Uncategorized
As Kyrie Irving offers ‘deep apologies’ and returns to Nets, Black Hebrew Israelites rally in Brooklyn
(JTA) — Kyrie Irving returned Sunday from an eight-game suspension after again apologizing for promoting an antisemitic film on Twitter.
“I just want to offer my deep apologies to all those who were impacted over these last few weeks, specifically my Jewish relatives, my Black relatives, all races and cultures,” Irving said prior to Sunday’s game between his Brooklyn Nets and the Memphis Grizzlies. “Feel like we all felt an impact and I don’t stand for anything close to hate speech or antisemitism or anything that is ‘anti,’ going against the human race.”
Irving also seemed to reflect on the way he handled the now month-long saga, which included his repeated refusal to apologize for his tweet and his insistence that he “cannot be antisemitic.”
Irving continued: “I feel like we all should have an opportunity to speak for ourselves when things are assumed about us and I feel it was necessary for me to stand in this place and take accountability for my actions, because there was a way I should have handled all this and as I look back and reflect when I had the opportunity to offer my deep regrets to anyone that felt threatened or felt hurt by what I posted, that wasn’t my intent at all.”
Irving had ultimately apologized Nov. 3, hours after his suspension was announced. “To All Jewish families and Communities that are hurt and affected from my post, I am deeply sorry to have caused you pain, and I apologize,” Irving wrote in an Instagram post.
Critics of Kyrie’s decision to tweet a link to the film, “Hebrews to Negroes: Wake Up Black America,” noted that it boosted sales of the film and a related book that promotes the idea that Jews were heavily involved in the Atlantic slave trade, denies the Holocaust and says Black people are the real Jews.
Followers of a group that ascribes to such theories gathered at the Grand Army Plaza, a half mile from the Nets’ arena Sunday, chanting “it’s time to wake up. I’ve got good news for you, we are the real Jews.” The group included dozens of people from Israel United in Christ, a New York-based group associated with the Black Hebrew Israelite movement. The movement — not to be confused with the International Israelite Board of Rabbis, which embraces mainstream Jewish beliefs — has been designated a hate group by the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The group then convened directly outside Barclays Center, distributing antisemitic flyers titled “The Truth About Anti-Semitism” and “The Truth about Slavery.”
Kyrie Irving has a lot of support outside of Barclays Center today
(Via @PlainJaneDee_) pic.twitter.com/DQpSAJ0ool
— NBACentral (@TheNBACentral) November 20, 2022
When asked about the demonstration after the game, Irving first said he was unaware of what had happened. When given more information by a reporter, Irving declined to comment.
“I think that’s a conversation for another day. I’m just here to focus on the game,” he said.
Boston Celtics star Jaylen Brown, who, along with Irving, is a vice president of the NBA Players Association, retweeted a video of the group with the caption “Energy.”
He later clarified that he “was not aware of what specific group” was in the video, and was “celebrating the unification of our people welcoming the return of Kyrie to the court.”
Irving scored 14 points in 26 minutes in Sunday’s game, saying afterward that “it felt good” to be back. “Now we can move forward with the rest of the season,” he added. When asked if he planned to file a grievance for his suspension, Irving did not directly answer.
“I have some strong people, men and women, around me that are going to do everything possible to make sure that I’m protected and my family’s protected and we protect one another, so I’m sure some things will be done in the future,” Irving said. “There’s no timetable on that right now.”
Irving was suspended for at least five games Nov. 3, days after he shared the film on Twitter and after considerable pressure from Jewish groups and others around sports. Nike also severed ties with Irving.
The Nets had laid out a slate of “remedial steps” the star point guard would need to take in order to be reinstated. Among them was meeting with Jewish leaders, including the Anti-Defamation League, which has been advising the Nets throughout the controversy.
According to NBC News, the Nets praised Irving for his actions since the suspension. “Kyrie took ownership of this journey and had conversations with several members of the Jewish community,” the team said in a statement. “We are pleased that he is going about the process in a meaningful way.”
—
The post As Kyrie Irving offers ‘deep apologies’ and returns to Nets, Black Hebrew Israelites rally in Brooklyn appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Deal to release ‘ALL of the hostages’ from Gaza has been struck, Trump announces

Dozens of Israeli hostages held for two years in Gaza, including 20 who remain alive, are set to be released imminently following an agreement between Israel and Hamas that could lead to a permanent ceasefire.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced the deal on Wednesday evening, saying that both sides had signed off on a “first phase” of the peace proposal he unveiled last week. The agreement came a day after the second anniversary of Hamas’ attack on southern Israel, when the group that has controlled Gaza took about 250 hostages. Of them, 48 remain.
“This means that ALL of the Hostages will be released very soon, and Israel will withdraw their Troops to an agreed upon line as the first steps toward a Strong, Durable, and Everlasting Peace. All Parties will be treated fairly!” he wrote on Truth Social. “This is a GREAT Day for the Arab and Muslim World, Israel, all surrounding Nations, and the United States of America, and we thank the mediators from Qatar, Egypt, and Turkey, who worked with us to make this Historic and Unprecedented Event happen. BLESSED ARE THE PEACEMAKERS!”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed the agreement in a post on X. “With the approval of the first phase of the plan, all our hostages will be brought home. This is a diplomatic success and a national and moral victory for the State of Israel,” he wrote.
Soon, social media began to fill with footage of celebrations. In Israel, hostage families who have battled for their loved ones’ return could be seen dancing in jubilation and the hostages freed in past ceasefires posted videos of themselves weeping as they addressed the men they were forced to leave behind. In Gaza, Palestinians who have endured two years of deadly bombing, pressing hunger and mass displacement expressed hope that the pressing dangers they face could soon recede.
An exact timeline for the hostage release was not immediately clear, but Israeli media reported that urgent preparations were underway with the expectation that hostages could come home by the weekend — ahead of the Simchat Torah holiday that marks the two-year anniversary of the attack in the Jewish calendar. Family members abroad were being flown to Israel and hospitals were being prepared to receive 20 men who have experienced two years of brutality and hunger.
Special attention was being paid, Israeli media reported, to the families whose loved ones would not immediately return — while Hamas committed to returning the bodies of deceased hostages, it has reportedly not yet located all of them and there is a widespread expectation that some may never be found.
U.S. Jewish groups as well as Israeli hostage advocacy groups welcomed the announcement in press releases and videos that expressed appreciation for Trump’s aggressive efforts to press for a deal. Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner and his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff joined the Gaza talks earlier on Wednesday, in a sign that an agreement was potentially imminent.
The exact terms of the deal were still emerging on Wednesday evening but Israeli media was reporting that Israel would retain control of a majority of Gaza until the last hostage is released and that Israeli would not be required to release from its prisons anyone involved in the Oct. 7 attack.
Many elements of Trump’s peace proposal, including demands that Hamas disarm and that a postwar governance structure be established, are expected to be negotiated after the first phase. Israel ended the last ceasefire, in February, rather than continue negotiating. But Trump has indicated that he plans to maintain pressure on both sides to extend their truce into a permanent peace.
—
The post Deal to release ‘ALL of the hostages’ from Gaza has been struck, Trump announces appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
Uncategorized
Israel and Hamas have agreed to hostage release deal, Trump announces
All remaining living hostages taken on Oct. 7, 2023 could be released this weekend as part of a multi-phase deal proposed by President Trump, with the first phase agreed to by Israel and Hamas, according to published reports.
The plan, if adopted in full, would eventually end the two-year war that started when Hamas killed almost 1,200 people in Israel and kidnapped hundreds. Israel’s attacks on the Gaza strip, where the hostages were taken, have since killed at least 66,000 Palestinians, the Gaza Health Ministry says, and left much of the enclave in ruins.
The new deal would require Israel to release Palestinian prisoners in exchange for the 20 living hostages; two previous agreements followed the same parameters in November 2023 and earlier this year.
Israel agreed to pause its military offensive late last week when Hamas indicated willingness to release the hostages, assuming details could be negotiated. This new agreement would require Israel to pull troops back to an agreed-upon line.
The deal was announced by Trump on Wednesday evening and negotiated in Egypt, where his Middle East envoy, Steve Witkoff, and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, hours before.
This is a developing story.
The post Israel and Hamas have agreed to hostage release deal, Trump announces appeared first on The Forward.
Uncategorized
It was once Sweden’s only news broadcast — what did it say about Israel?

The team behind Israel and Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989 bares it all with the title of their documentary. It is, in fact, three and a half hours of footage about the conflict from the Swedish public broadcaster Sveriges Television AB (SVT), stitched together in mostly chronological order.
SVT was founded in 1956 and held a monopoly on news broadcasts in Sweden until the early 90s, when the commercial channel TV4 was launched. The intention behind SVT programs was to present impartial news produced solely by Swedes.
In the two years since the beginning of the current war, there’s been a renewed interest in understanding the history of the Israeli-Palestine conflict. For those well-versed in the region’s history, they likely won’t learn anything new here. For those who don’t know much, it’s a good crash course — if one considers three and a half hours to be succinct.

The film, directed by Göran Hugo Olsson, documents many major developments that happened in Israel during those three decades, including big waves of American immigration in the 60s, economic growth, and, of course, the Six Day and Yom Kippur wars. Although the early footage focuses on Israel’s impressive agricultural projects and the modernization of the country’s major cities, as the years go on, the increasing focus is on the plight of Palestinians in Lebanese refugee camps and the Gaza Strip, as well as political unrest within Israel.
The film opens with the statement that archival material “doesn’t tell us what really happened — but says a lot about how it was told,” so the broader implications of the footage are left up to the viewer’s interpretation. Some may see a welcome, growing awareness of Palestinian suffering. Others may see overly harsh criticisms of Israeli policies that disregard the country’s security issues. With no elaboration or editorializing, it doesn’t feel like the film is helping clarify or challenge the audience’s preconceived notions about the conflict.
And although the footage is Swedish, it’s unclear what, if anything, that lends to the conversation. There is barely anything in the film about Swedish attitudes towards Israel, though we get a peek into diverging viewpoints during a 1964 debate between diplomat Gunnar Häglöff and political scientist Herbert Tingsten about the issue of Palestinian refugees. In a 1968 broadcast, two Swedish journalists question Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Abba Eban about the Israeli government destroying Arab homes. There are also interviews with Swedish soldiers from the United Nations who were stationed at a former railway station on the border between Gaza and Egypt in 1975. They have little to say about the conflict, however, and are more interested in discussing how they can build a sauna, a luxury from home they can’t live without.

How the Swedish government or its citizens have felt about Israel over the years remains strangely obscured. Whatever impact this footage may have had on Swedish-Israel relations and how these broadcasts were received is never discussed. It’s especially unfortunate that the films offers no way to compare the countries’ past relationship to current diplomatic tensions around Israel’s treatment of activist Greta Thunberg
With the humanitarian crisis in Gaza growing more dire and the future of Israel’s democracy becoming an increasingly pressing issue, one wonders what can be gained from the rehashing of history on view in Israel and Palestine on Swedish TV. The documentary primarily underscores a point most people already understand by now: The situation in Israel and Palestine is complicated. It’s violent. It feels neverending. Most people probably don’t need to watch a three and a half hour documentary to tell them that.
‘Israel and Palestine on Swedish TV 1958-1989’ opens at Film Forum NYC on October 10th.
The post It was once Sweden’s only news broadcast — what did it say about Israel? appeared first on The Forward.