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England’s storied Chelsea soccer team launches Jewish fan group
(JTA) — Chelsea Football Club has launched a group for Jewish fans, becoming the second English Premier League team to do so this year.
The storied London-based club announced its new Jewish supporters group on Friday, timing the launch to Rosh Hashanah, which began that evening. “To celebrate Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year, we are delighted to launch Chelsea Football Club’s Jewish Supporters Group, with the opportunity to become a member already open,” the club said in its announcement.
Chelsea’s cross-town rival Arsenal launched its own Jewish fan group in April as part of its efforts to combat antisemitism.
Both teams have dealt with instances of antisemitism among fans in recent years. Chelsea fans were caught chanting antisemitic songs at a match just days after launching an anti-hate campaign in 2018.
Under its former owner, Russian Jewish oligarch Roman Abramovich, the club increased its antisemitism-focused initiatives, partnering with the Anti-Defamation League in 2021 and painting a commemorative mural of Jewish soccer players who were sent to Auschwitz outside of its Stamford Bridge stadium. The team has also sent fans caught engaging in antisemitic behavior to education tours at the Auschwitz memorial and museum.
Abramovich, who has been sanctioned by the European Union over what it called his close ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin, sold the team last year.
“As a life-long Chelsea fan, I have been impressed and proud of the work the club has done to combat antisemitism and discrimination,” said Stephen Nelken, founder of the club’s new Jewish supporters group. “The intention in founding this group is to celebrate Jewish identity, support the excellent work the club is doing and encourage like-minded fans to come together to support Chelsea.”
Lord John Mann, the United Kingdom’s antisemitism envoy, applauded Chelsea’s decision and urged other football clubs to follow suit.
“I am so pleased to see the creation of Chelsea FC’s first Jewish Supporters Group,” Mann said, according to the club’s announcement. “The group will provide a brilliant opportunity for Jewish fans to celebrate their culture whilst enjoying the sport they love. Chelsea have been pioneering in their efforts and dedication to eradicating antisemitism from football and society, and the creation of this group is another example of that.”
The group will hold its first event on Dec. 11, during Hanukkah.
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The post England’s storied Chelsea soccer team launches Jewish fan group appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Iran Currency Plunges to Record Lows Amid Escalating US Tensions
ILLUSTRATIVE: The Iranian flag waves in front of the IAEA headquarters before the beginning of a board of governors meeting, in Vienna, Austria, March 1, 2021. Photo: Reuters/Lisi Niesner
Iran’s currency fell on Saturday to a new all-time low against the US dollar after the country’s supreme leader rejected talks with the United States and President Donald Trump moved to restore his “maximum pressure” campaign on Tehran.
The rial plunged to 892,500 to the dollar on the unofficial market on Saturday, compared with 869,500 rials on Friday, according to the foreign exchange website alanchand.com. The bazar360.com website said the dollar was sold for 883,100 rials. Asr-e-no website reported the dollar trading at 891,000 rials.
Facing an official inflation rate of about 35%, Iranians seeking safe havens for their savings have been buying dollars, other hard currencies, gold or cryptocurrencies, suggesting further headwinds for the rial.
The dollar has been gaining against the rial since trading around 690,000 rials at the time of Trump’s re-election in November amid concerns that Trump would re-impose his “maximum pressure” policy against Iran with tougher sanctions and empower Israel to strike Iranian nuclear sites.
Trump in 2018 withdrew from a nuclear deal struck by his predecessor Barack Obama in 2015 and re-imposed U.S. economic sanctions on Iran that had been relaxed. The deal had limited Iran’s ability to enrich uranium, a process that can yield fissile material for nuclear weapons.
Iran’s rial has lost more than 90% of its value since the sanctions were reimposed in 2018.
The post Iran Currency Plunges to Record Lows Amid Escalating US Tensions first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Envoy’s ‘Zionist’ Ring Sends Shockwaves on Social Media
Lebanon’s army chief Joseph Aoun walks after being elected as the country’s president at the parliament building in Beirut, Lebanon, Jan. 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
i24 News – A photo showing US President Donald Trump’s deputy Middle East envoy donning a ring embellished with the Star of David to a meeting with Lebanon’s leader triggered outrage in Arabic social and broadcast media.
As Morgan Ortagus, who is Jewish, shook hands with Lebanese President Joseph Aoun, her Star of David ring was visible in the frame, sparking accusations such as her being “more Zionist than her predecessors.”
Her direct superior, Mideast envoy Steve Witkoff, is likewise Jewish-American, as is his predecessor Amos Hochstein, who was born in Jerusalem and served in the Israel Defense Forces.
Ortagus is the first senior Trump admin official to visit Lebanon amid the fragile ceasefire agreed by Israel and the Lebanon-based Shiite jihadists of Hezbollah.
The post US Envoy’s ‘Zionist’ Ring Sends Shockwaves on Social Media first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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UK: Pro-Palestinian Activists Applied for a March Permit on Oct 7 as Massacre Was Ongoing
Supporters of Hizb ut-Tahrir at a pro-Hamas rally in London. Photo: Reuters/Martin Pope
i24 News – Anti-Israeli activists in Britain applied for a permit to stage a demonstration through London on the morning of October 7, 2023, as Gazan jihadists were rampaging through southern Israel and slaughtering civilians, the Daily Telegraph reported.
At 12:50 PM, as the deadliest massacre of Jews since the Holocaust was still ongoing, the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) notified the Metropolitan Police that they intended to hold a rally the following week.
Reports and videos of the Hamas-led onslaught began appearing on social media, and Israeli and then international broadcast media, several hours earlier.
“The Met was contacted on Saturday Oct 7 at approximately 12.50pm via telephone call and informed of the intention to protest,” a police spokesman was quoted by the Telegraph as saying. “The Met committed this to our systems on the same day and are satisfied being contacted by telephone was a sufficient means in which to notify the MPS as the event was taking place seven days after notification.”
The group’s spokesperson defended the move, telling the Telegraph it was “clear” as early as Saturday noon that “the Israeli attacks on Gaza would be of an indiscriminate violence we had not witnessed before, and that 2.3 million people in Gaza – more than 50 percent of them children – were at severe risk.”
The post UK: Pro-Palestinian Activists Applied for a March Permit on Oct 7 as Massacre Was Ongoing first appeared on Algemeiner.com.