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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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Treasure Trove: How a Polish-Jewish artist told Canadians about the horrors of Nazi Germany and produced beautiful illustrations
Arthur Szyk (1894-1951) was a Polish-Jewish artist whose work reflected the historic times he lived: the two world wars, the rise of totalitarianism in Europe and the birth of the State of Israel. In 1940, with the support of the British government and the Polish government-in-exile, he visited Canada to popularize the struggle against Nazism. […]
The post Treasure Trove: How a Polish-Jewish artist told Canadians about the horrors of Nazi Germany and produced beautiful illustrations appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Biden hits Fundraising Trail in Show of Strength after Dismal Debate Performance
FILE PHOTO: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks during a campaign rally in Raleigh, North Carolina, U.S., June 28, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz/File Photo
President Joe Biden embarks on a series of fundraising events across two states on Saturday as he works to stamp out a crisis of confidence in his re-election campaign following a feeble debate performance that dismayed his fellow Democrats.
Biden and First Lady Jill Biden will visit the upscale New York beach enclave known as the Hamptons for a campaign fundraiser hosted by hedge-fund billionaire Barry Rosentein. Later in the day, he will travel to New Jersey for a fundraiser hosted by wealthy New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, a Democrat.
Fellow hedge-fund founder Eric Mindich and his Tony Award-winning producer wife Stacey, celebrity couple Sarah Jessica Parker and Matthew Broderick, and actor Michael J. Fox are all listed as members of the host committee at the New York event, according to an invitation seen by Reuters.
Biden told a rally in North Carolina on Friday he intended to defeat Republican rival Donald Trump in the November presidential election, giving no sign he would heed calls from Democrats who want him to drop out of the race.
Biden‘s verbal stumbles and occasionally meandering responses during Thursday night’s debate heightened voter concerns that the 81-year-old might not be fit to serve another four-year term.
The Biden campaign on Saturday boasted it had raised more than $27 million between debate day through Friday evening, but questions remain about whether the debate performance will hurt fundraising, at least in the short term.
The post Biden hits Fundraising Trail in Show of Strength after Dismal Debate Performance first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Arab League Rescinds the Classification of Hezbollah as a Terrorist Group
Mourners carry a coffin during the funeral of Wissam Tawil, a commander of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan forces who according to Lebanese security sources was killed during an Israeli strike on south Lebanon, in Khirbet Selm, Lebanon, Jan. 9, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Aziz Taher
i24 News – The Arab League no longer defines Hezbollah as a proscribed terrorist group, an official said on Saturday.
Hezbollah, a Lebanon-based Shiite militia and a proxy of the Islamic regime in Iran, boasts the world’s largest rocket arsenal of any non-state actor. It is animated by the antisemitic ideology of jihad and is committed to the destruction of Israel.
“In earlier Arab League decisions, Hezbollah was designated as a terrorist organization, and this designation was reflected in the resolutions,” Hossam Zaki, the assistant secretary-general of the Arab League, was quoted in Arab media as saying.
“The League’s member states concurred that the labeling of Hezbollah as a terrorist organization should no longer be employed,” Zaki said, adding that the regional body “does not maintain terrorist lists and does not actively seek to designate entities in such a manner.”
Hezbollah has unleashed numerous rockets, mortars and drones on northern Israel in the past eight months starting on October 8, a day after the Jewish state suffered the worst antisemitic massacre since the Holocaust at the hands of the Palestinian jihadists of Hamas.
The post Arab League Rescinds the Classification of Hezbollah as a Terrorist Group first appeared on Algemeiner.com.