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The Jewish Sport Report: An unauthorized moment of silence for Israel

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(JTA) — Good afternoon! I hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving. And happy Black Friday to all who celebrate.
For sports fans, Thanksgiving is about football (plus, you know, family and food). A.J. Dillon and the Green Bay Packers upset their rivals, the Detroit Lions, 29-22 in their annual holiday matchup yesterday. And Jake Curhan and the Seattle Seahawks hosted the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday Night Football, losing 31-13.
But for many, no Thanksgiving game will top the 2012 “butt fumble” game, when the New England Patriots embarrassed the New York Jets 49-19 and Jets QB Mark Sanchez fumbled the ball after running into his own teammate’s behind. The Pats recovered said butt fumble and returned it for a touchdown.
That play is, understandably, what people remember. But the bad luck didn’t stop there. After the Patriots’ extra point, the Jets immediately fumbled the ball again on the kickoff return — and none other than Julian Edelman returned it 22 yards for another touchdown.
Pats fans were definitely saying dayenu that day!
An unauthorized display of solidarity with Israel
The Israeli and Polish under-21 national soccer teams hold an unofficial moment of silence during their Nov. 17 match in Lodz, Poland. (Screenshot from X/Julien Bahloul)
During a European qualifying match last Friday, the Israeli and Polish under-21 national teams held a moment of silence to honor the victims of the Oct. 7 attack in Israel.
The gesture would have been powerful on its own. But it was even more notable because European soccer’s governing body had reportedly denied the teams’ request to hold a moment of silence. The teams did it anyway — remaining in their starting formations for the first minute of the game, standing still as the clock began to run.
The war has impacted all Israeli sports, but perhaps soccer most of all. Numerous national teams are in the midst of qualifying matches for upcoming international tournaments, including the under-21 and senior teams, both of which have had to move games that were originally set to be played in Israel.
Halftime report
HOT STOVE UPDATES. The MLB offseason is off to a slow start, but there are some Jewish storylines to watch. Rowdy Tellez is now a free agent after being non-tendered by the Milwaukee Brewers. Jared Shuster was traded to the Chicago White Sox as part of a big deal with the Atlanta Braves last week. Shuster should have a better chance to compete for a rotation spot with his new club. Philadelphia Phillies general manager Sam Fuld executed the first big free agent signing of the winter, keeping ace Aaron Nola in Philly with a 7-year, $172 million deal. And former Team Israel coach Brad Ausmus was hired to be the new bench coach of the New York Yankees.
SOLD! A couple weeks ago, we shared an auction with a couple rare Jewish baseball items: a 1870s photo of Lipman Pike and a game-worn hat from Sandy Koufax’s 1965 Cy Young season. The photo sold for $131,971, while Koufax’s cap got $39,137. But don’t worry — if you missed your chance at that auction, there’s another Koufax keepsake up for grabs. You can now bid on a game-used glove from 1956.
COMEBACK. Gabrielle Rose, who competed in the 2000 Olympics with the U.S. team, just became the oldest swimmer to clinch a spot in the Olympic Trials, at 46 years old. Rose’s father was Mike Rose, the longtime CEO of Holiday Inn.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend
IN BASKETBALL…
Deni Avdija and the Washington Wizards — who are off to a rough 2-12 start this season — host the Milwaukee Bucks in the in-season tournament tonight at 8 p.m. and face the Atlanta Hawks tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET. Domantas Sabonis and the Sacramento Kings play the Minnesota Timberwolves Friday at 8 p.m. ET. In the G League, Ryan Turell and the Motor City Cruise host the Cleveland Charge tonight at 7 p.m. ET. Amari Bailey and the Greensboro Swarm host the Maine Celtics today at 2 p.m. ET and the Westchester Knicks tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET.
IN HOCKEY…
Superstar Jack Hughes returned last weekend after missing five games with an upper-body injury. He, his brother Luke and the New Jersey Devils host Devon Levi’s Buffalo Sabres tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET. Quinn Hughes and the Vancouver Canucks face Luke Kunin and the San Jose Sharks Saturday at 10 p.m. ET. Zach Hyman and the Edmonton Oilers match up against the Anaheim Ducks Sunday at 9 p.m. ET.
IN FOOTBALL…
Greg Joseph and the Minnesota Vikings host the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football, Monday at 8:15 p.m. ET.
IN SOCCER…
After helping the U.S. Men’s National Team punch its ticket to the next round in the Nations League tournament, goalkeeper Matt Turner will be back with his Premier League team Nottingham Forest tomorrow, when they face Brighton at 10 a.m. ET.
IN RACING…
The Formula One season comes to an end this weekend with the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Sunday at 8 a.m. ET. Aston Martin driver Lance Stroll came in fifth place in last weekend’s Las Vegas race and currently sits at 10th place in the standings.
Friendly fire
Last week we told you that Scott Schoeneweis had the most appearances of any Jewish pitcher, with 577. The 12-year MLB veteran, who played from 1999 to 2010, holds another Jewish record: he has given up the most home runs against opposing Jewish batters, with five. And all five were hit by the same two players. Can you name them? Send your answers to sports@jta.org. Good luck!
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The post The Jewish Sport Report: An unauthorized moment of silence for Israel appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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US Rep. Nick Langworthy Introduces Bill to Deport Foreign Students Who Support Terror Groups

US Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY). Photo: Michael Brochstein / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
US Rep. Nick Langworthy (R-NY) has introduced legislation to deport non-citizen students who support any US-designated terrorist group, arguing that these individuals have abused the “privilege” of seeking an education in America.
“It’s a privilege to come to America to learn at our institutions, NOT [sic] a right. The antisemitic actions that have threatened the safety of Jewish students must end,” Langworthy posted on X/Twitter on Tuesday. “That’s why I just reintroduced the Veto Your Visas Act, which ensures anyone here on a student visa who supports a Foreign Terrorist Organization will be deported. Whether it’s Mahmoud Kahlil or any other perpetrator of terrorist propaganda, you will be kicked out of our country.”
The legislation would mandate that colleges and universities alert the Student and Exchange Visitor Information System (SEVIS) immediately if they learn that a student on an Exchange Visitor or Academic Student nonimmigrant visa has expressed support for an FTO. Additionally, the bill would mandate the US Secretary of State to cancel the student’s visa.
The legislation comes on the heels of the arrest of former Columbia University student Mahmoud Khalil, who spearheaded raucous and destructive protests on Columbia’s campus against Israel’s defensive military operations in Gaza. Khalil’s conduct caused the Trump administration to apprehend and attempt to deport him, although his lawyers are challenging the government in court. Khalil, a Palestinian activist raised in Syria, is a green card holder and a permanent US resident.
“I commend the Trump administration and Secretary of State Marco Rubio on taking swift action against Khalil,” Langworthy said in a statement while announcing his legislation. “It is a privilege to come to the United States to study and learn — it is not a free pass to come here and spread hate and support terrorism. This legislation would ensure anyone here on a student visa who supports a Foreign Terrorist Organization will be deported, protecting our national security and making it clear we have zero tolerance for terrorism.”
The bill is co-sponsored by Republican Reps. Vern Buchanan (FL), Brandon Gill (TX), Edwards (NC), Abraham Hamadeh (AZ), Paul Gosar (AZ), Pete Stauber (MN), and Daniel Webster ‘FL).
In the 17 months following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, massacre across southern Israel, universities across the US have experienced a surge in campus antisemitism. In the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Israel, hordes of students and faculty orchestrated protests and demonstrations condemning the Jewish state. Student groups at elite universities such as Harvard and Columbia issued statements blaming Israel for the attacks and expressing support for Hamas, a US-designated terrorist organization.
Many of these rowdy protests have been spearheaded by foreign students and professors on Visas or green cards. The destruction and violence caused by the unsanctioned demonstrations have drawn scrutiny toward universities that accept large numbers of students from foreign countries where terrorist groups are based or operate. In addition, legislators have increasingly condemned universities for accepting money from Qatar, a backer of Hamas.
Several high-profile universities have also come under fire for allegedly showing a significant level of tolerance for anti-Jewish sentiment festering on their campuses.
The post US Rep. Nick Langworthy Introduces Bill to Deport Foreign Students Who Support Terror Groups first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Four More Sentenced to Jail for Amsterdam Attack Against Israeli Soccer Fans

Israeli soccer fans under assault, near Amsterdam Central station, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, Nov. 8, 2024, in this still image obtained from a social media video. X/iAnnet/via REUTERS
An Amsterdam court announced at a public hearing on Wednesday jail sentences, ranging from 11 days to three months, for four more perpetrators of the violent attack against Israeli soccer fans that took place in the streets of the Dutch capital last year.
The lengthiest sentence of three months, with the deduction of pre-trial detention, was given to a 27-year-old man who incited violence against Maccabi Tel Aviv fans on Nov. 7, 2024, with messages posted in a WhatsApp group chat that had thousands of members. He wrote “Dead Jew better than a living Jew” and messages about “Dirty cancer Jews.”
The court shared several other of his offensive messages, one of which included an image of Holocaust victim Anne Frank alongside the text “slaughter gas is for losers. I use Zyklon B,” referring to the deadly gas used in gas chambers at Nazi concentration camps. He had also shared an image of Nazi leader Adolf Hitler with the text “pull up pull up gas,” a drawing of Hitler with a swastika, and the message “Hamas Hamas all Jews on the gas.”
The 27-year-old also insulted Jews, made comments trivializing the Holocaust, and shared locations of “those Jews” so they would be attacked during the “Jew hunting” rampage that took place on Nov. 7. He even provided a time and location for attackers to gather and coordinate their assault, which took place in Amsterdam after Maccabi Tel Aviv competed against the Dutch team Ajax in a UEFA Europa League match. The court said he confessed to assisting in the violence carried out by dozens of anti-Israel and pro-Palestinian gangs.
Maccabi Tel Aviv fans were chased by assailants carrying knives and sticks, run over by cars, physically assaulted, and some were forced by their attackers to say “Free Palestine.” Amsterdam’s mayor called the attackers “antisemitic hit-and-run squads.”
A 32-year-old man, who founded the WhatsApp group where the attack was planned and promoted, was sentenced on Wednesday to six weeks in prison, minus the 26 days because of his pre-trial detention. He told attackers on the night of the premeditated and coordinated onslaught where and how they could escape police arrest, and where they could find Israelis to victimize.
A 22-year-old man was given one month in prison, with deduction for his pre-trial detention, for assisting in the violence. He shared on the WhatsApp group chat the location of Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters and urged attackers to spread out in different locations around Amsterdam. The Public Prosecutor’s Office had demanded 12 months in prison for him, but the court ruled there was not sufficient evidence that he personally assaulted Israeli soccer fans.
The fourth suspect sentenced on Wednesday, a 26-year-old, chased a Maccabi Tel Aviv supporter and physically beat the victim with his belt. He also has a criminal record with previous violent crimes. However, he does not need to do any jail time for his actions. On Wednesday, he was sentenced to 30 days in prison, of which 19 days is suspended. Eleven days remain in his sentence, but because that is equivalent to his pre-trial detention, he does not need to spend any time in prison. He was also given a two-year probation period for public assault. On Tuesday night, the night before his sentencing, he was seen at an anti-Israel demonstration in Amsterdam Central Station, according to Dutch media.
Sentencing for the attack began in December 2024, when an Amsterdam court ruled five men would face penalties ranging from six months to one month in prison, and a work sentence of 100 hours. In total, nine people have now been prosecuted for the violence. Amsterdam police said they have 122 suspects in the case.
The Lawfare Project, an international Jewish civil rights organization legally representing more than 50 victims of the attack, previously lambasted the Dutch court for what they described as “light sentences” for the assailants.
The post Four More Sentenced to Jail for Amsterdam Attack Against Israeli Soccer Fans first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Hamas Calls for Global Siege on US, Israeli Embassies After Renewed Strikes in Gaza

Illustrative: Pro-Hamas demonstrators gather in the heavily Orthodox Jewish neighborhood of Borough Park in New York City on Feb. 18, 2o25. Photo: Screenshot
Hamas has called for “mass demonstrations and a global siege on Israeli and American embassies around the globe,” according to Iranian state-run media, following Israel’s decision to resume military operations against the Palestinian terrorist group in Gaza after negotiations to extend a ceasefire failed.
In a statement issued on Tuesday, Hamas urged the “Arabic and Islamic world” and “free people everywhere” to mobilize against “the Israeli regime’s resuming its US-backed war of genocide against the Palestinian territory.”
The group called for immediate pressure on both Israel and the United States “to end the ongoing military onslaught,” in Gaza, according to Iran’s Press TV.
“The fascist occupation government has resumed its barbaric aggression and genocide war against our people in Gaza, violating all human norms, values, and divine laws during the holy month of Ramadan,” the statement reads”
Iran is Hamas’s chief international backer, providing the Palestinian terrorist group with weapons, funding, and training.
Israel on Monday night began conducting “extensive” strikes against Hamas targets in Gaza, before resuming ground operations in the coastal enclave on Wednesday.
“This follows Hamas’s repeated refusal to release our hostages, as well as its rejection of all of the proposals it has received from US presidential envoy Steve Witkoff and from the mediators,” the Israeli prime minister’s office said in a statement. “Israel will, from now on, act against Hamas with increasing military strength.”
In its own statement, Hamas called for mass demonstrations in cities worldwide and a coordinated siege of Israeli and American diplomatic missions “in response to the Israeli government’s resumption of its military aggression and its reversal of the ceasefire agreement, which has flouted all international and humanitarian laws and norms.”
The Palestinian Islamist group also urged demonstrators to raise Palestinian flags and mobilize resources in support of “the legitimate rights of Palestinians to freedom, independence, and an end to a simultaneous stifling blockade that the regime was enforcing against the coastal strip.”
“Let us unite all efforts at the Arab, Islamic, and international levels and be one voice against the Zionist aggression and the genocide war it is waging against more than two million Palestinians,” the statement read.
Israel recently imposed a total blockade on Gaza after the first phase of the ceasefire with Hamas expired without an agreement to extend the truce.
During the first phase, which began on Jan. 19, fighting ceased for six weeks as Hamas released 33 Israeli hostages (25 alive and eight deceased) in exchange for nearly 2,000 Palestinian prisoners, many of whom had been serving long sentences in Israeli prisons for terrorist activities.
The second phase was meant to include a complete Israeli military withdrawal from Gaza and the release of the remaining hostages taken by Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists from Israel. However, negotiations faltered when Hamas rejected a US proposal, supported by Israel, to release additional hostages and extend the ceasefire while continuing to discuss a permanent resolution.
The US, Qatar, and Egypt have been trying to bridge the differences between the Islamic terrorist group and Israel to restart negotiations in order to release remaining hostages held in Gaza and lift the blockade.
On Tuesday, Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz said that Jerusalem will not cease military operations against Hamas until all the hostages are returned.
“Hamas must realize that the rules of the game have changed, and if it does not immediately release all the hostages, the gates of hell will open, and it will find itself facing the full intensity of the IDF [Israel Defense Forces] in the air, sea, and land, until its complete elimination,” Katz said during a visit to the Tel Nof Airbase.
“We will not stop fighting until all the hostages are returned home and all threats to the southern residents are removed,” he added.
The post Hamas Calls for Global Siege on US, Israeli Embassies After Renewed Strikes in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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