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US sports teams and athletes show unprecedented amount of support for Israel after Hamas attacks
(JTA) — In an unprecedented show of support for Israel, a number of professional athletes and sports teams issued statements about Hamas’ invasion of the country, which has left over 900 dead.
“The NBA and [the NBA Players’ Association] mourn the horrific loss of life in Israel and condemn these acts of terrorism,” the NBA posted on X, the social media platform previously known as Twitter. The league’s commissioner, Adam Silver, is Jewish. “We stand with the people of Israel and pray for peace for the entire region.”
Numerous NBA teams then reposted the league’s message. The Washington Wizards, the team of the NBA’s lone Israeli player, Deni Avdija, posted that they “stand with the people of Israel.”
The MLB posted a statement on Monday afternoon, writing on X that the league is “horrified by the acts of terrorism committed against the people of Israel” and is “heartbroken for the people of Israel.”
— MLB (@MLB) October 9, 2023
Baltimore Orioles Israeli pitcher Dean Kremer, who was born in California to Israeli parents and has played for Team Israel in international tournaments, shared the MLB’s message on Instagram with a Hebrew note saying, “There are no words. My heart just got ripped to shreds.”
Kremer is likely to start the Orioles’ playoff game Tuesday — which they have to win to stay alive in the American League Division Series against the Texas Rangers — and Orioles beat reporter Dan Connolly tweeted that some of Kremer’s teammates have checked in on him.
Similar messages of support have poured in from across the sports world over the past three days, including from New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft, who is Jewish and a longtime supporter of Israel.
A statement from our founder Robert Kraft. pic.twitter.com/VW3oxNzNvH
— Stand Up to Jewish Hate # (@StandUp2JewHate) October 9, 2023
Other teams that shared posts of support for Israel include the NHL’s New Jersey Devils, Miami’s MLB and NBA teams, the New York Jets, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia 76ers, among others.
Detroit Lions player Alex Anzalone shared that his parents are currently in Jerusalem, pleading with the U.S. government to help them safely evacuate. “It’s hard,” Anzalone told the Detroit News. “(It’s) really all I’ve been thinking about.”
Anzalone’s parents are reportedly part of a group of 53 Americans who arrived in Israel on Oct. 2 as part of a tour group through their church in Naples, Florida. Rep. Byron Donalds, who represents the area in Congress, posted about the group on X, to which Anzalone replied: “My parents are in this group. Please get my parents home… @POTUS,” tagging President Joe Biden’s official account.
Amar’e Stoudemire, the former NBA star who converted to Judaism and played professionally in Israel, shared a video on Instagram calling for a ceasefire, saying he “pray[s] for the safety of Palestinian children along with the Israeli children.” Former Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman wrote on X that he is “heartbroken.”
— Julian Edelman (@Edelman11) October 8, 2023
Boston Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla spoke about the war during his pregame press conference on Sunday, saying, “there should be a lot of thoughts and prayers” for Israelis.
“I went this past year and I went in 2016,” Mazzulla said. “It doesn’t matter what you are, whether you’re a Muslim, whether you’re Jewish or Christian, Israeli or Palestinian. They’re people and they go through a lot of dangerous times and situations. Our country is 400 years old and they’ve been going through suffering for 10,000 years. You start to see the perspective of the world, and it’s a really, really tough area to be. So I think we should all be aware of that.”
In Israel, the conflict has already begun affecting previously planned sports events. The Israeli national soccer team’s upcoming Euro 2024 qualifying match against Switzerland, which was scheduled for Thursday, has been postponed. Matches for Israel’s under-17 and under-21 soccer teams were also postponed.
“In light of the current security situation in Israel, UEFA has decided to postpone all matches scheduled in Israel in the next couple of weeks with new dates to be confirmed in due course,” the Union of European Football Associations announced Sunday.
Israel’s top basketball and soccer leagues have also postponed games. The Maccabi Ra’anana basketball team is scheduled to play an exhibition game against the Brooklyn Nets in New York on Thursday as the team celebrates a previously scheduled Israeli Heritage Night. (The Jewish Sport Report, JTA’s sports newsletter, and the New York Jewish Week are co-sponsoring the event.)
The Hapoel Tel Aviv Football Club shared on social media that former player Lior Assulin and youth coach Alon Shamli were both killed during the attacks.
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Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians
US President Donald Trump and Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu talk in the midst of a joint news conference in the White House in Washington, US, Jan. 28, 2020. Photo: REUTERS/Brendan McDermid
Saudi Arabia affirmed its categorical rejection of remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about displacing Palestinians from their land, the foreign ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
Israeli officials have suggested the establishment of a Palestinian state on Saudi territory. Netanyahu appeared to be joking on Thursday when he responded to an interviewer on pro-Netanyahu Channel 14 who mistakenly said “Saudi state” instead of “Palestinian state,” before correcting himself.
While the Saudi statement mentioned Netanyahu’s name, it did not directly refer to the comments about establishing a Palestinian state in Saudi territory.
Egypt and Jordan also condemned the Israeli suggestions, with Cairo deeming the idea as a “direct infringement of Saudi sovereignty.”
The kingdom said it valued “brotherly” states’ rejection of Netanyahu’s remarks.
“This occupying extremist mindset does not comprehend what the Palestinian territory means for the brotherly people of Palestine and its conscientious, historical and legal association with that land,” it said.
Discussions of the fate of Palestinians in Gaza has been upended by Tuesday’s shock proposal from President Donald Trump that the U.S. would “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
Arab states have roundly condemned Trump’s comments, which came during a fragile ceasefire in the Gaza war that Israel has been waging against the terrorist group Hamas, which controls the narrow strip.
Trump has said Saudi Arabia was not demanding a Palestinian state as a condition for normalizing ties with Israel. But Riyadh rebuffed his statements, saying it would not establish ties with Israel without the creation of a Palestinian state.
The post Saudi Arabia Rejects Israel PM Netanyahu’s Remarks on Displacing Palestinians first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments
US President Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meet at the White House in Washington, DC, US, Feb. 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elizabeth Frantz
Egypt will host an emergency Arab summit on 27 February to discuss what it described as “serious” developments for Palestinians, according to a statement from the Egyptian foreign ministry on Sunday.
The summit comes amid regional and global condemnation of US President Donald Trump’s suggestion to “take over the Gaza Strip” from Israel and create a “Riviera of the Middle East” after resettling Palestinians elsewhere.
The post Egypt to Host Emergency Arab Summit on 27 February to Discuss ‘Serious’ Palestinian Developments first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Thai Nationals Held Captive by Hamas in Gaza Return Home
Relatives hug a released Thai hostage, who was kidnapped during the deadly October 7, 2023 attack by Hamas and held in Gaza, as the hostages arrive in Thailand following their release, at Bangkok Suvarnabhumi Airport, in Samut Prakan, Thailand, February 9, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Athit Perawongmetha
When Surasak Rumnao, 31, left his home in Thailand’s rural Udon Thani province three years ago to go across the world to the southern Israeli town of Yesha for agriculture work, his family never imagined they would lose touch with him for over a year when he was kidnapped by Hamas terrorists in October 2023.
He and four others were reunited with their families this weekend after their release from captivity in Gaza.
Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists abducted more than 250 people, including Israelis and foreign nationals, in their October 2023 attack on Israel.
During the attack, Hamas terrorists killed more than 40 Thais and kidnapped 31 Thai laborers, some of whom died in captivity, according to the Thai government. Later that year, the first group of Thai hostages was returned.
Surasak’s mother, Khammee Rumnao, was relieved that her son was not mistreated and has returned to his home, about 620 km(385 miles) northeast of the capital, Bangkok.
“He mainly got to eat bread, he was looked after well and was fed all three meals (each day). He got to shower, he was looked after well,” Khammee said, and that he ate whatever his captors had.
Her son does not plan to go back and wants to use the knowledge he gained in his agricultural work in Israel at their home, she said.
His grandparents and other relatives came to their home to welcome him home.
His stepfather, Janda Prachanan, was elated.
“I couldn’t find the words to describe how happy I am, that my son is safe and finally home,” he said.
Earlier on Sunday, the other returnees, dressed in winter jackets, were met with tears of joy from their families who were waiting for their arrival at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi Airport.
“We are all deeply touched to come back to our birthplace … to be standing here,” said Pongsak Thaenna, one of the returnees said. “I don’t know what else to say, we are all truly thankful.”
Thai Foreign Minister Maris Sangiampongsa, who met the hostages in Israel after their release last week, expressed relief.
“This is emotional … to come back to the embrace of their families,” he said. “We never gave up and this was the fruit of that.”
Before the conflict, approximately 30,000 Thai laborers worked in Israel’s agriculture sector, making them one of the largest migrant worker groups in the country. Nearly 9,000 Thais were repatriated following the October 7 attacks.
The workers primarily come from Thailand’s northeastern region, an area comprising villages and farming communities that is among the poorest in the country.
Thailand’s foreign ministry said a Thai national is still believed to be held captive by Hamas.
“We still have hope and continue to work to bring them back,” Maris said, adding that this includes the bodies of two deceased Thai nationals.
The post Thai Nationals Held Captive by Hamas in Gaza Return Home first appeared on Algemeiner.com.