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The Jewish Sport Report: Mark Cuban and Miriam Adelson make a Dallas Mavericks swap

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(JTA) — Hi there! It’s hard to believe it’s already December. The MLB Winter Meetings begin on Monday, ushering in the most exciting and hectic few days of baseball’s offseason.

Keep an eye on newly-minted general managers David Stearns (New York Mets) and Craig Breslow (Boston Red Sox), as well veteran execs Mark Shapiro (Toronto Blue Jays) and Andrew Friedman (Los Angeles Dodgers) — all of whom are expected to be active in free agent negotiations and trade talks.

The top three reporters covering the rumors are all Jewish, too: Jeff PassanKen Rosenthal and Jon Heyman.

The Dallas Mavericks make a trade — one Jewish billionaire owner for another

Mark Cuban, left, is selling a significant stake in the NBA’s Dallas Mavericks to Miriam Adelson, right. (Getty Images)

Jewish billionaire and “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban is likely the best-known owner in the NBA. He’s not afraid to speak out about politics or controversy in the league, and he has an active role in running his Dallas Mavericks.

So when the news broke this week that Cuban would be selling his majority stake in the franchise, basketball fans were taken a bit off-guard. And his partner in the acquisition, fellow Jewish billionaire and casino magnate Miriam Adelson, was also unexpected. Adelson, the widow of influential Republican megadonor Sheldon Adelson, purchased Cuban’s ownership stake for a reported $3.5 billion.

The deal also represents something of a partnership for Cuban and Adelson, whose daughter is on the Israeli version of “Shark Tank.” Cuban will retain control over the team’s basketball operations — an unusual arrangement in pro sports — while Adelson is expected to bring her casino know-how to Dallas, where some lawmakers are seeking to legalize recreational gambling.

Adelson is also taking over the current team of Kyrie Irving, the All-Star at the center of an antisemitism scandal last year.

Read more about the unexpected Mavericks sale here.

Halftime report

HOSTAGE HERO. Prominent Argentine-Jewish sportscaster Hernan Feler mentioned the Israeli hostages on air during soccer games for weeks. His aunt, Ofelia Roitman, was among those released by Hamas on Tuesday.

A TRUE GLOBETROTTER. Former secretary of state Henry Kissinger died this week at 100, and my colleague Ben Harris’ excellent obituary features a fantastic tidbit about the controversial politician: Kissinger was the first person to be named an honorary member of the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, in 1976.

JEWS ON FIRST. If you live in the Boston area, check out this event Sunday at Temple Shir Tikva in Wayland: Judaism through Baseball: An Afternoon with Ryan Lavarnway and Jonathan Mayo. Mayo is a longtime MLB.com reporter and a friend of the Sport Report, and I recently spoke with Lavarnway, the former Team Israel captain and retired MLB catcher, about his Israel advocacy.

RETURN TO SENDER. The Telegraph reports that the United Kingdom rejected a proposal that former Chelsea F.C. owner and Russian oligarch Roman Abramovich use the money he made from selling the Premier League club — over two billion pounds — to support Israel rather than Ukraine, as he had proposed last year.

GABE’S NEW GIG. Former San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler is joining the Miami Marlins front office as an assistant general manager. Kapler had been a candidate for Boston’s chief baseball officer opening this winter and had expressed an interest in returning to front-office work after years as a manager.

WHAT CAN’T HE DO? It turns out New Jersey Devils star Jack Hughes is a multi-sport threat. The 22-year-old, who has 29 points in 16 games this season, joined “The Eli Manning Show” this week and easily made a 50-yard “puck goal,” shooting a hockey puck through the uprights at MetLife Stadium. For his next trick, we’d like to see Hughes hit a puck for a homer at Citi Field.

Jews in sports to watch this weekend

IN BASKETBALL…

Deni Avdija and the Washington Wizards face the Orlando Magic tonight at 7 p.m. ET. Avdija dropped a season-high 22 points on Wednesday (his second 22-point performance), but the Wizards remain one of the league’s worst teams at 3-15. Domantas Sabonis and the Sacramento Kings host the Denver Nuggets Saturday at 10 p.m. ET and the New Orleans Pelicans Monday at 10 p.m. ET in the quarterfinals of the in-season tournament. In the G League, Ryan Turell and the Motor City Cruise host the Wisconsin Herd tonight at 7 p.m. ET and Amari Bailey and the Greensboro Swarm play the Delaware Blue Coats tomorrow at 6 p.m. ET.

IN HOCKEY…

Jack and Luke Hughes’ New Jersey Devils host Luke Kunin and the San Jose Sharks tonight at 7 p.m. ET. The brothers worked together to secure an overtime victory last night. Their rival, bagel influencer Adam Fox — who returned from injury on Wednesday — and his New York Rangers match up against the Nashville Predators Saturday at 4:30 p.m. ET and the Sharks Sunday at 6 p.m. ET. Cole Guttman and the Chicago Blackhawks play the Winnipeg Jets Saturday at 3 p.m. ET and the Minnesota Wild Sunday at 2 p.m. ET. Guttman returned to the Blackhawks last Friday after a stint in the AHL.

IN FOOTBALL…

Jake Curhan and the Seattle Seahawks kicked off Week 13 last night with a thrilling 41-35 loss against the Dallas Cowboys on Thursday Night Football. On Sunday, catch Michael Dunn and the Cleveland Browns against the Los Angeles Rams at 4:25 p.m. ET, before A.J. Dillon and the Green Bay Packers host the Kansas City Chiefs at 8:20 p.m. on Sunday Night Football.

IN SOCCER…

Matt Turner and Nottingham Forest take on Everton Saturday at 12:30 p.m. ET.

IN GOLF…

Max Homa is in the lineup at Tiger Woods’ Hero World Challenge golf tournament in The Bahamas this weekend.

A joyful homecoming

Teenager Ofir Engel, one of the dozens of Israeli hostages released by Hamas this week, is a huge fan of the Hapoel Jerusalem basketball team. The squad welcomed Engel home on Wednesday with a message on X, writing, “Happy. Proud. Glad to announce Ofir Engel’s signing for life… so good that you came back home.” Watch the crowd cheer him on in this moving clip from a game he attended after his release.

הפועל ירושלים
שמחה
גאה
מאושרת
להכריז על החתמתו של אופיר אנגל לכל החיים.

מאושרים עבור סבא ג’וחא, יואב, שרון וכל משפחת אנגל האהובה.

כמה טוב שבאת הביתה.

!Ofir is back HOME pic.twitter.com/jrQoAQmY1a

— Hapoel Jerusalem BC (@JerusalemBasket) November 29, 2023


The post The Jewish Sport Report: Mark Cuban and Miriam Adelson make a Dallas Mavericks swap appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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US Senators Urge Secretary of Homeland Security to Secure Northern Border From Gaza Refugees

US Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) speaking at a press conference about the United States restricting weapons for Israel, at the US Capitol, Washington, DC. Photo: Michael Brochstein/Sipa USA via Reuters Connect

Six US senators sent a letter to US Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas this week requesting that he increase security measures along the northern border in response to Canada accepting an influx of refugees from Gaza, the Palestinian enclave ruled by the terrorist group Hamas.

The six Republican lawmakers — Sens. Marco Rubio (FL), Ted Cruz (TX), Joni Ernst (IA), Tom Cotton (AK), Mike Braun (IN), and Josh Hawley (MO) — said they were “deeply concerned” that refugees from Gaza could sneak into the United States. The senators warned that allowing unvetted Palestinian refugees to cross the border poses a serious national security threat. 

“On May 27, 2024, the Government of Canada announced its intent to increase the number of Gazans who will be allowed into their country under temporary special measures,” the senators wrote. “We are deeply concerned and request heightened scrutiny by the US Department of Homeland Security should any of them attempt to enter the United States at ports of entry as well as between ports of entry.”

After arriving in Canada, the Palestinian refugees will be given a “Refugee Travel Document,” which serves as a valid form of identification, the letter claimed, adding that US Citizenship and Immigration Services recognizes these documents as a valid substitute for a passport. The senators warned that “individuals with ties to terrorist groups” could potentially enter into the United States. 

The letter argued that the US should maintain “common-sense terrorist screening and vetting” for any individual attempting to enter its borders from a foreign country. The lawmakers lamented that the Biden administration’s “”ax border enforcement” has rendered the country vulnerable to potential terrorist attacks. From April 1, 2023 to March 31, 2024, the US Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Field Operations intercepted over 233 suspected terrorists at the northern border, according to the letter.

“[T]he possibility of terrorists crossing the US-Canada border is deeply concerning given the deep penetration of Gazan society by Hamas,” the senators wrote. “It would be irresponsible for the US to not take necessary heightened precautions when foreigners attempt to enter the United States.”

On Oct. 7, Hamas launched the ongoing war in Gaza with its Oct. 7 invasion of and massacre of 1,200 people across southern Israel. The Palestinian terrorist group also kidnapped over 250 hostages.

In response, Israel launched defensive military operations in Gaza with the aim of freeing the hostages and permanently dislodging Hamas from the neighboring enclave.

The vast majority of Palestinians in Gaza, as well as the West Bank, still support Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre across southern Israel that started the ongoing war, and they would prefer a “day after” scenario in which Hamas remains in control of Gaza rather than the Palestinian Authority, which governs in the West Bank, or other Arab countries, according to recent Palestinian polling. The same polling found that, when asked about support for Palestinian political parties and movements, a plurality chose Hamas.

US lawmakers are split along party lines as to whether the United States should accept refugees from Gaza. Republicans are largely opposed to importing refugees from  Gaza, arguing that individuals from the war-torn enclave present “a national security risk” to the United States.” In May, Ernst and Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) sent US President Joe Biden a letter, urging him not to accept any refugees from Gaza.

In June, however, a group of 70 Democratic lawmakers sent Mayorkas a letter, requesting he create “pathways” for more refugees of the Israel-Hamas war to resettle in America.

The post US Senators Urge Secretary of Homeland Security to Secure Northern Border From Gaza Refugees first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Video of Masked Man Vowing ‘Rivers of Blood’ at Paris Olympics Over Israel Support Appears to Be Fake, of Russia Origin

Screenshot of a widely circulated video published on social media showing a masked man vowing that “rivers of blood will flow” at the 2024 Paris Olympics due to France’s support for Israel. According to reports, the video appears to be fake and of Russian origin.

A widely circulated video published on social media this week showing a masked man vowing that “rivers of blood will flow” at the 2024 Paris Olympics due to France’s support for Israel appears to be fake and of Russian origin, according to reports.

The video — published on Tuesday on social media networks including X/Twitter and Telegram — featured a keffiyeh-clad man with his face covered, delivering an Arabic-language address threatening France with violence due to the country’s alleged support for Israel amid its ongoing war with Hamas in Gaza.

Addressing “the people of France” and “French President [Emmanuel] Macron,” the masked individual said, “You supported the Zionist regime in its criminal war against the people of Palestine. You provided Zionists with weapons; you helped murder our brothers and sisters, our children.”

“You invited the Zionists to the Olympic games. You will pay for what you have done!” continued the man, who wore a shirt adorned with a Palestinian flag. “Rivers of blood will flow through the streets of Paris. This day is approaching, God willing. Allah is the greatest.”

The video, published on X/Twitter by the account @endzionism24 and retweeted by Palestinian activist Ihab Hassan, ended with the speaker holding a prop severed head complete with fake blood up for the camera.

He is not a Palestinian:

A video clip has surfaced showing an individual wearing a keffiyeh and a Palestinian flag badge, threatening France with a “river of blood” at the Olympic Games.

It is glaringly obvious to any Arabic speaker that this person is not Arab; his dialect… pic.twitter.com/rwWGkkbiAi

— Ihab Hassan (@IhabHassane) July 23, 2024

Hassan and other social media users immediately noted that the man speaking was clearly not a native Arabic speaker, citing his reasonably fluent but awkward and occasionally incorrect pronunciation.

Many social media users aware of the mispronunciations seemed to blame Israel for the video, implying the clip was a false flag meant to fearmonger and demonize Palestinians and Muslims. They did not address the fact that Israel has access to hundreds of thousands of native Palestinian Arabic speakers who would sound far more convincing than the man in the video.

On Wednesday, French Interior Minister Gerald Darmanin said that “French secret services and their partners have not been able to authenticate the veracity of this video.”

According to researchers at Microsoft, however, the video appears to be part of a Russian-linked disinformation campaign meant to disrupt the Olympics, which began with the opening ceremony on Friday.

The researchers from Microsoft’s Threat Analysis Center told NBC News that the clip appears to have come from a Russian disinformation group known as Storm-1516, an outgrowth of Russia’s Internet Research Agency.

The latest clip was linked to a similar disinformation video falsely alleging that Ukraine had sent arms to Hamas — a claim for which there is no evidence. According to the researchers, the more recent video appears to be part of a Russian scare campaign meant to disrupt the Olympics.

The video came just days before France’s rail infrastructure was hit on Friday, ahead of the start of the Olympics, with widespread acts of vandalism including arson attacks, paralyzing travel to Paris from the rest of France and Europe just hours before the opening ceremony of the Olympics. French authorities described the acts as “criminal” and “malicious.”

Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz said that the sabotage of France’s high-speed rail network was directed by Iran, which Western intelligence agencies have for years labeled as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism.

“The sabotage of railway infrastructure across France ahead of the Olympics was planned and executed under the influence of Iran’s axis of evil and radical Islam,” Katz wrote on X/Twitter. “As I warned my French counterpart [Stéphane Séjourné] this week, based on information held by Israel, Iranians are planning terrorist attacks against the Israeli delegation and all Olympic participants. Increased preventive measures must be taken to thwart their plot. The free world must stop Iran now — before it’s too late.”

Katz was referring to a letter he sent on Thursday to Séjourné raising alarm bells about what he described as a plan by Iran to attack Israel’s Olympic delegation.

Darmanin and French National Police both announced previously that they are taking increased security measures to ensure the safety of Israel’s Olympic delegation while they are in Paris amid mounting threats. These measures include providing them with round the clock security from French police. The Israeli delegation will also receive additional security details from Israel’s Shin Bet security agency during the Olympics.

The post Video of Masked Man Vowing ‘Rivers of Blood’ at Paris Olympics Over Israel Support Appears to Be Fake, of Russia Origin first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Top St. Louis Newspaper Endorses US Rep. Cori Bush’s Opponent, Argues Incumbent’s Israel Stance Is ‘Disqualifying’

US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) raises her fist as US Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) addresses a pro-Hamas demonstration in Washington, DC. Photo: Reuters/Allison Bailey

The editorial board of The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the largest daily newspaper in Missouri, has endorsed the opponent of US Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO), pointing to the incumbent congresswoman’s lack of legislative accomplishments and stance on the Israel-Hamas war. 

The Post-Dispatch argued that Bush’s position on Israel and the Gaza war should be “disqualifying” for any elected representative. The outlet took umbrage with Bush for equating a close democratic ally of the US with a genocidal terrorist organization. 

Israel’s conduct of the war has been far from perfect, but it remains a democracy fighting for survival against an evil terrorist organization. Bush’s tendency to equate both sides — and even to side with the terrorists, as when she cast one of just two House votes against a resolution to bar Hamas members from the US — should in itself be disqualifying for re-election,” the editorial board wrote.

Bush has established herself as one of the most vocal critics of Israel in the US Congress. Only nine days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of roughly 1,200 people in southern Israel, Bush called for an “immediate ceasefire” between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group. As the war dragged on, Bush’s rhetoric toward Israel sharpened, with the congresswoman accusing the Jewish state of committing “genocide” in Gaza and “apartheid” in the West Bank. Bush has also accused Israel of inflicting a “famine” in Gaza without providing evidence. 

Bush seems more interested in pandering to the far-left fringes of the progressive movement than serving her constituents, the Post-Dispatch argued. Bush’s membership in “The Squad” — a clique of far-left progressive, anti-establishment lawmakers in the House of Representatives — has rendered her completely incapable of “accomplishing anything” in the halls of Congress, according to the newspaper.

The editorial board urged its readers to vote for Wesley Bell, pointing to his moderated approach to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as an example of his pragmatism and moral clarity. 

“On Israel, Bell offers an appropriately measured stance, acknowledging the need to protect Gazan civilians and work toward a two-state solution, while supporting America’s closest ally in the Middle East,” the outlet wrote. 

In contrast to Bush, Bell has expressed more sympathy to Israel’s military operations in Gaza, emphatically rejecting the notion that Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute “genocide” or “ethnic cleansing.”

Moreover, Bell has strengthened his ties with the Jewish community over the course of his campaign. The American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), the foremost pro-Israel lobbying group in the US, donated a reported $5 million to Bell’s campaign through its United Democracy Project super PAC. A group of 30 St. Louis-area rabbis penned a letter endorsing Bell, accusing Bush of a “lack of decency, disregard for history, and for intentionally fueling antisemitism and hatred.” Bell also brought about an official “director of Jewish outreach” to increase turnout among the Jewish community. 

A poll commissioned by McLaughlin & Associates and sponsored by the CCA Action Fund, a pro-Bell super PAC, showed Bell with a commanding 56 percent to 33 percent lead over Bush. 

Supporters of Israel see the primary race as a prime opportunity to oust another opponent of the Jewish state from the halls of Congress. Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), a progressive lawmaker, lost his primary race to a pro-Israel challenger on June 25. Over the course of his reelection campaign, Bowman accused Israel of committing “genocide” and enacting “apartheid” against Palestinians. Bowman’s comments incensed Jewish constituents in the leafy suburbs of Westchester County, New York. 

Furthermore, observers are looking to the race as a potential indicator of the Democratic electorate’s position on Israel. Opinions of the Jewish state among Democrats have soured in the months following Oct. 7, calling into question whether anti-Israel views are still a liability with American liberals.

The post Top St. Louis Newspaper Endorses US Rep. Cori Bush’s Opponent, Argues Incumbent’s Israel Stance Is ‘Disqualifying’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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