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The Jewish Sport Report: This inspiring Jewish sports story will never air on TV

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Hello, Jewish Sport Report readers!

Israel’s impressive run at the World Lacrosse Men’s Championship in San Diego came to an end Wednesday in a quarterfinals loss to the United States, the top-ranked team. Before losing to the American team, Israel had beaten Sweden, the Philippines, Puerto Rico, the Czech Republic and Ireland.

Read our recent deep-dive on lacrosse in Israel here.

An inspiring Jewish story cut from ‘American Ninja Warrior’

Members of the Jewish Inspiration Foundation on the set of “American Ninja Warrior.” From left to right: Chaya Ruth Weberman, Eli Casper, Ari Cohen, Esther Schwab and Aydra Jones. (Courtesy of Leah Cohen)

Orthodox athlete Michael Neuman had set it up perfectly. He qualified for the current season of NBC’s obstacle course competition show “American Ninja Warrior.” And he had arranged for a group of children with severe illnesses and disorders from his charitable organization to join him in Los Angeles for the taping.

The kids had the time of their lives. They were going to be featured in the show’s promotional content and on the episode itself. They were put up in a 5-star hotel.

But the semifinals were set to be filmed on Shabbat, and Neuman took himself out of the competition. The show decided not to air any of the footage of Neuman and his foundation, and the children’s parents were devastated that they wouldn’t receive any of the footage as keepsake records.

“I can’t fathom that that’s out there and one day when my son, God forbid, is not here, to know that those pictures and those videos are out there, and I won’t be able to have any comfort in looking at them and seeing them and being proud of them,” Leah Cohen, one of the parents who went on the trip, told me.

Read more about the whole ordeal here.

Halftime report

NO MORE 88. Italian soccer players will no longer be allowed to wear No. 88, after the Italian government and the Italian soccer federation announced a joint initiative this week aimed at curbing antisemitism. The number 88 has been used by neo-Nazis as a coded antisemitic symbol.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN. More than a thousand Jewish teenage athletes from 10 countries are convening for the JCC Maccabi Games next week, an Olympics-style competition put on by the Maccabi World Union. The tournament kicks off on Thursday, and at the opening ceremony next weekend, attendees will hear from Israeli President Isaac Herzog. Israeli NBA player Deni Avdija will light the torch.

ENCORE. After placing third in the Under-20 World Cup, Israel’s under-21 soccer team is on a run of its own at the European Championships. Israel pulled off an upset 1-0 win over the Czech Republic on Wednesday and will advance to the quarterfinals, where they face the host country Georgia on Saturday.

BAGEL-ED. It’s been an up-and-down week, and season, for Oakland A’s fans. But one night before watching their squad lose in a perfect game, Jewish A’s fans were treated to a win-win: their team beat the New York Yankees on Jewish Heritage Night. There were bagels, of course.

LIKE RIDING A BIKE. The Tour de France begins tomorrow, and eight cyclists will suit up for a team called Israel Premier Tech, which features a Star of David on its uniform. But none of them are Jewish or Israeli. The Forward has more.

These Ukrainian teens are headed to Jewish sports camp in California

Clockwise from top left: Leonid Bereslavich, Mark Sagan, Alexey Kulik, Nikita Novitsky, Ilya Miroshnichenko, Veniamin Rudman and Artur Dotsenko (Courtesy of Makkabi Ukraine)

Thanks to a partnership between Maccabi USA and the Ramah camping system, a group of six Ukrainian teens and one counselor are headed to California next week for an all-expenses-paid trip to Ramah Sports Academy.

“For these children, who mainly are now in Ukraine, it’s really a good opportunity to have a good rest, to see another country, to speak with teens the same age as they are,” said Galina Pechaiko, who lives in Kyiv and serves as Makkabi Ukraine’s deputy director.

I spoke with a number of the teens and the organizers of the initiative. Check it out.

Jews in sports to watch this weekend

IN BASEBALL…

Dean Kremer takes the mound for the Baltimore Orioles tonight at 7:05 p.m. ET against the Minnesota Twins. Harrison Bader and the New York Yankees face his old team, the St. Louis Cardinals, in a three-game set this weekend, while Alex Bregman and the Houston Astros take on their division rival Texas Rangers.

IN SOCCER…

Daniel Edelman and the New York Red Bulls host the Columbus Crew Saturday at 7:30 p.m. ET. Edelman is coming off a solid performance against Atlanta, which earned him a spot on the MLS Young Players of the Matchday. Israel’s under-21 national team faces Georgia tomorrow at 12 p.m. ET in the European U-21 Championship.

IN BASKETBALL…

Abby Meyers and the Washington Mystics take on the Atlanta Dream tonight at 7:30 p.m. ET and the Dallas Wings Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

IN RACING…

Lance Stroll will be racing at the Formula One Austrian Grand Prix Sunday at 9 a.m. ET.

Nominate a standout athlete today!

Don’t forget to nominate an awesome Jewish student athlete for our upcoming list of “Jewish Student Athletes to Watch.” We’re looking to highlight high school and college athletes who are stars on and off the field.

Nominations are open through July 12. Nominate someone today!


The post The Jewish Sport Report: This inspiring Jewish sports story will never air on TV appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

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Palestinian Detained after West Bank Terror Ramming

Illustrative: Israeli police at the scene of a car-ramming terrorist attack near a market in Jerusalem on Monday, April 24, 2023. Photograph: Ronen Zvulun/Reuters.

JNS.orgA Palestinian rammed his vehicle into a cop car in the West Bank on Saturday in what the military was investigating as a terror attack.

The incident occurred at the Eli gas station, the scene of repeated acts of terrorism against Israelis.

“A Palestinian vehicle accelerated towards a police car and collided with it, there were no casualties,” according to the Israel Defense Forces.

“Troops caught the terrorist and transferred him to security forces for further investigation,” added the statement.

On Sunday, three Israeli police officers were killed in a drive-by shooting near the Tarqumiya checkpoint, some 7.5 miles northwest of Hebron in Judea.

They were named as Chief Inspector Arik Ben Eliyahu, 37, of Kiryat Gat, who is survived by his wife and three children; Command Sgt. Maj. Hadas Branch, 53, of Sde Moshe, who is survived by her husband, three children and granddaughter; and 1st Sgt. Roni Shakuri, 61, of Sderot, who is survived by his wife, daughter and granddaughter.

Shakuri’s other daughter, 1st Sgt. Mor Shakuri, 29, was killed on Oct. 7 while battling an attempt by Hamas terrorists to take control of the police station in Sderot, in southern Israel near the border with Gaza.

The post Palestinian Detained after West Bank Terror Ramming first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Ukraine Concerned at Reports of Iranian Ballistic Missiles to Russia

A missile unveiled by Iran is launched in an unknown location in Iran in this picture received by Reuters on August 20, 2020. WANA (West Asia News Agency) via REUTERS

Ukraine’s foreign ministry said on Saturday it was deeply concerned by reports about a possible impending transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia.

In a statement emailed to reporters, the ministry said the deepening military cooperation between Tehran and Moscow was a threat to Ukraine, Europe and the Middle East, and called on the international community to increase pressure on Iran and Russia.

CNN and The Wall Street Journal reported on Friday that Iran had transferred short-range ballistic missiles to Russia, citing unidentified sources.

Reuters reported in August that Russia was expecting the imminent delivery of hundreds of Fath-360 close-range ballistic missiles from Iran and that dozens of Russian military personnel were being trained in Iran on the satellite-guided weapons for eventual use in the war in Ukraine.

On Friday, the United States, a key ally of Ukraine, also voiced concern about the potential transfer of missiles.

“Any transfer of Iranian ballistic missiles to Russia would represent a dramatic escalation in Iran’s support for Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine,” White House National Security Council spokesperson Sean Savett said.

Iran’s mission to the United Nations in New York said on Friday that Tehran’s position on the Ukraine conflict was unchanged.

“Iran considers the provision of military assistance to the parties engaged in the conflict – which leads to increased human casualties, destruction of infrastructure, and a distancing from ceasefire negotiations – to be inhumane,” it said.

“Thus, not only does Iran abstain from engaging in such actions itself, but it also calls upon other countries to cease the supply of weapons to the sides involved in the conflict.”

The post Ukraine Concerned at Reports of Iranian Ballistic Missiles to Russia first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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Pakistani Man Charged with Planning Terror Attack Against NY Jews on Oct. 7 or Yom Kippur

The flag of the ISIS terrorist group. Image: Reuters/Alaa Al-Marjani/File Photo.

JNS.orgA Pakistani national, whom Canadian authorities arrested on Wednesday, planned to carry out an ISIS-styled, mass shooting terror attack against Jews in New York, the U.S. Justice Department alleged on Friday.

Muhammad Shahzeb Khan, 20, who also answers to Shahzeb Jadoon, “attempted to travel from Canada to New York City, where he intended to use automatic and semi-automatic weapons to carry out a mass shooting in support of ISIS at a Jewish center in Brooklyn, N.Y.,” per the complaint.

Khan allegedly distributed ISIS videos and literature and expressed support for ISIS on social media and via encrypted messages. Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham is a U.S.-designated terror organization.

The defendant allegedly wrote that he wanted to target “Israeli Jewish Chabads … scattered all around,” per the 19-page complaint.

The Justice Department alleges that Khan “conveyed that he hoped to carry out this attack on or around Oct. 7, 2024—which Khan recognized as the one year anniversary of the brutal terrorist attacks in Israel by Hamas, a designated foreign terror organization, which, on Oct. 7, 2023, launched a wave of violent, large-scale terrorist attacks in Israel that resulted in the deaths and hostage taking of hundreds of civilians, including American citizens.”

Khan allegedly told undercover officers that he wanted to “go for Oct. 7 or Oct 11, Yom Kippur, a major festival for the Jews,” per the complaint. “Khan emphasized that ‘Oct. 7 and Oct. 11 are the best days for targeting the Jews,’ because ‘Oct. 7 they will surely have some protests and Oct. 11 is Yom Kippur,’ and ‘they don’t have any other major festival then till next summer.’”

“In selecting New York City as his target location, Khan told the undercover law enforcement officers that ‘New York is perfect to target Jews’ because it has the ‘largest Jewish population In America,’ and, as such, ‘even if we don’t attack a event, we could rack up easily a lot of Jews,” the complaint adds.

The defendant told the undercover officers that “he intended to kill as many Jewish civilians as possible, proclaiming that ‘we are going to New York City to slaughter them,’” per the complaint, which added that Khan allegedly sent a photograph “of the specific area” where he planned to attack to the undercover officers.

Per the complaint, Khan also allegedly told the undercover officers not to wear beards, so they wouldn’t attract attention, and that “you guys will even have to attend some synagogue or Chabad sessions” to “check the insides of the buildings.” He told them it was necessary to identify emergency exits in buildings, “so we can trap them and kill them inside,” per the complaint.

“In addition, Khan also explained that they should not record their ISIS allegiance video, or ‘bayah,’ until later because it would run the risk of them being caught by law enforcement prior to the planned attack,” the complaint alleges.

One of several cities that Khan flagged had “more relaxed” gun laws, he allegedly told the undercover officers.

“What’s the point of living till you’re 70 and dying on a hospital bed when we can attain shahadah in our youths, Inshalah,” he said, per the complaint. (The complaint defines the first term as a declaration of faith and the second as God willing.)

“The defendant is alleged to have planned a terrorist attack in New York City around Oct. 7 of this year with the stated goal of slaughtering, in the name of ISIS, as many Jewish people as possible,” stated Merrick Garland, the U.S. attorney general.

“Thanks to the investigative work of the FBI, and the quick action of our Canadian law enforcement partners, the defendant was taken into custody,” Garland said. “Jewish communities—like all communities in this country—should not have to fear that they will be targeted by a hate-fueled terrorist attack.”

The post Pakistani Man Charged with Planning Terror Attack Against NY Jews on Oct. 7 or Yom Kippur first appeared on Algemeiner.com.

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