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Orthodox NBA prospect Ryan Turell returns to New York for a game on Purim
(New York Jewish Week) — The Jewish month of Adar has, in recent years, been a time of excitement for fans of Yeshiva University’s basketball team, when its supporters fill the bleachers and sing a traditional Jewish song at the tops of their lungs.
In addition to being the month of Purim, the Jewish festival that concluded yesterday, Adar usually coincides with March and the NCAA basketball tournament. And until this past year, Y.U. fans enjoyed an added treat for what they called “Adar Madness”: Watching their standout small forward, Ryan Turell, dominate the court.
This year, Turell, 24, is out of college and playing professionally, and on Tuesday, his New York-area fans once again had an opportunity to watch him play during Adar — though relatively few Orthodox Jewish fans made it to the game.
Instead of starting for the Yeshiva Maccabees at their athletic complex in Washington Heights, Turell is a reserve player for the Motor City Cruise, a Detroit team in the NBA’s minor league, the G League. The Cruise, who sit in the bottom half of their conference, faced the powerhouse Long Island Nets at a stadium in Uniondale, New York.
Ryan Turell played 16 minutes of the game on Tuesday, where his kippah could be seen on the court at all times. (Jacob Henry)
The stands at the 11 a.m. game were filled with screaming kids, but the 5,000 or so attendees were mostly not wearing kippahs. Speaking to the New York Jewish Week after Turell’s first game in Uniondale about a month ago, his father had hoped that there would be a sizeable Jewish turnout and said the timing of the Purim game showed that “Hashem was looking down upon this situation.”
Instead, the seats were largely populated by local students who arrived on dozens of school buses for the Long Island Nets’ “Education Day.” During a break in the game, the spectators answered a few trivia questions from the loudspeaker in the style of “Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?”
Turell did draw his share of fans, including a gaggle of about a dozen friends and family who sat courtside. “My friends and family, and the Jewish community as a whole, have been amazing,” he told the New York Jewish Week.
Turell played 16 minutes, mostly in the second half, ending with four points, three rebounds, one assist and one steal. The score was tight between the two teams for most of the game, with the Cruise trailing by three at the half, but the Nets pulled away in the fourth quarter, winning the game 114 to 102.
“It’s nerve-racking because you want Ryan to do great,” said Turell’s father, Brad. “I think he’s proven that he can play at this level, and he’ll do even better next year, with more playing time and more experience.”
The fans who traveled to Uniondale also included Turell’s former Y.U. coach, Elliot Steinmetz, who said that “it’s awesome” watching Turell play in an NBA G League jersey.
“He increased his game dramatically,” Steinmetz said. “It was really on his own. We’re getting to see it at the next level.”
Ben Hamer, one of Turell’s friends from Valley Torah High School in Los Angeles, told the New York Jewish Week that “it’s definitely a good feeling to see someone who put in so much effort as a kid.”
“He still has a way to go, but to see the milestones every year is very cool from the perspective of someone who’s been there from the beginning,” Hamer said.
Ryan Turell is getting rebounds and taking shots on Purim at the Nassau Coliseum on Long Island. pic.twitter.com/uzWLrVKbmk
— Jacob Henry (@jhenrynews) March 7, 2023
One kippah that remained prominently visible throughout the game was Turell’s red one, pinned onto his shaggy curls. Turell’s father sees the head covering as a statement and a source of pride.
“He’s willing to wear a yarmulke and say: ‘I’m proudly Jewish,’” Brad Turell said. “Here’s a kid who doesn’t have to do this. There’s a lot of antisemitism and a lot of bad things going on, but he’s inspiring a lot of people. The symbol is the kippah and that makes a huge difference.”
Turell said wearing his kippah also makes the game more meaningful for him.
“It’s amazing to be able to inspire people through the game that I love, and show people it doesn’t matter where you come from,” Turell said. “What you believe in, you can succeed, as long as you put in the work.”
After the game, he said, he was headed to a Purim celebration — but not before taking some time to sign autographs for the handful of admirers who came out to see him.
“New York is his second home,” said Brad Turell, who is from Los Angeles. “It’s always wonderful to come back.”
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The post Orthodox NBA prospect Ryan Turell returns to New York for a game on Purim appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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3 more men arrested in London arson of ambulances owned by Jewish emergency service
(JTA) — Three more men have been arrested in London in connection with a series of fires on ambulances owned by the Jewish emergency service corps Hatzola, London’s Metropolitan Police Service announced on Wednesday.
Two British men, ages 20 and 19, and a 17-year-old dual British and Pakistani citizen were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit arson. The men were arrested at three different addresses, which were being searched, the police said.
The arrests follow the arrest last week of two British men, ages 45 and 47, in connection with the arson. Those two suspects were released on bail and are being closely monitored while they await a hearing, police said, and their identities have not been made public.
The ambulance arson, which occurred in London’s Jewish neighborhood of Golders Green, is being treated by law enforcement as an antisemitic crime, but authorities have not labeled it as terrorism even as the Metropolitan Police’s counter-terrorism unit is leading the investigation.
“Since this appalling attack last week, we have been working continuously to investigate and identify those responsible,” the unit’s commander, Helen Flanagan, said in a statement. “We know concern among the Jewish community remains high, but I hope these arrests show that we are doing everything we can to bring those responsible to justice.”
A group called Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya, or the Islamic Movement of the People of the Right Hand, has claimed responsibility for the attack.
French authorities announced Wednesday they suspect that the same group is also behind an attempted bomb Saturday on a Bank of America building in Paris. The group has has claimed responsibility for a number of attacks throughout Europe in recent weeks, all of them up to now on Jewish institutions. Security analysts know little about the group, which was unheard of until early March, but say it may be tied to pro-Iranian cells based in Europe.
The London ambulance arson has given rise to a new set of antisemitic conspiracy theories. On Monday, the mayor of Bath, England, resigned from his position after drawing criticism for sharing social media posts amplifying claims that the ambulance fires were a “false flag” attack staged by Jews or Israelis.
Police in London said they would deploy drones to monitor security in Jewish neighborhoods during the Passover holiday, with concerns about additional attacks running high.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post 3 more men arrested in London arson of ambulances owned by Jewish emergency service appeared first on The Forward.
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Influencer Myron Gaines performs Nazi salute, denies Holocaust death toll at Ohio University event
(JTA) — The influencer Myron Gaines visited Ohio University last Thursday as part of a national campus tour, performing a Nazi salute and claiming that the Holocaust’s death toll had been purposefully distorted.
Seated at a table on the campus of Ohio University wearing a hoodie that read “Let Em Cook – Oy Vey,” a meme mocking Jews who were murdered in the Holocaust, Gaines greeted the students gathered with a Nazi salute before saying, “Number one, women are stupid, Jews control America and Blacks are criminals.”
Later during the event, Gaines, whose real name is Amrou Fudl, was asked by a Jewish attendee how many people he believed had been killed by the Holocaust, to which he replied “271,000 at best.”
During the ensuing debate, Gaines attempted to cut off the student, saying “hold on one sec, Jew,” claimed that Israel had propagated lies about the Holocaust’s death toll to serve its “victim narrative” and denied evidence that rape occurred during Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, attack on Israel.
Referring to the war in Gaza, Gaines said, “If they could deny a genocide in 2023 all the way to 2026 with 1080p footage, what makes you think they won’t lie about a tragic event from World War II, from which they derive their victim narrative.”
Gaines’ visit to the school follows a series of incendiary campus appearances, including at the University of Florida and the University of South Carolina.
Best known for co-hosting the popular podcast “Fresh and Fit,” which centers on misogynistic views about dating and gender roles, Gaines has increasingly embraced antisemitic conspiracy theories since the summer of 2023, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.
In October, Gaines defended a leaked group chat where Young Republicans operatives praised Adolf Hitler, writing on social media, “Yeah we like Hitler. No one gives a f–k what you woke jews think anymore.” In January, Gaines was among a host of far-right influencers including Nick Fuentes and Andrew Tate who drew outcry for singing along to Ye’s “Heil Hitler” at a Miami nightclub.
The Hillel chapter of Ohio University decried Gaines’ appearance on campus in a post on Instagram and hosted a lunch during the time period that he was slated to speak to offer students an alternative to his program, according to the Cleveland Jewish News.
“We are deeply troubled by the decision of our fellow Bobcats to invite a podcaster with a long and horrible track record of antisemitic, misogynistic, and homophobic content,” the Ohio University Hillel wrote. “At a time when our students are feeling especially vulnerable due to rising antisemitism, this choice is especially concerning.”
The editorial board of the school’s student newspaper, The Post, criticized the university administration for not releasing a statement denouncing Gaines’ appearance in an op-ed published on Tuesday. Ohio University did not immediately respond to a request for comment from JTA.
“A man who promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories, claims Jewish people control the world — as evident by the shirt reading ‘The Great Noticing’ worn by one of Gaines’ lackeys — and performs a Nazi salute on a college campus is not engaging in meaningful dialogue,” the op-ed read. “That is not a thoughtful debate, it is hate made into spectacle.”
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
The post Influencer Myron Gaines performs Nazi salute, denies Holocaust death toll at Ohio University event appeared first on The Forward.
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Iran Promises ‘Crushing’ Attacks Against the US and Israel
Symbolic mock-ups of Iranian missiles are displayed on a street, amid the U.S.-Israeli conflict with Iran, in Tehran, Iran, March 22, 2026. Photo: Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS
i24 News – Iran has issued a stark warning of “crushing” retaliatory attacks against the United States and Israel following threats from US President Donald Trump to escalate military operations in the coming weeks.
In a statement aired on Iranian state television, the Khatam al-Anbiya operational command said, “this war will continue until your humiliation, your disgrace, your permanent and certain regret, and your surrender,” framing the conflict as a long-term confrontation and invoking “trust in Almighty God.”
Iranian officials further warned that future operations would be “more crushing, broader, and more destructive,” signaling the potential expansion of the conflict across multiple fronts amid ongoing missile and drone exchanges in the region.
The escalation comes after Trump publicly suggested intensifying strikes on Iran, saying operations would continue until “the job is finished” and claiming significant military gains against Iranian strategic capabilities. As tensions rise, both sides appear to be hardening their positions, increasing fears of a wider regional confrontation.