WBWR Podcasts, Boston.

For most of my congregation, it is a comfort because people are fearful about gathering as Jews when there is not sufficient security.

We're not just being told we don't belong anymore. Our mocks are being attacked and we have ice vehicles targeting our community

at an alarming rate. Jews and Muslims in America feel like they're under siege from threats of

anti-Semitic and Islamophobic violence. It's Friday, April 24th, and this is here and now anytime from

NPR and WBUR. I'm Chris Bentley.

Years of war in the Middle East have fueled hate around the world.

From the Hamas attacks on Israelis in October 23, and Israel's subsequent

devastation of Gaza, to Israel's ongoing invasion of Lebanon and its joint war with the U.S. against

Iran. The constant parade of deadly conflicts around the region has spilled over into violence against Jews and

Muslims who have nothing to do with the wars. In a few minutes, we'll hear from an imam in Texas

about a new surge in Islamophobia, inflamed by the conflict with Iran and egged on by

American congressmen. But first, a rabbi in Arizona says armed guards have become the norm at his synagogue.

It's a sadly familiar state of affairs for leaders of many Jewish congregations.

Last week, Tel Aviv University released its annual anti-Semitism report,

which found cases of severe violence against Jews broke records in 2025.

Outside the Middle East, they saw an increase in assaults on Jews and counted 20 Jews killed

in what they described as anti-Semitic attacks last year, a record high.

That number includes the massacre at a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in Australia in what was that country's worst mass

shooting in nearly three decades. But that report laid some blame on the government of Israel.

Its authors said, quote, Israeli politicians at the highest levels steadily expanded

the scope of the term anti-Semitism, including through cynical and hasty declarations,

...