Connect with us

Uncategorized

Team Israel exits World Baseball Classic with 5-1 loss to Venezuela

MIAMI (JTA) — They didn’t call it the “Pool of Death” for nothing.

After a 3-1 come-from-behind victory over Nicaragua on Sunday, Israel finished the World Baseball Classic with only one additional run over the next three games. Israel lost 10-0 to both Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, recording only one hit across the two games, both of which were cut short by the WBC mercy rule.

On Wednesday, Israel’s bats came alive in the final game, with nine hits, including three for Noah Mendlinger and two for Michael Wielansky. But Israel lost 5-1 to Venezuela, which swept the fearsome Pool D where Israel played this week.

Israel scored its lone run with a trio of singles by Mendlinger, Wielansky and Jakob Goldfarb in the bottom of the seventh inning.

“It was nice to have a little action out there, and score one run,” Israel manager Ian Kinsler said after the game. “The guys really battled today and put up some tough at-bats, so it was a lot more exciting for us.”

With the loss, Israel exits the WBC in fourth place in Pool D with a 1-3 record, but will automatically qualify for the 2026 tournament.

Israel switched up its lineup on Wednesday, inserting Goldfarb, an Arizona Diamondbacks minor leaguer, into center field for star Joc Pederson — who helped recruit fellow big leaguers for the team — and Wielansky, a former Houston Astros draft pick, at shortstop.

Jake Fishman, who made his major league debut for the Miami Marlins in 2022, pitched the fourth inning for Israel, becoming the final member of the Israeli roster to appear in the tournament.

Jake Fishman (@swedishfishman1) in to pitch here to round out our entire roster making appearances in this WBC! pic.twitter.com/PpUwd29Ue8

— Israel Baseball (@ILBaseball) March 15, 2023

Mendlinger and outfielder Alex Dickerson led the team with three hits each in the WBC. Israel’s four total runs were driven in by Garrett Stubbs, Goldfarb and Spencer Horwitz.

Other notable moments for Israel included a gutsy performance by 19-year-old Orthodox prospect Jacob Steinmetz, who struck out three Dominican All-Stars on Tuesday, and earlier that day, a joint ceremony between the Israeli and the Dominican teams to promote friendship between the two countries.

And what was Kinsler’s highlight for this WBC? Two words: Jacob Steinmetz.

“He threw well for a young player, an inexperienced player,” Kinsler said. “To come into this environment and control his emotions, control himself and fill up the strike zone was pretty impressive.”

Kinsler, who had never managed prior to this tournament, said he learned a lot about coaching. He added that Brad Ausmus, who was his manager when Kinsler was a player on the Detroit Tigers and served as a coach for Israel, was a helpful resource as he learned on the job.

Fans traveled from near and far to cheer on Team Israel. Lloyd Kaplan, who visited Miami from Long Island, called it a “once in a lifetime experience.” Israel’s fans may have been far outnumbered by the four Latin countries, but Israel’s players still appreciated the support.

“Just seeing all that is awesome, knowing there will always be people behind me,” Steinmetz said after his start.


The post Team Israel exits World Baseball Classic with 5-1 loss to Venezuela appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Groundbreaking analysis of Hitler’s DNA shows no Jewish ancestry — but finds a genetic disorder

(JTA) — Adolf Hitler had a sexual disorder that made it more likely for him to have a micro-penis, according to the first-ever analysis of his DNA. He also did not have the Jewish ancestors that some have claimed he had.

The analysis is being revealed in detail in “Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator,” a new documentary premiering Saturday night in the United Kingdom. The documentary looks at the researchers who decided to tackle the genetic makeup of one of history’s greatest villains, as well as what they learned — and cannot learn — from his DNA.

They found that he had Kallmann syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by incomplete puberty, according to an exclusive report published Wednesday in the Times of London. They also found that he had genes making him more likely to have autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, though they cautioned that the DNA alone is not sufficient to deliver a diagnosis.

Among those quoted in the documentary is the prominent British Jewish psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen (father of actor Sacha). “Behavior is never 100% genetic,” he said in the Times report. “Associating Hitler’s extreme cruelty with people with these diagnoses risks stigmatizing them, especially when the vast majority of people with these diagnoses are neither violent nor cruel, and many are the opposite.”

The analysis, conducted by a team led by a prominent British geneticist, is more definitive on the subject of Hitler’s possible Jewish ancestry. Rumors about such a background were prevalent during Hitler’s rise: In one notable example, in 1933, a newspaper aligned with Austria’s anti-Nazi chancellor challenged German authorities to disprove his Jewish ties.

And the rumors have endured: In 2022, Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, repeated the claim that Hitler had Jewish ancestry. Lavrov was attempting to justify Russia’s stated reason for invading Ukraine — to “denazify” the country — an effort that was complicated by the fact that Ukraine’s president is Jewish. (He also said: “Jewish wise people said already a long time ago that the biggest antisemites are Jewish themselves.”)

But while previous analyses of the DNA of Hitler’s relatives suggested that he may have had some genetic links to groups that he sought to destroy — including Jews — the new analysis, on Hitler’s own DNA, shows only Austrian German ancestry.

The analysis is based on a swatch of fabric stained with blood that a U.S. soldier cut from the couch upon which Hitler shot himself. The researchers were able to confirm without a doubt that the blood came from Hitler by comparing the DNA found in it to DNA previously confirmed to have come from one of his relatives.

The post Groundbreaking analysis of Hitler’s DNA shows no Jewish ancestry — but finds a genetic disorder appeared first on The Forward.

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Ilhan Omar Poses for Photo With Swedish MP Wearing Garment Depicting Erasure of Israel

US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MN) speaks at a press conference with activists calling for a ceasefire in Gaza in front of the Capitol in Washington, DC, Dec. 14, 2023. Photo: Annabelle Gordon / CNP/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

US Rep. Ilhan Omar (D-MI) has come under fire after being spotted posing for a photo with Malcolm Jallow, a virulently anti-Israel member of the Swedish parliament.

The picture, which was posted on Jallow’s Instagram page on Sunday, showed the controversial Swedish politician posing alongside Omar and anti-Israel political pundit Medhi Hasan. Jallow draped a stole around his shoulders depicting the complete erasure of the state of Israel and its replacement by a Palestinian state. 

“Spending these days with so many inspiring leaders from around the world — including two of the most inspiring and courageous voices of our time, Congresswoman @ilhanmn Omar and international journalist @mehdirhasan — has been like reigniting an inner flame. I feel recharged with energy, hope, and determination,” Jallow wrote on Instagram.

Jallow has an extensive history of attacking Israel and promoting antisemitic conspiracy tropes. For example, he has “liked” a comment on social media that accused Jewish organizations of participating in freemasonry, fueling a false conspiracy theory that claims a secret coalition of Jews and Freemasons is working to control the world.

The Gambian-born lawmaker also lambasted Sweden for its supposed complicitly in a “genocide” in Gaza and stated in another social media post that Europe “betrayed” the Palestinian enclave by “financing the bombs” and “legitimizing the apartheid & the occupation.” He further appeared to threaten Swedish civilians who support Israel, writing, “To every ordinary citizen who waved the flag of the oppressor & laughed while Gaza burned, We will not forget you. We know your names. We save your statements. We screenshot your posts.”

He also seemed to threaten legal action against Swedish citizens who publicly demonstrate support for Israel’s defensive military operations against Hanas.

“And one day, whether in courtrooms of law or the court of history, In this life or the hereafter, you will be held to account,” Jallow posted. “That is not a threat. That is a promise to the people of Gaza.”

“Why is the Swedish government complicit in Israel’s acts of genocide against the Palestinian people?” he added on Instagram.

Jallow has also criticized Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson for taking certain measures to combat antisemitism, arguing that such actions endanger the country’s Muslim population. 

“The Swedish Prime Minister’s statement that antisemitism holds a ‘special status’ and is worse than anti-Muslim propaganda is deeply problematic and dangerous. It not only diminishes the severity of hatred against Muslims but also normalizes the growing Islamophobia in Sweden,” Jallow wrote in an official statement last year.

“Ranking hate and prioritizing one group’s suffering over another is not only ignorant and offensive — it undermines our collective struggle against all forms of intolerance and discrimination,” he continued. 

Sweden has reported a notable increase in antisemitic incidents since Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, prompting alarm within both the Jewish community and governmental bodies.

According to a report released by the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention (BRA) last year, hate crimes motivated by antisemitism in the country surged in the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 atrocities, amid the ensuing war in Gaza. The BRA found that police registered 110 complaints between the Hamas invasion and Dec. 31 in 2023, compared to just 24 incidents the prior year.

While Jews constitute a small fraction of Sweden’s population, they have represented a disproportionately high share of religious-hate-crime victims. In 2020, for example, antisemitic incidents made up about 27 percent of all religion-based hate crimes documented by police despite Jews making up only 0.1 percent of the population, according to the Swedish National Council for Crime Prevention.

Omar for years has been one of the most vocal critics of Israel in the US Congress, calling on Washington to impose an arms embargo on the Jewish state.

Continue Reading

Uncategorized

Groundbreaking analysis of Hitler’s DNA shows no Jewish ancestry — but finds a genetic disorder

Adolf Hitler had a sexual disorder that made it more likely for him to have a micro-penis, according to the first-ever analysis of his DNA. He also did not have the Jewish ancestors that some have claimed he had.

The analysis is being revealed in detail in “Hitler’s DNA: Blueprint of a Dictator,” a new documentary premiering Saturday night in the United Kingdom. The documentary looks at the researchers who decided to tackle the genetic makeup of one of history’s greatest villains, as well as what they learned — and cannot learn — from his DNA.

They found that he had Kallman syndrome, a genetic disorder characterized by incomplete puberty, according to an exclusive report published Wednesday in the Times of London. They also found that he had genes making him more likely to have autism, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, though they cautioned that the DNA alone is not sufficient to deliver a diagnosis.

Among those quoted in the documentary is the prominent British Jewish psychologist Simon Baron-Cohen (father of actor Sacha). “Behavior is never 100% genetic,” he said in the Times report. “Associating Hitler’s extreme cruelty with people with these diagnoses risks stigmatizing them, especially when the vast majority of people with these diagnoses are neither violent nor cruel, and many are the opposite.”

The analysis, conducted by a team led by a prominent British geneticist, is more definitive on the subject of Hitler’s possible Jewish ancestry. Rumors about such a background were prevalent during Hitler’s rise: In one notable example, a newspaper aligned with the Austrian chancellor who the following year would be assassinated by Nazis in 1933 challenged German authorities to disprove his Jewish ties.

And the rumors have endured: In 2022, Russia’s foreign minister repeated the claim that Hitler had Jewish ancestry to rebuff criticism that Russia’s justification for invading Ukraine, that it needed to be “denazified,” was undermined by the fact that Ukraine’s president is Jewish.

But while previous analyses of the DNA of Hitler’s relatives suggested that he may have had some genetic links to groups that he sought to destroy, including Jews, the new analysis, on Hitler’s own DNA, shows only Austrian German ancestry.

The analysis is based on a swatch of fabric stained with blood that a U.S. soldier cut from the couch upon which Hitler shot himself. The researchers were able to confirm without a doubt that the blood came from Hitler by comparing the DNA found in it to DNA previously confirmed to have come from one of his relatives.


The post Groundbreaking analysis of Hitler’s DNA shows no Jewish ancestry — but finds a genetic disorder appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2017 - 2023 Jewish Post & News