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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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New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’

Zohran Mamdani. Photo: Ron Adar / SOPA Images via Reuters Connect
In a warning sign for the campaign of Democratic nominee for mayor of New York Zohran Mamdani, a majority of city voters in a new poll say the candidate’s hardline anti-Israel stance makes them less likely to vote for him.
In the survey of likely city voters conducted by American Pulse, 52.5 percent said Mamdani’s refusal to condemn the slogan “globalize the intifada” coupled with his backing of the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement made them less likely to vote for him in November. Just 31% of city voters polled were more likely to support him because of these positions.
At the same time, a significant share of young New York City voters support Mamdani’s anti-Israel positioning, a striking sign of shifting generational views on Israel and the Palestinian cause.
Nearly half of voters aged 18 to 44 (46 percent) said the State Assembly member’s backing for BDS and “refusal to condemn the phrase ‘globalize the intifada’” made them more likely to support him.
Mamdani, a democratic socialist from Queens, has been under fire for defending “globalize the intifada,” a slogan many Jewish groups associate with incitement to violence against Israel and Jews. While critics argue it glorifies terrorism, supporters claim it’s a call for international solidarity with oppressed peoples, especially Palestinians. Mamdani has also voiced support for BDS, a movement widely condemned by mainstream Jewish organizations as antisemitic for singling out Israel.
The generational divide exposed by the poll comes amid a broader political realignment. Younger progressives across the country are increasingly critical of Israeli policies, especially in the wake of the Gaza war, and more receptive to Palestinian activism. But to many Jewish leaders, Mamdani’s rising support is alarming.
Rabbi David Wolpe, visiting scholar at Harvard University, condemned the phrase with a sarcastic analogy.
“‘Globalize the intifada’ is just a political slogan,” he said. “Like ‘The cockroaches must be exterminated’ was just a housing authority slogan in Rwanda.”
Jewish organizations have reported a surge in antisemitic incidents in New York and across the U.S. since the outbreak of the Israel-Hamas war last fall. The blending of anti-Zionist slogans with calls for “intifada,” historically linked to violent uprisings, has deepened fears among Jewish communities that traditional red lines are being crossed.
Whether this emerging coalition reshapes New York politics remains to be seen. However, the poll indicates that among younger voters, views that were once considered fringe are quickly moving into the mainstream.
The post New Poll: Majority of NYC Voters ‘Less Likely’ to Support Mamdani Over His Refusal to Condemn ‘Globalize the Intifada’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events

A Jewish gay pride flag. Photo: Twitter.
The research division of the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) released a report on Wednesday detailing incidents of hate against Jews which took place last month during demonstrations in celebration of LGBTQ rights and identity.
Incidents reported by the group include:
- At a Pride march in Wales, the activists Cymru Queers for Palestine chose to block the path and show a sign that said “Profiting from genocide,” an attempt to link the event’s sponsors — such as Amazon — to the war in Gaza.
- A Dublin Pride march saw the participation of the Ireland-Palestine Solidarity Campaign, which labeled Israel a “genocidal entity.”
- In Toronto at a late June Pride march, demonstrators again attacked organizers with a sign declaring, “Pride partners with genocide.”
CAM also identified a recurring narrative deployed against Israel by some far-left activists: so-called “pinkwashing,” a term which the Boycott, Divest, Sanctions (BDS) movement calls “an Israeli government propaganda strategy that cynically exploits LGBTQIA+ rights to project a progressive image while concealing Israel’s occupation and apartheid policies oppressing Palestinians.”
The report notes that at a Washington DC Pride event in early June Medea Benjamin, cofounder of activist group Code Pink and a regular of anti-war protests, wore a pair of goofy, oversized sunglasses and a shirt in her signature pink with the phrase “you can’t pinkwash genocide.”
Other incidents CAM recorded showed the injection of anti-Israel sentiment into Pride events.
A musical group canceled a performance at an interfaith service in Brooklyn, claiming the hosting synagogue had a “public alignment with pro-Israel political positions.” In San Francisco before the yearly Trans March, a Palestine group said in its announcement of its participation, “Stop the war on Iran and the genocide of Palestine, stop the war on immigrants and attacks on trans people.”
CAM notes that this “queers for Palestine” sentiment is not new, pointing to a 2017 event wherein “organizers of the Chicago Dyke March infamously removed participants who were waving a Pride flag adorned with a Star of David on the grounds that the symbol ‘made people feel unsafe.’”
In February, the Israel Defense Forces shared with the New York Post documents it had recovered demonstrating that Hamas had tortured and executed members it suspected of homosexuality and other moral offenses in conflict with Islamist ideology.
Amit Benjamin, who is gay and a first sergeant major in the IDF, said during a visit to New York City for Pride month that “All the ‘queers for Gaza’ need to open their eyes. Hamas kills gays … kills lesbians … queers cannot exist in Gaza.”
The post Report: Jews Targeted at June’s Pride Month Events first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on

IAEA chief Rafael Grossi at the agency’s headquarters in Vienna, Austria, June 23, 2025. REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl/File Photo
The UN nuclear watchdog said on Friday it had pulled its last remaining inspectors from Iran as a standoff over their return to the country’s nuclear facilities bombed by the United States and Israel deepens.
Israel launched its first military strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites in a 12-day war with the Islamic Republic three weeks ago. The International Atomic Energy Agency’s inspectors have not been able to inspect Iran’s facilities since then, even though IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said that is his top priority.
Iran’s parliament has now passed a law to suspend cooperation with the IAEA until the safety of its nuclear facilities can be guaranteed. While the IAEA says Iran has not yet formally informed it of any suspension, it is unclear when the agency’s inspectors will be able to return to Iran.
“An IAEA team of inspectors today safely departed from Iran to return to the Agency headquarters in Vienna, after staying in Tehran throughout the recent military conflict,” the IAEA said on X.
Diplomats said the number of IAEA inspectors in Iran was reduced to a handful after the June 13 start of the war. Some have also expressed concern about the inspectors’ safety since the end of the conflict, given fierce criticism of the agency by Iranian officials and Iranian media.
Iran has accused the agency of effectively paving the way for the bombings by issuing a damning report on May 31 that led to a resolution by the IAEA’s 35-nation Board of Governors declaring Iran in breach of its non-proliferation obligations.
IAEA chief Rafael Grossi has said he stands by the report. He has denied it provided diplomatic cover for military action.
Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Thursday Iran remained committed to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
“[Grossi] reiterated the crucial importance of the IAEA discussing with Iran modalities for resuming its indispensable monitoring and verification activities in Iran as soon as possible,” the IAEA said.
The US and Israeli military strikes either destroyed or badly damaged Iran’s three uranium enrichment sites. But it was less clear what has happened to much of Iran’s nine tonnes of enriched uranium, especially the more than 400 kg enriched to up to 60% purity, a short step from weapons grade.
That is enough, if enriched further, for nine nuclear weapons, according to an IAEA yardstick. Iran says its aims are entirely peaceful, but Western powers say there is no civil justification for enriching to such a high level, and the IAEA says no country has done so without developing the atom bomb.
As a party to the NPT, Iran must account for its enriched uranium, which normally is closely monitored by the IAEA, the body that enforces the NPT and verifies countries’ declarations. But the bombing of Iran’s facilities has now muddied the waters.
“We cannot afford that … the inspection regime is interrupted,” Grossi told a press conference in Vienna last week.
The post IAEA pulls inspectors from Iran as standoff over access drags on first appeared on Algemeiner.com.