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Michigan State University says it is ‘deeply sorry’ for showing Hitler on screen at football game
(JTA) — Michigan State University apologized after an image of Adolf Hitler was displayed on the school’s video board at its football game against the University of Michigan on Saturday.
The photo was shown during a pregame trivia quiz at Spartan Stadium that came from the YouTube page The Quiz Channel. The question asked where Hitler was born.
The incident comes at a time of heightened fear and tension in the American Jewish community, which is reeling from the violence in Israel and the shocking murder of a Jewish community leader in Detroit on Saturday.
“I am deeply sorry for the offensive image we displayed on the Spartan Stadium video boards Saturday night,” the university’s athletic director Alan Haller said in a statement on Sunday. “I apologize for the pain it has caused our community. Ultimately, it is my responsibility to make sure all those who interact with Spartan Athletics feel safe, valued and respected. The image was harmful to our communities, especially our Jewish community which is currently experiencing a rise in antisemitism, including acts of violence.”
Haller said an employee was suspended with pay while the department investigates the incident, and added that his staff did not fully review the video before it was shown on Saturday, “exposing a failure in our process.”
Michigan State spokesman Matt Larson told the Associated Press that “MSU will not be using the third-party source going forward and will implement stronger screening and approval procedures for all videoboard content in the future.”
After Michigan State’s use of the image circulated online, the owner of the YouTube page responded in a comment on the original video, saying that the school did not seek permission for its use.
“To be clear, I was unaware Michigan State University is using my content for stadium entertainment and this was unsolicited and unauthorised use,” Floris van Pallandt wrote. “A random history trivia question in an inappropriate setting.”
The university’s interim president, Teresa Woodruff, also apologized Sunday.
“I am deeply sorry for the image displayed at Spartan Stadium, which made many of our community feel alienated and unsafe,” she said, according to the AP. “It was unacceptable. I asked last evening for a full review of this university event and will take all necessary steps to align our messages and actions to our values.”
Haller added that he would reach out to local Jewish community groups so they can “hear directly from me regarding our failed responsibilities as well as our promise to do better.” He denounced antisemitism and said it was important that he work to re-earn the community’s trust.
Matthew Berry, a Jewish NBC Sports analyst with a wide social media following, was one of many to react to the incident over the weekend.
“In a world where Jewish people are being killed and tortured every single day Michigan State puts a picture of Hitler on its massive scoreboard as a wacky trivia answer like he’s a movie star or something. Unbelievable,” Berry wrote to his 1.1 million followers on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.
In a later post, Berry also noted that the employee allegedly behind the video was suspended with pay. “In almost any other job, posting a photo of Hitler in a lighthearted way would get you immediately fired. At Michigan State you get a paid vacation. Unreal,” Berry wrote.
Michigan State lost the game 49-0.
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The post Michigan State University says it is ‘deeply sorry’ for showing Hitler on screen at football game appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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UAE Locates Body of Missing Chabad Emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan
Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan. Photo: @Chabad/X.
JNS.org – The body of Chabad emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan, who went missing in the United Arab Emirates on Nov. 21, has been located by UAE intelligence and security services, the Israeli Prime Minister’s Office and Foreign ministry said in a joint announcement on Sunday morning.
“Israel’s mission in Abu Dhabi has been in contact with the family from the beginning of the incident and continues to support them during this difficult time. His family in Israel has also been informed,” the statement read.
“The murder of Tzvi Kogan, of blessed memory, is a heinous act of antisemitic terrorism. The State of Israel will utilize all available means to bring the perpetrators to justice,” it continued.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said in response to the announcement that, “I mourn with sorrow and outrage the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan,” adding, “This vile antisemitic attack is a reminder of the inhumanity of the enemies of the Jewish people.”
The murder “will not deter us from continuing to grow flourishing communities in the UAE or anywhere—especially with the help of the dedicated commitment and work of the Chabad emissaries all over the world,” the statement continued.
Herzog thanked UAE authorities for their swift action on the case, and expressed his confidence that they would bring the murderers to justice.
“Our thoughts and condolences are with Rabbi Kogan’s wife and family. May his memory be a blessing,” the statement concluded.
Chabad said in response to the news that, “With great pain we share that Rabbi Zvi Kogan, Chabad-Lubavitch emissary to Abu Dhabi, UAE, was murdered by terrorists after being abducted on Thursday.”
The PMO said on Saturday evening that the Mossad was investigating the incident and reminded Israelis that the National Security Council (NSC) advisory for the Arab Gulf state was level 3, a moderate travel warning “with a recommendation to avoid any non-essential travel to the country, and for those who are in the country–take extra precautions.”
Kogan stopped communicating with his family on Nov. 20. He reportedly failed to arrive at meetings previously scheduled on that day, and his wife contacted the Chabad security officer, who notified authorities about his disappearance. He reportedly went missing from a location about an hour and a half from Dubai.
He was an emissary for the Abu Dhabi Chabad branch and ran a kosher supermarket in the UAE.
Chabad is one of the largest religious Jewish organizations in the world, with branches in scores of countries.
According to Channel 12, Kogan is believed to have been kidnapped and murdered by an Uzbek cell operating on behalf of Iran. His body was discovered in Al-Ain, an inland oasis city on the eastern border with Oman. The authorities found signs of violence on the body, and there were also indications of a struggle in Kogan’s car.
Kogan was found in his car in Al-Ain, with his phone turned off. Initial investigations revealed that three Uzbeks followed him after he left the supermarket, and they are suspected of being responsible for his murder. The use of Uzbek militants by Iran is a known tactic.
Israeli authorities are aware that the Uzbeks traveled to Turkey, and Israeli security agencies are coordinating with Turkish officials to uncover the truth. A delegation from Israel has been sent to the UAE to oversee the investigation.
An Israeli who lives in Abu Dhabi and is acquainted with Kogan told Ynet that the rabbi “is a nice guy who is very active in the community. His family is ruined, and the Israeli and Jewish community is appalled. Kogan was the assistant of Chabad’s chief rabbi in the Emirates, and formed and managed the kosher supermarket of the community.”
Kogan married two years ago, and his wife is the niece of Gabi Holtzberg, a Chabad emissary who was murdered in Mumbai in 2008.
Relations between Israel and the UAE were normalized in the fall of 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords. Despite criticisms from Abu Dhabi of Jerusalem’s conduct during its ongoing war against Iranian-backed terrorist groups, a senior Emirati official said late last month that normalization was not at risk.
The post UAE Locates Body of Missing Chabad Emissary Rabbi Zvi Kogan first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Benjamin Netanyahu was burned in effigy on the streets of Montreal during a Friday night riot
Justin Trudeau condemned for subsequently attending a Taylor Swift concert in Toronto.
The post Benjamin Netanyahu was burned in effigy on the streets of Montreal during a Friday night riot appeared first on The Canadian Jewish News.
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Report: IDF targets Hezbollah chief in Beirut
Illustrative. Smoke billows over Beirut’s southern suburbs after an Israeli strike, amid the ongoing hostilities between Hezbollah and Israeli forces, as seen from Hadath, Lebanon October 19, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Mohamed Azakir
JNS.org – A massive explosion in a building in Beirut on Saturday killed 11 people and wounded dozens in what Arab media said was a failed Israeli attempt to kill Hezbollah’s head of operations, Muhammad Haydar.
Israel did not immediately claim responsibility specifically for the explosion early on Saturday in the eight-story building in the Lebanese capital’s Basta neighborhood. The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit said only that Israel struck an unspecified target in Beirut, the fourth strike in the city in a week.
Basta is situated in the city’s center. The bulk of Israel’s strikes in Beirut have been in the Dahiyeh neighborhood, a Hezbollah stronghold in the city’s south.
Lebanese media reported that at least 63 people were wounded in the strike.
Avihai Edraei, the head of the Arabic-language department of the IDF Spokesperson’s Unit, posted a tweet on X on Saturday calling on residents of Dahiyeh to evacuate their homes. They are living near Hezbollah installations, he said, against which “the IDF will act in the near future.”
The targets of Saturday’s strikes “were located by Hezbollah in the heart of the civilian population. Prior to the attack, many steps were taken to reduce the chance of harming civilians,” the IDF wrote in a statement. A headquarters, a weapons depot, “and additional Hezbollah terror infrastructures” were attacked, the statement said.
According to Israel’s Institute for National Security Studies, Israel has killed 2,450 terrorists in Lebanon and Syria. Lebanese health authorities said that 3,365 people have died in strikes by Israel. Those data do not distinguish between terrorists and civilians. On the Israeli side, terrorists have killed 121 people, with 76 of them being soldiers.
The post Report: IDF targets Hezbollah chief in Beirut first appeared on Algemeiner.com.