Antisemitism Watch

Michigan Senate Candidate Linked to Donors Funding Antisemitic Attacks
Durban Conference Legacy: How Antisemitism Was Globalized as Political Expression
UCLA Student Sues University Over Protest Suspension Amid Campus Turmoil

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Antisemitism Watch

Antisemitism Watch is a daily monitoring and analysis program tracking antisemitism worldwide — incidents, rhetoric, policy, and institutional responses — r

📝 Transcript

You're listening to Antisemitism Watch, I'm Rachel Adler.

Today, we begin with concerning ties in Michigan's Senate race, where candidate Abdul El-Sayed shares dozens of donors with a former Republican congressional candidate whose campaign featured explicit antisemitic attacks. According to a review by Fox News Digital of Federal Election Commission filings, these shared donors contributed over sixty-one thousand dollars to their respective campaigns. The former candidate, Dan Bilzerian, lost his primary bid but not before his campaign included antisemitic remarks against Republican U.S. Representative Randy Fine. Bilzerian's campaign ran an AI-generated ad calling Fine a “fat Jew” and, in response to Fox News Digital, stated that “Jewish supremacy is the greatest threat to the world today.” Among the shared donors is Georgia attorney Ibrahim Awad, who has been quoted accusing Israel of committing a “Holocaust in Gaza” that he claims may be worse than the World War II Holocaust. Reporting also indicates Awad described Zionism as a “poisonous sin” and rooted in “Jewish supremacy.” Awad contributed over twelve thousand dollars to a committee supporting Bilzerian and seven thousand dollars to El-Sayed's campaign. El-Sayed himself has also faced criticism for associations with social media influencer Hasan Piker, who has made controversial statements regarding Hamas and Israel, as reported by Fox News Digital.

We turn now to the enduring legacy of international forums that have attempted to reframe antisemitism. Reporting highlights the 2001 World Conference Against Racism, or WCAR, in Durban, South Africa, as a critical moment where the idea of excusing Jew-hatred as political expression, particularly anti-Zionism, was globalized. Accounts from the time describe the parallel NGO Forum being hijacked, transforming a universal anti-racism gathering into an effort to remove antisemitism from the agenda. Jewish participants reported harassment, circulation of “The Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” and posters that equated Israel with Nazi Germany, deliberately blurring criticism of Israeli government policy with hostility toward Jews. This, according to reporting, created a disturbing innovation where conduct condemned against other minorities was tolerated when directed at Jews, reframing Jewish self-determination as suspect and antisemitism as merely a political complaint. Irwin Cotler, then Canada's Justice Minister, warned against what he termed the “partitioning of prejudice,” stating that human rights lose their authority when applied conditionally.

In a separate development, author Richard Flanagan is reportedly accused of minimizing antisemitism and attacking the Israel lobby. He is said to have claimed antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal made “grotesque demands to control every aspect of Australian public life” and “ransacked arts.”

Meanwhile, Vice President JD Vance is scheduled to address the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership summit. Vance has recently made skeptical comments toward Israel, diverging from the RJC's staunch support. For instance, in June, he suggested that “Donald Trump is the only head of state in the entire world who is sympathetic to the nation of Israel at this moment in time.” Later, he told podcaster Joe Rogan that some in the Israeli government are “manipulating and trying to change American public opinion to keep the war going indefinitely.” While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly discussed these comments with Vance, and Vance has framed his dissent as part of frank conversations with allies, his remarks have drawn concern among some Jewish Republicans, according to reporting.

On the campus front, a UCLA computer science doctoral student is suing the University of California. Dylan Kupsh is seeking to reverse a two-quarter suspension and obtain a master's degree withheld for over 600 days. His lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, centers on the 2024 pro-Palestinian protests and alleges viewpoint discrimination and due process violations, including a lack of meaningful notice of charges. Kupsh faced multiple campus citations between August 2024 and June 2025 for actions during demonstrations. According to an excerpt of the suit published by the L.A. Times, UCLA police urged university action against Kupsh, describing him as a “known organizer and public face” of Students for Justice in Palestine. The university issued an interim suspension in June 2025 while his disciplinary process proceeded.

Regarding institutional responses, a May 2024 report from the Australian Federal Police's Counter-Terror and Special Investigations command was noted as not having been subject to testimony from a relevant whistleblower before the antisemitism royal commission, according to reporting.

Finally, in positive developments, reporting illustrates the importance of cooperation and key relationships in combating antisemitism, noting instances where multiple offices worked to press law enforcement on behalf of individuals.

I'm Rachel Adler, thank you for listening to Antisemitism Watch.

This report was generated with AI assistance and may contain inaccuracies. Please verify important details with primary sources.

📚 Sources

Sources:
- latimes.com: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2026-08-31/ucla-pro-palestinian-protest-discipline-lawsuit
- wfmd.com: https://www.wfmd.com/2026/08/31/abdul-el-sayed-shares-dozens-of-donors-with-ex-gop-candidate-at-center-of-antisemitism-controversy/
- foxnews.com: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/abdul-el-sayed-shares-dozens-donors-ex-gop-candidate-center-antisemitism-controversy
- Times of Israel (Telegram): https://t.me/TheTimesOfIsrael2022/8977
- ca.news.yahoo.com: https://ca.news.yahoo.com/jack-jedwab-seeds-todays-efforts-100043158.html
- abcnews.com: https://abcnews.com/Politics/jd-vance-set-address-jewish-conservatives-jews-gop/story?id=136070655
- theaustralian.com.au: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/weird-obsession-author-richard-flanagan-accused-of-minimising-antisemitism-in-israel-lobby-attack/news-story/23f28b0cb0694ad42bd626b9c29f84e6
- theaustralian.com.au: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/afp-counterterror-whistleblower-not-called-by-antisemitism-royal-commission/news-story/e99ab2ddb7d345062cb07f2157acea0d
- nationalpost.com: https://nationalpost.com/opinion/the-seeds-of-todays-efforts-to-excuse-antisemitism-were-planted-25-years-ago-in-durban
- usatoday.com: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/voices/2026/08/31/jewish-zionist-rabbi-relationship-dsa-antisemitism/91368817007/