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British, Israeli Soccer Teams Celebrate Return of Hamas Hostage, Sports Fan Emily Damari

Released British-Israeli hostage Emily Damari arrives at Sheba Medical Center in Ramat Gan, Israel, after being held in Gaza since the deadly Oct. 7, 2023 attack by Hamas, in this image obtained by Reuters on Jan. 19, 2025. Photo: Maayan Toaf/GPO/Handout via REUTERS

The English Premier League soccer team Tottenham Spurs and the Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer team in Israel celebrated the return home of British-Israeli dual citizen Emily Damari as one of the three civilian hostages who were released from Hamas captivity on Sunday as part of the ceasefire deal between Israel and the terrorist organization.

Damari, a 28-year-old passionate Tottenham supporter, as well as Nova music festival survivor Romi Gonen, 23, and veterinary nurse Doron Steinbrecher, 30, returned to Israel on Sunday morning after being abducted more than 15 months ago during the Hamas-led terrorist attack in Israel on Oct. 7, 2023. Damari, the only British hostage still in captivity, and Steinbrecher were both kidnapped from their homes in Kibbutz Kfar Aza.

On Sunday, the official account on X for Tottenham supporters in Israel shared a photo of Damari and the caption read, “Emily is coming home TODAY! #ShesOneOfOurOwn.” At several soccer matches since Damari’s abduction, fans of the north London team have chanted “Emily Damari, she’s one of our own, she’s one of our own, Emily Damari, bring her home.”

Former Tottenham player Ramon Vega also shared his excitement about Damari’s return. After Tottenham loss to Everton 3-2 on Sunday, the 53-year-old Swiss soccer player wrote on X: “At least one positive thought today from the Spurs family! Welcome home, Emily. COYS Spurs!”

Tottenham fans have shown solidarity with Damari many times since she was kidnapped in 2023. They released yellow balloons in her honor, hung posters about her, and tied hundreds of yellow ribbons around the team’s home stadium. Last week, Arsenal and Tottenham fans united in support of Damari at the north London derby.

Maccabi Tel Aviv additionally celebrated Damari’s return home on Sunday. “Our Emily is back home!” the team wrote in a Hebrew-language post on Instagram. “We waited and prayed for 471 days for your return and today the heart is filled with happiness that you are back with us together with Romi Gonen and Doron Steinbercher.” Former Maccabi Tel Aviv player Yonatan Cohen, who now plays for the Australian team Melbourne City, also commented on Damari’s return in a Hebrew-language post on Instagram and revealed that he has been in contact with her family since her abduction.

“After the cursed day of October 7, when Emily was taken, her family reached out to me and told me about her — her joy for life, her strength, and the light she brought everywhere she went. Her story deeply touched me, and since that day, I’ve been in regular contact with her family. Emily has been on my mind constantly,” he wrote on Instagram. “For every match, in every stadium, I wore a shirt with her picture on it, and I prayed every day that she would return to her beloved family. With every goal and every happy moment, I wished in my heart for her to smile her big smile again. When we moved to Australia, I packed her shirt with me, and I’ve been waiting ever since for the day she would become a symbol of our victory.”

“Emily’s touching comeback, full of pride and joy, is not just a victory for her family and the people of Israel — it is a victory of faith and of hope, that the good will always win,” Cohen added. “Emily and family, today I’m excited to send you a strong hug from afar and wish you to quickly return to normal, wrapped in the warmth and love of your family and relatives. I’m already waiting to see each other when I get back to Israel. You are our victory!”

The Israeli soccer team Hapoel Haifa shared several messages on social media celebrating the return of the three hostages with special attention given to Gonen, an avid fan of the team who they’ve honored in previous matches. Hapoel Haifa team members and its coach recorded a personal video message for Gonen, welcoming her back home. They also offered her free season tickets and a shirt bearing her name. Hapoel Haifa said that on Monday, before its match against M.S. Ashdod, it will hold a ceremony to celebrate the return of the three hostages.

The post British, Israeli Soccer Teams Celebrate Return of Hamas Hostage, Sports Fan Emily Damari first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’

Zohran Mamdani Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect

In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.

In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.

At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.

Nearly half  of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.

Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.

The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.

Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.

“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”

Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.

Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.

The post New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events

A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.

The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.

Incidents reported by the group include:

  • At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
  • A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
  • In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”

CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”

The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”

Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.

A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”

CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”

In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.

Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”

The post Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo

The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.

Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.

Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.

“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.

Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.

Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.

Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).

“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.

The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.

That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.

As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.

“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.

The post IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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