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The Jewish Sport Report: Why Kyrie Irving is making Jewish headlines again
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(JTA) — Hello and happy New Year! I think we’re still allowed to say that, right, Larry David?
This is sure to be an exciting year in the world of sports, from the Pan American Maccabi Games this week to the Paris Olympics this summer and beyond. What sports happenings are you most looking forward to in 2024? Let us know by dropping us a line at sports@jta.org!
Chabad rabbis in Utah brought Jewish pride signs to an NBA game. Kyrie Irving (allegedly) didn’t appreciate it.
Rabbi Avremi Zippel, who works at the Chabad Hasidic movement’s Salt Lake City outpost, is a big Utah Jazz fan. When the Dallas Mavericks and their controversial star Kyrie Irving came to town on Monday, Zippel wanted to be there.
Zippel and three other rabbis — including his brother and father — brought signs reading “I’m a Jew and I’m proud” to the game, where they sat courtside.
When Irving saw the signs, according to Zippel, he pointed out his Star of David tattoo and told the rabbis he was Jewish, too. But then a few minutes later, arena security told the group they had to remove the signs, citing a complaint from Irving.
Irving disputes that any of this happened. Zippel told me Irving’s denial is “a lie.” The Jazz issued a statement saying the issue was “the disruptive interaction caused by usage of the signs, not the content of the signs.” When reached by JTA, the Mavericks declined to comment.
Read about the whole saga here.
Halftime report
NOT A GAME. Police in Argentina arrested three men on suspicion of planning a terror attack amid the Maccabi Games, which have brought more than 4,000 Jewish athletes to Buenos Aires. Argentine President Javier Milei spoke at the tournament’s opening ceremony last week.
BRONX → QUEENS. Jewish outfielder and defensive whiz Harrison Bader has signed a one-year, $10.5 million contract with the New York Mets. Bader, who had committed to playing for Team Israel in the 2023 World Baseball Classic before an injury derailed his plans, joins the Mets after spending most of the last two seasons with the Yankees.
A PIECE OF PEACE. A new mural was painted this week in Brooklyn depicting an Israeli and a Palestinian boy with their arms wrapped around each other, accompanied by the message, “Love’s resilience can rebuild bridges that war has burned.” They’re dressed in the soccer jerseys of global stars Lionel Messi and Christiano Ronaldo, whose numbers are 10 and 7 — an unintended reference to Oct. 7.
DRINK RESPONSIBLY. Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper was fined $300,000 this week after he was caught on camera throwing his drink on fans at last week’s game between the Panthers and the Jacksonville Jaguars. Tepper, whose net worth is north of $20 billion, said he regretted his actions and accepted the league’s disciplinary measure.
Jews in sports to watch this weekend
IN BASKETBALL…
Deni Avdija, who turned 23 on Wednesday, and his Washington Wizards face the Cleveland Cavaliers Friday at 7:30 p.m. ET, and host the New York Knicks Saturday at 7 p.m. ET. Domantas Sabonis, who is converting to Judaism, and the Sacramento Kings host the Toronto Raptors tonight at 10 p.m. ET, and the New Orleans Pelicans Sunday at 6 p.m. ET. In the G League, Ryan Turell and the Motor City Cruise play the Texas Legends tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. ET, while Amari Bailey and the Greensboro Swarm take on the Wisconsin Herd today and tomorrow, both at 8 p.m. ET. Despite Bailey’s 27 points, Turell and the Cruise defeated the Swarm 127-109 on Tuesday.
IN HOCKEY…
Jack and Luke Hughes and the New Jersey Devils host Cole Guttman and the Chicago Blackhawks tonight at 7 p.m. ET. Tomorrow at the same time, in a repeat of last month’s so-called “Hughes Bowl,” the Devils face Quinn Hughes and his Vancouver Canucks. Jack and Quinn were just named All-Stars for this season. Saturday at 10 p.m. ET, Zach Hyman and the Edmonton Oilers host Jakob Chychrun and the Ottawa Senators.
IN FOOTBALL…
It’s the final week of the NFL regular season, and it’s coming down to the wire. Michael Dunn’s Cleveland Browns have clinched a playoff berth, while A.J. Dillon’s Green Bay Packers, Greg Joseph’s Minnesota Vikings and Jake Curhan’s Seattle Seahawks are all fighting to make the postseason. Sunday at 1 p.m. ET, the Vikings play the Detroit Lions and the Browns play the Cincinnati Bengals. Sunday at 4:25 p.m. ET, the Packers host the Chicago Bears while the Seahawks take on the Arizona Cardinals.
IN SOCCER…
Goalkeeper Matt Turner and his Premier League club Nottingham Forest face Blackpool F.C. Sunday at 9 a.m. ET in the third round of the annual British FA Cup tournament. Blackpool play in the third tier of English football.
New year, new sports league
The Professional Women’s Hockey League officially launched its inaugural season this week with six teams: Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa and Toronto. The league has two known Jewish players: goaltenders Aerin Frankel, 24, who plays for Boston, and Abigail Levy, 23, who plays for New York
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The post The Jewish Sport Report: Why Kyrie Irving is making Jewish headlines again appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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Palestinian Detained after West Bank Terror Ramming
JNS.org – A 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
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
JNS.org – A 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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