty sixteen for antisemitic harassment,
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  Speaker 1: as a candidate for local elections. Jewish representative bodies, including
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  Speaker 1: the Board of Deputies of British Jews and the Jewish
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  Speaker 1: leadership Council stated they would meet with the Conservative Party
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  Speaker 1: to discuss their vetting processes, though they declined to meet
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  Speaker 1: with Bonehill Pain himself. Meanwhile, in Michigan, the Democratic Senate
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  Speaker 1: primary race saw Abdel Elsaide win the nomination against Representative
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  Speaker 1: Hailey Stephens. The contest became a proxy fight over the
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  Speaker 1: Gaza War and a test of the influence of Israel
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  Speaker 1: supporters within the Democratic Party, with AIPAC heavily investing in
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  Speaker 1: opposing Lsaide due to his stance on Israel. The race
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  Speaker 1: has also highlighted divisions within the Democratic Party, with Michigan
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  Speaker 1: Attorney General Dana Nessel skipping a party convention due to
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic threats online. British pop icon boy George accused music
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  Speaker 1: platform band Camp of bowing to pressure of antisemates after
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  Speaker 1: it removed his pro Israel song and profile, citing an
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  Speaker 1: AI policy, while boy George claimed the message was the reason. Separately,
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  Speaker 1: the NGO Cyberwell has alerted x slash Twitter to a
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  Speaker 1: surge in antisemitic conspiracy theories blaming Jews for wildfires across Europe,
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  Speaker 1: mirroring patterns scene after past crises and fitting IHR criteria
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  Speaker 1: for conspiratorial claims of hidden Jewish control. All also note
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  Speaker 1: specific incidents. In Missouri, police are seeking public assistance one
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  Speaker 1: year after an antisemitic arson attack on a Jewish family's
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  Speaker 1: home confirmed by graffiti. In Bulgaria, a group of Jewish
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  Speaker 1: Italian teenagers participating in a Bonne Akiva program were targeted
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  Speaker 1: at a hotel by alleged neo Nazi skinheads, performing Nazi
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  Speaker 1: salutes and shouting antisemitic chants. And in Canada, calls are
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  Speaker 1: emerging for US refugee status for Jewish families citing threats
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  Speaker 1: from rising antisemitism and observed antisemitic graffiti. I'm Rachel Adler.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you for listening to Antisemitism Watch. This report was
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  Speaker 1: generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify
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  Speaker 1: important details with primary sources.