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German football team joins San Diego Jewish school in commemorating children murdered in the Holocaust
(JTA) — The German football team Borussia Dortmund joined students at the San Diego Jewish Academy on Friday to participate in a project to commemorate children who were killed in the Holocaust.
The club, which plays in the Bundesliga, Germany’s top tier of professional soccer, is in the United States for a series of exhibition matches against other teams from the United States and England. According to a press release from the World Jewish Congress, Dortmund had been training at the San Diego Jewish Academy over the past week.
On Friday, the club’s manager and four of its players, alongside students from the school, participated in The Butterfly Project, a Holocaust education organization that offers programs where participants paint ceramic butterflies to honor the 1.5 million children who were killed during the Holocaust.
The group painted butterflies for victims who had lived in Westphalia, the region of Germany where Dortmund is based. The organization provided biographies of the children that were being memorialized.
Founded at the San Diego school in 2006, the organization has facilitated the decoration of 350,000 butterflies that are displayed throughout the world “as symbols of resilience and hope,” according to the group’s website.
“When the players take their butterflies, they carry the message,” Cheryl Rattner Price, founder of The Butterfly Project, said at the event. “It is a message for peace. They help us amplify our message.”
The Dortmund club has previously been involved in efforts to combat antisemitism, most notably by hosting a conference last year titled “Antisemitism and Professional Football: Challenges, Opportunities, Network.” Organized by the Central Council of Jews in Germany, the World Jewish Congress and the Deutsche Fussball Liga (German Soccer League), the daylong gathering centered on strategies to curb antisemitism in German soccer.
“The World Jewish Congress is proud to work together with Borussia Dortmund to find new ways to elevate the voice of the Jewish community and ensure that our shared history will be used to build stronger future generations,” said Cory Weiss, WJC executive director of communications strategy, according to the release.
Leopoldo Kahn, a former leader of Peru’s Jewish community, spoke at the gathering and shared his family history, according to the release. Kahn’s grandfather was Paul Hirsch, a Jewish politician who served as mayor of Dortmund in the 1920s, after a stint as the prime minister of Prussia.
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The post German football team joins San Diego Jewish school in commemorating children murdered in the Holocaust appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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PA Security Forces End Standoff with Jenin Battalion, Enter West Bank Camp
Illustrative. Palestinian demonstrators call for an end to clashes between Palestinian security forces and terrorists in Jenin, in the West Bank, Dec. 16, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Raneen Sawafta
i24 News – The Palestinian Authority on Friday reached an agreement with the jihadists of the Jenin Battalion, ending a six-week standoff in the northern West Bank terror hotbed.
The Jenin Battalion is a local jihadist militia affiliated with Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.
The PA’s engineering and civil defense crews will begin dismantling explosives planted across Jenin, Palestinian media reported.
A Palestinian security source told i24NEWS that not a single weapon has been handed over by the Jenin Battalion to PA security forces.
The post PA Security Forces End Standoff with Jenin Battalion, Enter West Bank Camp first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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With Hamas Yet to Name 3 First Hostages to Be Released, Netanyahu Slams Violation of Agreement
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a news conference in Jerusalem, Sept. 2, 2024. Photo: Ohad Zwigenberg/Pool via REUTERS
i24 News – Hamas violated the terms of its agreement with Israel even before the ceasefire went into effect, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pointed out on Saturday.
The jihadist group failed to submit to Israel the names of the three hostages slated to be freed on Sunday, in contravention to the terms of the ceasefire stipulating that this information be communicated 24 hours in advance.
“We will not move forward with the outline until we receive the list of hostages to be released, as agreed. Israel will not tolerate violations of the agreement,” Netanyahu said some three hours after the names should have been submitted. “The sole responsibility lies with Hamas.”
The post With Hamas Yet to Name 3 First Hostages to Be Released, Netanyahu Slams Violation of Agreement first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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US Slaps Sanctions on Yemeni Bank with Ties to Houthis
Houthi leader Abdul-Malik al-Houthi addresses followers via a video link at the al-Shaab Mosque, formerly al-Saleh Mosque, in Sanaa, Yemen, Feb. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Khaled Abdullah
i24 News – The US on Friday imposed sanctions on a Yemen-based financial institution that Washington accused of financially supporting the Houthis, as President Joe Biden’s administration sought to further pressure the Iran-backed jihadists before Biden leaves office.
The US Treasury Department said it imposed sanctions on Yemen Kuwait Bank, accusing it of helping the Houthis exploit the Yemeni banking sector to launder money and transfer funds to allies, including fellow Iranian proxy Hezbollah.
In addition to numerous attacks on Israel’s civilian centers since November 2023, the Houthis have carried out more than 100 attacks on ships, sinking two vessels, seizing another and killing at least four seafarers. The intensity of the attacks has disrupted global shipping and prompted route changes.
The attacks have disrupted international commerce, forcing some ships to take the long route around southern Africa rather than the Suez Canal, leading to increases in insurance rates, delivery costs and time that stoked global inflation fears.
The Houthis, a fundamentally antisemitic jihadist group, seized power in Yemen in late 2014 and control most parts of the country including the capital Sanaa.
The post US Slaps Sanctions on Yemeni Bank with Ties to Houthis first appeared on Algemeiner.com.