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American Comedian Proclaims He’s ‘Anti-Bully’ After Israeli Couple Heckled Out of Venue Following Anti-Israel Joke
Reginald D. Hunter. Photo: Screenshot
American stand-up comedian Reginald D. Hunter apologized on Thursday for an “unfortunate” incident that took place at his show this week during the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland after the comedian made an anti-Israel joke.
“As a comedian, I do push boundaries in creating humor; it’s part of my job,” the comedian, 55, said in a post shared across his various social media accounts. “This inevitably creates divided opinions but I am staunchly anti-war and anti-bully. I regret any stress caused to the audience and venue staff members.”
Hunter also re-posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, messages of support, including one that said in part: “Stop saying ‘antisemitism’ to shut down criticism of the actions of [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin] Netanyahu/Israel.”
During his Sunday night stand-up comedy show “Fluffy Fluffy Beavers” at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Hunter joked that having an abusive wife who complains about being abused herself is “like being married to Israel.” While most of the audience laughed at the joke, a couple in the front row shouted “Not funny.”
The Daily Telegraph‘s chief theater critic Domenic Cavendish, who was in the audience reviewing the show, reported that when the couple said they were from Israel, other audience members began shouting expletives at them like “f—k off,” told them to leave the gig, made booing sounds, and verbally targeted them with barbs such as “genocidal maniac,” “you’re not welcome,” and “free Palestine.” The incident took place five minutes midway into the show and the “theater full of people erupted in vocal animosity at an Israeli couple who had briefly heckled Hunter,” according to Cavendish.
Hunter doubled down by telling the Israeli couple, one of whom is disabled: “I’ve been waiting for you all summer, where the f—k you been? You can say it’s not funny to you, but if you say it to a room full of people who laughed, you look foolish.” After the Israeli women “remonstrated with the audience,” according to Cavendish, Hunter responded, “Look at you making everyone love Israel even more.”
The Israeli couple were still being heckled by audience members as they left the venue. “That tells me that I still got voltage,” Hunter told spectators after the couple left the venue, seemingly satisfied with the outcome.
Hunter afterwards made a joke about needing a subscription to access the website of The Jewish Chronicle, which is not true. “Typical f—king Jews, they won’t tell you anything unless you subscribe,” he said before adding, “It’s just a joke.”
Police in Scotland told the BBC that it is “reviewing the circumstances” of the incident.
Campaign Against Antisemitism (CAA), a British charity, said Hunter’s comments were “extremely concerning” and although comedians are “rightly given broad latitude, they also have a responsibility to their audience.”
“Watching on and cracking jokes as Jews are hounded out of your show is a sickening low that cannot be disguised as comedy,” CAA added.
At the 2006 Edinburgh Fringe Festival, Hunter made a joke during his show about it being illegal to deny the Holocaust in Austria. Hunter joked that he had “a good mind to go to Austria, stand in the street, and say the Holocaust didn’t happen,” only to end up getting arrested and then telling a judge in court that he was talking about the Rwandan holocaust.
In a separate incident that took place at the festival this year, Jewish actress Miriam Margolyes stirred controversy when she described the fictional Charles Dickens character Fagin as “Jewish and vile.”
The post American Comedian Proclaims He’s ‘Anti-Bully’ After Israeli Couple Heckled Out of Venue Following Anti-Israel Joke first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Israeli father uses his daughter’s experiences with cancer to help other families
Fifteen years ago, Oded Grinstein’s infant daughter Shani was diagnosed with a rare cancer. The doctors in Israel were world-class, and the facilities were state-of-the-art, but there was a lack of experience within the medical system for dealing with this particular cancer. Grinstein and his wife found a doctor at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center […]
The post Israeli father uses his daughter’s experiences with cancer to help other families appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Connecticut State Rep. Who Attacked Primary Opponent for Being Jewish Loses by More Than 25 Points
Connecticut state representative Anabel Figueroa. Photo: Screenshot
Connecticut State Rep. Anabel Figueroa lost overwhelmingly in her Democratic primary this week after attacking her opponent for being Jewish.
Figueroa, who was the incumbent in the race and represents parts of the city of Stamford, lost 62.6 percent to 37.4 percent on Tuesday to her Democratic primary challenger Jonathan Jacobson, who is Jewish.
Jacobson’s ethnic background became an issue in the race after Figueroa attacked him for being Jewish.
“The Hispanic vote is going to determine on Aug. 13 who will win to represent or who will continue to represent you,” Figueroa said in a Spanish-language interview filmed on July 28. “We cannot permit a person who is of Jewish origin, of Jewish origin, to represent our community. It’s impossible.”
The comments were met with widespread backlash.
The Stamford Democratic City Committee (DCC) called on Figueroa to resign.
“The use of this blatant antisemitic and anti-democratic language is abhorrent, unacceptable, and contrary to our shared values as Democrats,” it wrote in a statement. “The sentiments expressed by Representative Figueroa in that video contradict the statement she issued yesterday in response to the antisemitic Facebook post shared by a DCC member, who is also one of her supporters.”
One of Figueroa’s supporters, who is also a member of the Stamford DCC, had reportedly made antisemitic remarks about Jacobson as well.
The statement concluded, “This shameful behavior not only demonstrates a lack of integrity and character but makes Anabel Figueroa unfit to serve in office, and we call on her to resign immediately as a member of the Stamford Democratic City Committee.”
The Connecticut branch of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) wrote on X/Twitter: “Rep Figueroa’s statement was outrageous and her apology equivocal. To accuse Jewish politicians of being unable to represent all constituents is unacceptable.”
In response to the condemnations, Figueroa issued an apology.
“I am deeply sorry to those in the Stamford and Jewish communities that I have offended,” she said. “I have multiple Jewish people working on my campaign, and antisemitism has no place in Stamford — again, I apologize.”
She then explained the original sentiment behind her comments.
“My message is that we need leaders who represent our districts. There is almost no Latino representation in Hartford, and I am currently the only Latina State Representative in Southern Connecticut,” Figueroa said. “There is a strong Latino community in the 148th district, and I will ensure their voice is at the table and never leaves it. This has nothing to do with religion, and as a bilingual speaker, I misspoke when describing my opponent’s background. I am deeply and sincerely sorry.”
Jacobson said the real reason he won the election was not due to her comments, but rather to policy differences.
“Ultimately, her hate, that’s not what lost her the election; her hate is not what won me the election,” he said, according to the New York Times.
The post Connecticut State Rep. Who Attacked Primary Opponent for Being Jewish Loses by More Than 25 Points first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Anti-Israel Protesters Swarm New York City Fundraiser for Kamala Harris, Several Arrested
Illustrative: A scene from the anti-Israel protest that took place outside the exhibit “Nova: Oct. 7 6:29 AM, The Moment Music Stood Still” in New York City on June 10, 2024. Photo: Screenshot
Anti-Israel protesters crashed a Democratic Party rally and fundraiser for US Vice President and 2024 presidential nominee Kamala Harris on Wednesday night.
Roughly 300 protesters lined the streets of W. 135th St. and Broadway in New York City, brandishing signs accusing the Biden administration of supporting a so-called “genocide” in the Gaza Strip and demanding a ceasefire between Israel and the Hamas terrorist group.
Footage circulating on X/Twitter showed the agitators storming inside the event, harassing attendees including New York City Mayor Eric Adams and accusing them of endorsing “genocide.”
“Make sure you vote! Make sure you vote!” Adams said as security escorted some of the demonstrators out of the event.
“I don’t mind you being across the street. I don’t mind that you want to raise your voice,” the mayor added. “Hold onto all of that anger until after November. November you need to be laser-focused on one thing.”
Watch: pro-Palestinian protestors broke inside the DNC fundraiser and began harassing Mayor Adams and other politicians.
This is political intimidation and goes against the fundamental principles of our democracy.
Have we learned nothing after the assassination attempt? pic.twitter.com/wtdRtuiELV
— Eyal Yakoby (@EYakoby) August 15, 2024
The demonstration escalated into violence when around 50 agitators stormed the rally’s afterparty in a nearby restaurant. Roughly 25 participants of the rally were in attendance at the afterparty, according to the New York Post. The angry protesters screamed and pointed fingers at the event’s attendees, demanding that they support a “ceasefire” between Israel and Hamas.
Other protesters physically confronted, attacked, and screamed obscenities at police officers. Swarms of protesters surrounded the officers, banging drums, blowing whistles, and chanting slogans such as “no justice, no peace!”
A corral of officers subdued and arrested a handful of the agitators. Officers clashed with the swarm of anti-Israel demonstrators, struggling to clear out the area. Some of the protesters reportedly tossed smoke bombs towards officers.
Authorities were recorded chasing down one protester after he initiated a violent encounter with the officers. Another demonstrator was seen on video posted to social media assaulting an officer with a cardboard sign, causing officers to apprehend and handcuff her on the ground.
The New York City Police Department (NYPD) ultimately took 14 demonstrators into custody, according to the New York Daily News.
BREAKING: Pro-Palestine Protesters STORM into Democratic After party event following Kamala Harris Campaign, SMOKE BOMBS set off at the outdoor restaurant, MASS ARRESTS pic.twitter.com/5BVEGhzrq0
— Oliya Scootercaster (@ScooterCasterNY) August 15, 2024
Within Our Lifetime, a radical anti-Israel activist group, took responsibility for the demonstration and condemned the NYPD for arresting violent agitators.
“After a noise demo disrupting the Democratic Party’s NYC campaign launch for Killer Kamala on 8.14, the NYPD ruthlessly beat and arrested protestors in Harlem,” Within Our Lifetime wrote on X/Twitter. “Dems want you to believe they support us. They are just waiting for you to look away before cracking down on our movement and continuing the genocide in Palestine.”
In the months following Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre throughout southern Israel, pro-Hamas agitators have disrupted political events, fundraisers, speeches, and rallies, calling for an end to the ongoing war between the Jewish state and the Palestinian terrorist group.
Radical anti-Israel groups are expected to hold massive demonstrations at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago next week, demanding that Harris support a ceasefire in Gaza as well as an arms embargo against the Jewish state.
The post Anti-Israel Protesters Swarm New York City Fundraiser for Kamala Harris, Several Arrested first appeared on Algemeiner.com.