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Jewish Red Bulls star Daniel Edelman could be the next face of US men’s soccer

(New York Jewish Week) — New York Red Bulls midfielder Daniel Edelman is something of a hero to American soccer fans — and Jewish soccer fans, in particular.

The 20-year-old rising star, who is Jewish, won his Major League Soccer team’s Newcomer of the Year award last year, and, as captain of the under-20 U.S. Men’s National Team, he helped lead the team to the quarterfinals at the U-20 World Cup in Argentina in May.

But what might cement this heroic image is a giveaway from last Saturday’s home game: a Daniel Edelman bobblehead, in honor of Marvel Night at Red Bull Arena. Inspired by “Guardians of the Galaxy” superhero Star-Lord, it’s a pretty impressive accomplishment for someone so early in his career.

“It’s really exciting,” Edelman told the New York Jewish Week via telephone as he was en route to practice on Friday morning. “It’s my second season with the team, and to have a bobblehead made of me is pretty cool. This is a team I grew up looking up to, admiring all the players.”

In Saturday’s game, the New York Red Bulls beat the New England Revolution 2-1, and Edelman — who was one of the New York Jewish Week’s “36 to Watch” honorees for 2023 — boasted the most completed passes of the match. The team is now 10th place in the MLS’ Eastern Conference.

Edelman insists that he was selected for a Marvel Night-themed bobblehead because his affinity for comics is well-known among his team — not because he possesses any superhero-like powers. “I’m a big Marvel guy,” Edelman said. “I love all the ‘Avengers’ movies I’ve seen. Captain America is one of my favorite heroes.”

And yet: “I would like to think I could also be a hero of the team, one of the heroes,” he said when pressed. “Being one of the young players of the team, hopefully can inspire young academy kids, younger generations of players.”

Daniel Edelman holds his bobblehead that was inspired by a “Guardians of the Galaxy” character. (Courtesy of New York Red Bulls/Design by Mollie Suss)

It wasn’t that long ago that Edelman was one of those kids. Growing up in Warren Township, New Jersey — where he still lives with his family today — he was bitten by the soccer bug at a very young age. “Soccer’s been everything for me,” he said. “Walking around the house, there’s always been ball at my feet — literally, dribbling through the kitchen while my mom is making food, bothering my dad if he’s doing work around the house. It’s always been a passion of mine; I love the game so much.”

When he was about 6 or 7 years old, Edelman began playing for a travel team, Watchung Hills, where his father, Ari Edelman, a sports public relations executive who played soccer for Loyola Maryland, was head coach. (His mother, Patty Stoffey Edelman, is an athlete too: She was Maryland’s all-time leading scorer in NCAA Division I women’s basketball.)

But soccer wasn’t the only religion in the household: Edelman grew up celebrating Jewish holidays with his dad’s side of the family. His favorite holiday is Hanukkah.

“That’s probably when I get to see family the most,” he said. “We get to all be together and eat good food, enjoy a good time and give gifts to each other.”

Edelman said his grandmother typically makes latkes, and it’s a family tradition to get Sloppy Joe sandwiches from a deli.

When asked if there was a particular Jewish food he enjoys, Edelman’s answer was a surprising one: “I love gefilte fish,” he said.

He said he draws inspiration, on and off the field, from his late great-grandfather, Benjamin Guyer, a Holocaust survivor. As the family lore goes, he made a daring escape from a cattle car while en route to a Nazi camp. “It’s inspiring that he didn’t give up, he kept fighting and he was able to make it out,” Edelman said.

When he graduated high school, Edelman was set to attend the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. But when the opportunity to play professionally for the Red Bulls came up, Edelman seized it. “I trusted myself and my abilities — this is the path I want to go [on]. I’ve always wanted to become a pro,” Edelman said, adding: “It was still something that had to be discussed with my parents.”

Said parents supported Edelman’s decision, but there was some compromise: They insisted that he at least enroll in some classes at University of South Carolina, which has a partnership with the MLS. “My dad definitely wanted me to still pursue an education, find a way to still be working toward a degree while I’m playing,” he said.

“Of course, I just want to focus on my career right now,” added Edelman, who has taken two English courses so far. “But I really see how it’ll be super important to have something when I’m done playing.”

He’s nowhere close to being “done” yet. After an impressive showing at the U-20 World Cup — and with the 2024 Olympics on the horizon — rumors are circulating that several soccer clubs abroad, including Maccabi Tel Aviv, are interested in the young midfielder.

Edelman, right, was a New York Red Bulls fan before he became a rising star on the team. (Courtesy Daniel Edelman)

“It’s cool to hear about that and soak it in,” said Edelman, who is a fan of Israeli soccer and is impressed by the “top quality” players there. “But my full focus is still with the New York Red Bulls and finishing out the year here.”

A Liverpool FC fan, Edelman hopes to one day play for a European team. “I think everyone my age, and everyone at the U-20 World Cup, wants to play in Europe someday,” he said. “That’s something that I’m going to look forward to in the future.”

For now, Edelman’s reveling in the opportunity to help elevate American soccer, and he’s proud of being one of the very few — and possibly only — Jewish player in the MLS. “It’s pretty cool to think about,” he said. “There’s been some fans who have come up to me and say ‘Oh, it’s great to have someone Jewish on the field, see them playing.’ It’s not that common, to be honest.”

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The post Jewish Red Bulls star Daniel Edelman could be the next face of US men’s soccer appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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The BBC Documentary That Paints Every Israeli as an Extremist

The Jewish community of Beit El in Judea and Samaria. Photo: Yaakov via Wikimedia Commons.

Louis Theroux first visited the West Bank in 2011 to film a documentary titled Louis and the Ultra-Zionists, part of his long-running series for the BBC. Back then, he at least seemed to possess a trace of journalistic curiosity. Even the title signaled a degree of editorial caution — framing his subjects as a small, ideological fringe rather than representative of Israeli society as a whole.

At the time, Theroux made an effort to clarify that he was profiling a narrow segment of Israelis. He showed legally purchased Jewish homes (sold by Arab landowners, no less) and acknowledged the regular — and at times deadly — terror attacks faced by Israeli civilians living in the area, often requiring military protection. There was condescension, certainly. But there was also context.

Fast-forward to 2024, and the curiosity is gone — though the bemused, slightly smug expression remains. His new BBC documentary, Louis and the Settlers, drops even the soft qualifiers. No “ultra.” No nuance. Just “settlers.” And with that, Theroux makes it clear: half a million Israelis living in the West Bank are one and the same — extremists who, we’re told, want every last Palestinian removed from the land.

This time, the documentary doesn’t begin with questions. It begins with conclusions. And Theroux uses a brief, unrepresentative snapshot of life in the West Bank to draw sweeping indictments of the entire Israeli state.

The message is unmistakable: Israel is the problem. Settlers are the villains. And Palestinians are passive, blameless victims of a colonial project.

Within the opening minutes, Theroux plants his ideological flag. He refers to the West Bank as “Palestinian territory” and describes every Israeli community within it as illegal under international law — a sharp departure from his more qualified approach 14 years earlier.

And while his personal views seep in throughout the film, they become crystal clear during one exchange at a checkpoint, where an Israeli soldier casually refers to their location as “Israel.” Theroux shoots back: “We’re not in Israel, are we?”

And just like that, the BBC and Louis Theroux have redrawn Israel’s borders. No Knesset debate needed.

Erasing History to Blame the Massacre

The timing of this return trip is no accident. The film comes in the shadow of the October 7 Hamas massacres — the day 1,200 Israelis were slaughtered, families were burned alive in their homes, and children were dragged into Gaza. And yet, Theroux barely mentions it.

The few passing references to October 7 serve not to inform the audience — but to imply that Israel may be exploiting its own dead to justify further expansion. It’s not an investigation. It’s an accusation. And it allows him to skip over thousands of years of Jewish history in order to frame the current war in Gaza as a convenient cover story for Israeli “aggression.”

Take Hebron, for example. Theroux tells viewers that “in 1968, the year after [the West Bank] was occupied by Israel, a community of Jewish settlers moved in illegally. They now number some 700.” He fails to mention that in 1895 — decades before the modern state of Israel existed — Hebron had a Jewish population of 1,429.

Jews have lived in Hebron since antiquity — it’s where, according to Jewish tradition, Abraham purchased the Cave of the Patriarchs. Modern records date the community back centuries, despite discrimination under Ottoman rule and bans on Jewish prayer at holy sites. In 1929, Arab rioters carried out a massacre, wiping out Hebron’s Jewish population. Dozens were murdered; the rest were expelled. Under Jordanian rule from 1948 to 1967, Jews were banned from the city entirely. When they returned after the Six-Day War — not as colonists, but as a displaced community coming home — Theroux picks up the story there and calls it “illegal.”

On the Six-Day War itself, Theroux offers no context. No mention of the Arab armies preparing to destroy Israel. No mention of Israel’s preemptive strike against an existential threat.

According to The Settlers, Israel simply “occupied” — full stop.

Palestinian Terrorism? Not Even a Footnote.

Theroux visits Evyatar, a small Jewish community near the Palestinian town of Beita, and uses it as a stand-in for the entire West Bank. Beita is depicted as a symbol of peaceful resistance: a proud, ancient Palestinian village standing firm against violent settlers backed by IDF soldiers.

It’s a neat story. Too neat. Because missing from the story are years of organized, violent riots from Beita — complete with Molotov cocktails, burning Stars of David, and Nazi swastikas. All carefully omitted to preserve the narrative: Palestinians peaceful, settlers aggressive. Facts that don’t fit? Left on the cutting room floor.

Meanwhile, Israeli nationalism is treated as something sinister and unsettling — a moral aberration to be examined. The notion that Jews might want sovereignty or security is met with thinly veiled suspicion. Yet Hamas’ goal of a Jew-free Palestine, explicitly laid out in its charter, is never mentioned. Nor is the Palestinian Authority’s “pay-for-slay” policy, which literally incentivizes terrorism by rewarding those who murder Israelis — including women and children.

These aren’t fringe details. They’re central to understanding the region. And Theroux knows it. He just doesn’t care.

The BBC’s Complicity

That The Settlers aired on the BBC — a publicly funded broadcaster once seen as a gold standard of global journalism — says plenty. Not just about Louis Theroux’s agenda, but about the institutional direction of the BBC itself. This wasn’t a rogue filmmaker sneaking bias past the editors. This was bias built into the foundation — signed off, packaged, and broadcast under the banner of credibility.

There is, of course, no problem with scrutinizing Israeli policy, and no issue with questioning the settlement enterprise or highlighting the tensions in the West Bank. But journalism — real journalism — demands context. It demands precision. It demands at least a passing familiarity with the full scope of the story.

Theroux offers none of that. He arrives with a predetermined script and casts his roles accordingly: Hero. Villain. Victim. Oppressor. And when reality refuses to cooperate? It’s left out.

Louis Theroux didn’t return to Israel to understand it. He returned to flatten it. To reduce its complexity to a morality play — and to ensure everyone knows the antagonist is.

The Settlers isn’t a documentary. It’s a hit piece. And the BBC handed him the camera — then applauded the performance.

The author is a contributor to HonestReporting, a Jerusalem-based media watchdog with a focus on antisemitism and anti-Israel bias — where a version of this article first appeared.

The post The BBC Documentary That Paints Every Israeli as an Extremist first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Indian Army Kills Islamist Terrorist Linked to 2002 Murder of Jewish-American Journalist Daniel Pearl

Jewish-American Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl was kidnapped and murdered by Islamist terrorists in Pakistan in 2002. Photo: Screenshot

The Indian government announced on Thursday that its military forces had killed “Pakistan’s most wanted terrorist,” who was connected to the 2002 murder of Jewish-American Wall Street Journal journalist Daniel Pearl.

On Wednesday, India launched “Operation Sindoor,” which the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) claims is targeted at dismantling “terrorist infrastructure” in Pakistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

The operation came after Pakistani terrorists killed 26 Hindu tourists in Kashmir last month amid escalating tensions between the two countries.

In a post on X, the BJP confirmed that during this week’s operation, the Indian army killed Islamist terrorist Abdul Rauf Azhar, who was involved in numerous terrorism plots, including the 1999 hijacking of an Indian Airlines flight, the 2001 terror attack on the Indian Parliament, and the 2016 Pathankot Air Force base attack.

Azhar’s involvement in the 1999 hijacking led to the release of Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, a British-born al-Qaeda member with close ties to Pakistan’s intelligence services, who later was involved in the kidnapping and subsequent murder of 38-year-old Pearl, who was covering the war on terror as a journalist when he was abducted.

In a statement on X, Pearl’s father, Judea, addressed initial reports regarding Azhar’s death and his connection to his son’s murder.

“I want to clarify: Azhar was a Pakistani extremist and leader of the terrorist organization Jaish-e-Mohammed. While his group was not directly involved in the plot to abduct Danny, it was indirectly responsible. Azhar orchestrated the hijacking that led to the release of Omar Sheikh — the man who lured Danny into captivity,” he said.

In 2002, the Jewish-American journalist was abducted and killed by a group of Islamist terrorists connected to Azhar’s militant network, which had ties to al-Qaeda and Jaish-e-Mohammed, a terror group aiming to separate Kashmir from India and incorporate it into Pakistan.

On Jan. 27, 2002, an email was sent to several Pakistani and US media organizations, which included several photos, stating that Pearl was being held in “inhumane” conditions to protest the US treatment of Taliban and al Qaeda prisoners in Cuba. Photo: Screenshot

Originally stationed in New Delhi as the South Asia bureau chief for The Wall Street Journal, Pearl later moved to Pakistan to investigate terrorism following the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in New York City.

After kidnapping Pearl at a restaurant in Karachi, southern Pakistan, the Islamist terrorists, who identified themselves as the National Movement for the Restoration of Pakistani Sovereignty, accused him of being an Israeli spy and sent the United States a list of demands for his release.

However, Washington did not meet their demands, and Pearl was ultimately executed after being held captive for five weeks.

His wife, Mariane Pearl, gave birth to a baby boy, Adam D. Pearl, in Paris later that year. On the Daniel Pearl Foundation website, she said, “Adam’s birth rekindles the joy, love, and humanity that Danny radiated wherever he went.”

The post Indian Army Kills Islamist Terrorist Linked to 2002 Murder of Jewish-American Journalist Daniel Pearl first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Jewish Jewelry Shop Owners Brutally Assaulted in Tunisia Days Before Annual Pilgrimage

A Jewish jewelry shop owner in Djerba, Tunisia, was brutally attacked by a man wielding a machete. Photo: Screenshot

A Jewish jewelry shop owner in Djerba, Tunisia, was brutally attacked by a man wielding a machete just days before the Tunisian island was set to host its annual Jewish pilgrimage, which is expected to draw thousands of visitors.

On Wednesday morning, two Jewish men — owners of a jewelry shop in the center of the island, located off Tunisia’s southeast coast — were physically assaulted by a man carrying a large knife.

Although the attack was halted when one of them screamed — alerting members of the local Jewish community who subdued the assailant — one of them was left severely injured.

According to local media reports, the attacker had surveyed the island the day before, visiting several stores to identify those owned by Jews. Local police arrested him shortly following the assault.

After the attack, one of the owners was admitted to the hospital with severe injuries. The 50-year-old Jewish man had his fingers severed during the assault and underwent surgery to reattach them.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar condemned the attack and expressed his wishes for a swift recovery to the victims.

“This attack comes two years after the previous deadly assault that claimed Jewish lives and the lives of security personnel during the Lag BaOmer celebration,” the top Israeli diplomat wrote in a post on X.

“I call on the Tunisian authorities to take all necessary measures to protect the Jewish community,” Saar continued.

Djerba is home to the majority of Tunisia’s Jewish community, numbering about 2,000 people, and is also where the renowned El Ghriba Synagogue, one of North Africa’s oldest synagogues, is located.

The attack comes just a week before Jewish pilgrims are expected to arrive on the island for the Lag B’Omer holiday, when thousands gather annually for three days of festivities. The annual pilgrimage to El Ghriba Synagogue, scheduled for May 15 and 16 this year, draws visitors from around the world.

The synagogue has been targeted in multiple terrorist attacks over the years, including in 1985, 2002, and 2023.

Two years ago, a shooting at the synagogue claimed the lives of two Jewish cousins and three police officers. Aviel Hadad, a 30-year-old Israeli goldsmith, and Ben Hadad, a 42-year-old Frenchman who had traveled to join the festivities, were among the victims.

The post Jewish Jewelry Shop Owners Brutally Assaulted in Tunisia Days Before Annual Pilgrimage first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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