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Amazon will not pull antisemitic movie promoted by Kyrie Irving, says Jewish CEO
(JTA) – Bucking weeks of public pressure from Jewish groups, celebrities and the Brooklyn Nets, Amazon will not stop selling an antisemitic documentary on its service that was promoted by NBA star Kyrie Irving.
The company’s CEO Andy Jassy, who is Jewish, said Wednesday that Amazon had no plans to remove or add a disclaimer to “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” whose Amazon link Irving ignited a firestorm by tweeting about it earlier this month. Amazon had previously considered whether to add a disclaimer.
“As a retailer of content to hundreds of millions of customers with a lot of different viewpoints, we have to allow access to those viewpoints, even if they are objectionable — objectionable and they differ from our particular viewpoints,” Jassy told the audience at the New York Times DealBook Summit.
Jassy drew a distinction between the film, which promotes antisemitic conspiracy theories about the relationship between Jews and Black people, and content that he said “actively incites or promotes violence or teaches people how to do things like pedophilia.” With the latter, he said, decisions to remove content are “more straightforward.”
The e-commerce giant had been internally debating whether to remove the film for weeks, according to reports in Variety. It had been uploaded to the site independently via a program called Prime Direct, which allows user-generated content to be sold on the site’s streaming services.
Irving’s tweet — which shared an Amazon link to the documentary without further comment — came on the heels of more explicitly antisemitic behavior from rapper Kanye West and sparked the ire of the Anti-Defamation League and the Nets, who eventually solicited an apology from the athlete. Nike ended a sponsorship deal with Irving following the tweet. Black Hebrew Israelites, a group whose ideology is promoted in the film, rallied to Irving’s defense.
But critics ranging from ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith to Spotify podcaster Joe Rogan questioned why Amazon was escaping scrutiny for providing the film on its platform.
The ADL has since called on Amazon to do so, and was joined by the American Jewish Committee and a chorus of entertainment figures including Jewish celebrities like Mila Kunis and Mayim Bialik and Jewish studio managers like Haim Saban and Ben Silverman.
According to the Variety report, the ADL’s activism may have been one reason why Amazon declined to take action, as it would be “difficult from an optics perspective,” the outlet wrote, to bow to the demands of a Jewish group amid so many public figures declaring that Jews control the media.
Amazon has in the past removed books promoting pedophilia from its site after news reports, and after the Jan. 6, 2021, attempted insurrection at the U.S. Capitol it removed the white-supremacist novel “The Turner Diaries,” which contains violent antisemitic fantasies and is often used as a hate-group recruiting tool.
After briefly banning Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf” in 2020, the site then reinstated it while adding a disclaimer to the version sold on its site reading, “As a bookseller, we think it is important to offer this infamous work because of its historical significance and educational role in the understanding and prevention of anti-Semitism.” This version of the manifesto also includes an introduction written in the 1990s by the ADL.
Jassy’s position on the film is the latest example of major tech leaders debating their hands-off stances when it comes to moderating antisemitic content on their sites. In 2020, Meta’s Jewish CEO Mark Zuckerberg pledged to remove Holocaust denial from Facebook, reversing an earlier stance that said it wasn’t the company’s place to do so. More recently, newly minted Twitter CEO Elon Musk has taken steps to loosen previous restrictions of antisemitic content on the social media site, including by reinstating Kanye West’s account.
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The post Amazon will not pull antisemitic movie promoted by Kyrie Irving, says Jewish CEO appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
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US Strikes More Than 90 Iranian Military Targets on Kharg Island, CENTCOM Says
A satellite image shows an oil terminal at Kharg Island, Iran, February 25, 2026. Photo: 2026 Planet Labs PBC/Handout via REUTERS
United States forces executed a large-scale precision strike on Kharg Island in Iran on Friday night, the US Central Command said on Saturday.
“US forces successfully struck more than 90 Iranian military targets on Kharg Island, while preserving the oil infrastructure,” CENTCOM said.
The strike destroyed naval mine storage facilities, missile storage bunkers, and multiple other military sites, the US military said in a post on X.
President Donald Trump threatened on Friday to strike the oil infrastructure of Iran’s Kharg Island hub, unless Tehran stopped attacking vessels in the Strait of Hormuz.
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North Korea Fires Ten Ballistic Missiles Toward the Sea of Japan
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and wife Ri Sol Ju inspect an honour guard before leaving Pyongyang for a visit to China, this January 7, 2019 photo released by North Korea’s Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) in Pyongyang January 8, 2019. Photo: KCNA via REUTERS.
i24 News – North Korea fired roughly ten ballistic missiles toward the Sea of Japan on Saturday, the South Korean military reported, marking a new act of defiance amid Seoul and Washington’s annual joint military exercises.
The launches, originating from the Sunan area near Pyongyang, were detected around 1:20 p.m. local time, according to a statement from the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff.
The missiles were directed toward the East Sea—the Korean name for the Sea of Japan—though details on their range or trajectory were not immediately available. Earlier, the South Korean Ministry of Defense had already confirmed the launch of at least one unidentified projectile in the same area.
The Japanese Ministry of Defense also verified the incident, noting that a suspected ballistic missile had been launched from North Korea.
The launches come amid rising tensions on the Korean Peninsula. Since Monday, the United States and South Korea have been conducting their annual joint exercises, which will continue through March 19 and involve approximately 18,000 South Korean troops alongside an unspecified number of U.S. forces.
Pyongyang has sharply criticized the drills, calling them a rehearsal for invasion. Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, warned this week that the exercises could trigger “terrible and unimaginable consequences.”
The missile tests also coincide with fading prospects for inter-Korean dialogue. Kim Jong-un recently dismissed outreach efforts from South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, labeling Seoul “the most hostile enemy.”
The show of force occurred just hours after South Korean Prime Minister Kim Min-seok, during a visit to the United States, mentioned a potential meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un—a meeting Washington still considers possible.
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Dutch Authorities Investigate Explosion at Jewish School Claimed by Extremist Group
Police outside a Jewish school following an explosion that caused minor damages, in Amsterdam, Netherlands, March 14, 2026. Photo: REUTERS/Piroschka van de Wouw
i24 News – An explosion struck a Jewish school on Zeelandstraat in Amsterdam-Buitenveldert during the night between Friday and Saturday, Dutch authorities confirmed. Emergency responders, including police and firefighters, acted swiftly, and officials reported that the building suffered only limited damage. No injuries have been reported.
Mayor Femke Halsema described the incident as a deliberate attack against the Jewish community in the city, emphasizing that the authorities are treating the case “very seriously.” Security camera footage showing the individual who detonated the device is under investigation.
In an unverified online video, previously little-known group identifying itself as Ashab Al Yamim later claimed responsibility for the blast. The group released online footage appearing to show the small explosion followed by a fire outside the school. Its logo was also seen in videos related to an attack on a synagogue in Rotterdam earlier this week.
Dutch investigators are coordinating with the judiciary to determine the full circumstances of the attack and whether additional suspects were involved. Authorities noted that the organization had not been previously known to security services.
The explosion comes amid rising security concerns for Jewish institutions across Europe, following heightened tensions in the Middle East. The group behind the claim has also alleged responsibility for previous incidents targeting Jewish sites in Europe, including attacks in Liège, Belgium, and Rotterdam, though these claims remain unverified.
Jewish schools, synagogues, and community centers across the continent have stepped up security measures in recent weeks amid fears of potential threats to Jewish communities.