Latest / Antisemitism Watch / Antisemitism Watch - September 29, 2026, 05 PM Eastern

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Antisemitism Watch - September 29, 2026, 05 PM Eastern · Antisemitism Watch

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  Speaker 1: You're listening to Antisemitism Watch, I'm Rachel Adler. Deerfield Village
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  Speaker 1: Hall was defaced with antisemitic vandalism overnight Sunday into Monday,
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  Speaker 1: according to village officials. This follows a similar incident last week,
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  Speaker 1: where a swastika was found on a playground slide at
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  Speaker 1: a park in nearby Highland Park. According to the Highland
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  Speaker 1: Park Police Department, the village of Deerfield issued a statement
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  Speaker 1: unequivocally condemning the acts, stating, antisemitic acts of hate have
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  Speaker 1: no place in Deerfield or anywhere. Village officials said they
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  Speaker 1: are working to investigate the incident. In Pennsylvania, state representatives
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  Speaker 1: have asked Attorney General Dave Sunday to investigate a potential,
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  Speaker 1: systemic pattern of discrimination against Jewish students in the Philadelphia
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  Speaker 1: school district, citing reports of antisemitic incidents, according to the
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  Speaker 1: Pennsylvania House Republican leadership. This call comes after the district
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  Speaker 1: agreed to a settlement with the U.S. Department of Education's
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  Speaker 1: Office for Civil Rights in 2024, following an investigation that
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  Speaker 1: found it had not adequately investigated repeated claims of antisemitism,
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  Speaker 1: according to reporting. New research from the AMCHA initiative indicates
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  Speaker 1: that faculty endorsement of academic boycotts against Israel consistently predicts
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  Speaker 1: and intensifies campus antisemitism. According to AMCHA initiative director Tammy Rossman-Benjamin,
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  Speaker 1: This faculty support serves as a stronger predictor of harm
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  Speaker 1: to Jewish students than anti-Zionist student groups. The research, spanning
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  Speaker 1: over a decade, found that campuses with higher numbers of
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  Speaker 1: faculty academic boycotters experienced increased anti-Semitic activity, and that faculty activism,
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  Speaker 1: particularly through groups like Faculty for Justice in Palestine following
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  Speaker 1: October 7th, amplified these effects. The US Civil Rights Commission
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  Speaker 1: recently issued a unanimous report on antisemitism on university campuses,
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  Speaker 1: but legal analysis within the report has drawn criticism. The
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  Speaker 1: report argues that Title VI hostile environment law only applies
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  Speaker 1: when individuals creating the hostile environment did so with antisemitic
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  Speaker 1: intent or animus. However, critics argue this legal interpretation is flawed,
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  Speaker 1: suggesting the focus should be on the university's deliberate indifference
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  Speaker 1: to a hostile environment, rather than solely on the intent
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  Speaker 1: of the students involved, according to reporting and legal analysis.
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  Speaker 1: In France, Jordan Bardella, president of the far-right National Rally Party,
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  Speaker 1: has filed a defamation lawsuit against investigative website Mediapart. This
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  Speaker 1: action follows a report by Mediapart alleging Bardella made antisemitic
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  Speaker 1: and conspiratorial remarks in private messages between 2013 and 2015,
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  Speaker 1: when he was a teenager. Mediapart cites messages where Bardella
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  Speaker 1: allegedly claimed, all the banks are owned by Jews and
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  Speaker 1: other rhetoric, which the outlet states it independently authenticated. Bardella
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  Speaker 1: has denied the allegations, calling them completely delusional and an
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  Speaker 1: attempt to destabilize his party's campaign. French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël
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  Speaker 1: Barrett stated that antisemitism is the very history of this party,
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  Speaker 1: while other politicians have condemned the alleged remarks and the
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  Speaker 1: party's past. Mahmoud al-Habesh, an advisor to Palestinian Authority leader
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  Speaker 1: Mahmoud Abbas, has endorsed Hamas' October 7th atrocities as legal resistance,
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  Speaker 1: jihad and self-defence, describing it as a legal right and
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  Speaker 1: sacred duty. According to Palestinian Media Watch reporting on his remarks,
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  Speaker 1: al-Habash also called the outcome for Gaza a sin. In
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  Speaker 1: the UK, Foreign Secretary Ed Miliband, who is Jewish, called
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  Speaker 1: Palestinians suffering in Gaza and the West Bank a stain
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  Speaker 1: on the conscience of the world. At the Labour Party's
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  Speaker 1: annual conference, Miliband condemned ethnic cleansing by the settler terrorists
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  Speaker 1: in the West Bank and evidence of war crimes in Gaza,
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  Speaker 1: according to reporting. Miliband also referenced his parents' experiences fleeing
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  Speaker 1: Nazi persecution, stating he had a survivor's responsibility to fight
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  Speaker 1: for values and not be a bystander to oppression and injustice.
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  Speaker 1: New York City Mayor Zoran Mamdani has unveiled the city's
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  Speaker 1: first municipal strategy to combat antisemitism. The plan includes significant
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  Speaker 1: investments in hate crime prevention, security for Jewish institutions, and
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  Speaker 1: cultural and educational initiatives, totaling millions of dollars. However, the
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  Speaker 1: strategy notably does not include a definition of antisemitism. A
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  Speaker 1: decision Mayor Mamdani stated was made to avoid contentious debate
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  Speaker 1: over criticism of Israel, according to Gothamist and other reporting.
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  Speaker 1: This initiative comes amid a reported 9% rise in anti-Jewish
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  Speaker 1: hate crimes in New York City. according to NYPD data.
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  Speaker 1: The Anti-Defamation League and council member Eric Dinowitz have expressed
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  Speaker 1: concerns that the absence of a definition, particularly regarding Israel-related antisemitism,
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  Speaker 1: undercuts the plan's comprehensiveness. Mayor Mamdani previously called Prime Minister
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  Speaker 1: Netanyahu a war criminal. In Canada, Jewish advocacy groups are
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  Speaker 1: urging provincial governments to establish specialised hate crime prosecution units.
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  Speaker 1: This follows the sentencing of Brandon Taylor Moore, who received
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  Speaker 1: an 18-month conditional sentence for publicly inciting hatred against Jews
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  Speaker 1: on social media. Moore cited Israel's war against Hamas as
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  Speaker 1: motivation for his posts, according to reporting by the Jerusalem
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  Speaker 1: News Syndicate. U.S. Senators Jackie Rosen and James Lankford, co-chairs
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  Speaker 1: of the Senate bipartisan task force for combating antisemitism, have
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  Speaker 1: sent a bipartisan letter to Meta. They are requesting details
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  Speaker 1: on the company's safeguards against bots and inauthentic accounts, spreading
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  Speaker 1: antisemitic content on Instagram and Facebook, urging expanded protections. The
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  Speaker 1: British government has announced a new plan to resettle Palestinian refugees,
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  Speaker 1: drawing sharp warnings from Jewish leaders who fear the programme
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  Speaker 1: could intensify antisemitism in the UK. Home Secretary Shabana Mahmood
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  Speaker 1: unveiled the reopening of a resettlement scheme prioritising vulnerable refugees.
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  Speaker 1: The Jewish Leadership Council has expressed concern that inadequate screening
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  Speaker 1: could allow radicalized individuals to enter the country, potentially worsening
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  Speaker 1: the antisemitism crisis, according to the Aljamina. The J7 Large
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  Speaker 1: Communities Task Force Against Antisemitism, representing major Jewish communities worldwide,
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  Speaker 1: has called on UN member states to make combating antisemitism
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  Speaker 1: a key consideration in selecting the next UN Secretary General.
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  Speaker 1: In an open letter, The group urged the UN to
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  Speaker 1: adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's working definition of antisemitism,
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  Speaker 1: appoint a special envoy, and reform the UN human rights system,
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  Speaker 1: according to JNS. In the United States, the Equal Employment
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  Speaker 1: Opportunity Commission, or EEOC, has sued Mercy Health physicians in Youngstown, Ohio,
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  Speaker 1: and Bonsecker's Mercy Health. The EEOC alleges the employers violated
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  Speaker 1: federal regulations and by subjecting a Jewish orthopedic surgeon to
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  Speaker 1: unfavorable terms of employment, and firing him because of his
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  Speaker 1: religion and race shortly after the October 7th attacks in Israel,
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  Speaker 1: according to OSV News. I'm Rachel Adler, thank you for
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  Speaker 1: listening to Antisemitism Watch. Follow Antisemitism Watch in your podcast
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  Speaker 1: app so you don't miss the next update. This report
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  Speaker 1: was generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please
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  Speaker 1: verify important details with primary sources.