FOXBOROUGH, Mass: Memphis Grizzlies forward Omri Casspi, who was born in Israel, was early in his NBA career when he saw a picture of himself defaced with a swastika. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Josh Rosen grew up with kids who made fun of the size of his nose.
New England Patriots receiver Julian Edelman has heard anti-Semitic taunts during games, but he had been willing to write them off as opposing fans “just trying to get underneath your skin.”
“You’ve been called stuff here and here,” Edelman said. “But nothing to the extent where it’s got me feeling the way a lot of Jews are feeling right now.”
In the month since a massacre at the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh killed 11 and injured six others, Jewish athletes said they were shocked by the shooting yet not concerned for their own safety as they travel, train and compete.
“There’s crazy people out there, and it is what it is,” Casspi said. “The notion is that anti-Semitism is dead — it’s always going to be (around). Some people are just like that. There’s going to be racist people, there’s going to be anti-Semites.”
Robert Bowers has pleaded not guilty to murder and hate crime charges in the Oct. 27 shooting during Shabbat morning services. He remains jailed without bail.
Americans of all religions have rallied in support for the victims of the deadliest anti-Semitic attack in US history. Hometown quarterback Ben Roethlisberger wore cleats integrating a Jewish star into the Steelers logo, along with the words “Stronger than Hate.”
But for Jewish athletes, the shooting hit especially hard.
“I’m horrified by it,” said Los Angeles Angels manager Brad Ausmus, who managed the Israeli team in the 2013 World Baseball Classic. “Just the callousness and the loss of life. It takes someone that’s unhuman to do something like that to innocent people.”
Jews in the United States have long cherished role models like Detroit Tigers slugger Hank Greenberg, Chicago Bears quarterback Sid Luckman or Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz. And any history of Jewish athletes includes the time Dodgers ace Sandy Koufax refused to pitch in the World Series because it conflicted with the holiday of Yom Kippur.
Other Jewish players remain scattered throughout sports — a point of pride for fellow Jews but also a potential target for anti-Semitism.
“Sometimes people don’t even think they’re being racist but they might be a little offensive,” Rosen said.
Casspi said he has always felt safe in the US, but while playing in Europe his Israeli team at times encountered violent protesters or played with no fans in the arena out of safety concerns.
Athletes speak often of worrying only about things within their control; as far as game preparation goes, racism and religious bigotry qualify as distractions. And so Edelman’s inclination was to “keep your head down” and not let it bother him.
“A lot of guys have got to deal with a lot of stuff when it comes to name calling,” he said. “You get so wrapped up in football and your assignment that you brush stuff off and don’t let it get to you. ... You take the high road, and you go from there.”
But after the synagogue shooting, Edelman decided it was time to go public.
Following the Patriots Nov. 4 victory over the Green Bay Packers, he wore an Israeli baseball cap for his postgame interviews as a shoutout to those in Pittsburgh.
“It’s disgusting what happened. And I’m just backing them up,” he said in a follow-up interview. “I’m proud of who I am and what I am. Just to let these victims know: ‘We’re all with you. This is a very tough time for you. I can’t even imagine. But you have support.’“
“It’s not like one of those things where you’re gonna put your head under the ground and kind of hide,” he said. “You’re gonna say, ‘Hey, that’s what makes us stronger.’“
Rosen has also embraced his Judaism, developing a celebration dance called “The Hebrew Hammer” in the hopes that he can be a role model for Jewish fans and also a leader in a locker room that includes a variety of races and religions.
“You can identify with any leader or role model you want. I’m just trying to be a good one,” he said. “It is a part of me that I’m proud of, culturally.”
Ausmus said many of the Jewish baseball players have a kinship, some of it from being part of a minority in the sport and some from playing together in the World Baseball Classic. “(It) has kind of fostered that feeling of connection,” he said.
“They’re spread throughout ... 25 different organizations, they come together,” Ausmus said. “Every four years, you make that connection based on your heritage.”
A three-time Gold Glove catcher who went to Dartmouth and played 18 years for four major league clubs, Ausmus said he wasn’t particularly religious when growing up with a Jewish mother and Protestant father.
The only time he experienced anti-Semitism as a major leaguer was when a fan shouted things at a teammate.
The thing is: he wasn’t even Jewish.
“His last name sounded Jewish,” Ausmus said. “So the fan was ignorant in a couple different areas.”
Jewish athletes condemn anti-Semitism after temple shooting
Jewish athletes condemn anti-Semitism after temple shooting
Ousted Bangladesh PM Hasina’s son denies graft in $12.65 billion nuclear deal
- Bangladesh’s Anti Corruption Commission has launched corruption inquiry into Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project, backed by Russia’s state-owned Rosatom
- Rosatom, world’s largest supplier of enriched uranium, refuted the allegations, adding that it was committed to combat corruption in all its projects
NEW DELHI: Ousted Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s son and adviser on Tuesday described allegations of corruption involving the family in the 2015 awarding of a $12.65 billion nuclear power contract as “completely bogus” and a “smear campaign.”
Bangladesh’s Anti Corruption Commission said on Monday it had launched an enquiry into allegations of corruption, embezzlement and money laundering in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project, backed by Russia’s state-owned Rosatom.
A deal for two power plants, each with a capacity of 1,200 megawatts, was signed in 2015.
The commission has alleged that there were financial irregularities worth about $5 billion involving Hasina, her son Sajeeb Wazed and her niece and British treasury minister Tulip Siddiq, through offshore accounts.
Rosatom, the world’s largest supplier of enriched uranium, refuted the allegations, adding that it was committed to combat corruption in all its projects and that it maintains a transparent procurement system.
“Rosatom State Corporation is ready to defend its interests and reputation in court,” it said in an emailed statement to Reuters.
“We consider false statements in the media as an attempt to discredit the Rooppur NPP project, which is being implemented to solve the country’s energy supply problems and is aimed at improving the well-being of the people of Bangladesh.”
Siddiq did not respond to a request for comment.
A spokesperson for British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Siddiq had denied any involvement in the claims and that he had confidence in her. Siddiq would continue in her role, the spokesperson added.
Wazed, speaking on behalf of the family, said they were the targets of a political witch hunt in Bangladesh.
“These are completely bogus allegations and a smear campaign. My family nor I have ever been involved or taken any money from any government projects,” he told Reuters from Washington, where he lives.
“It is not possible to siphon off billions from a $10 billion project. We also don’t have any offshore accounts. I have been living in the US for 30 years, my aunt and cousins in the UK for a similar amount of time. We obviously have accounts here, but none of us have ever seen that kind of money.”
Reuters could not contact Hasina, who has not been seen in public since fleeing to New Delhi in early August following a deadly uprising against her in Bangladesh. Since then, an interim government has been running the country.
The government in Dhaka said on Monday it had asked India to send Hasina back. New Delhi has confirmed the request but declined further comment.
Wazeb said the family had not made a decision on Hasina’s return to Bangladesh and that New Delhi had not asked her to seek asylum elsewhere.
Kashmir’s ‘bee queen’ sets out to empower women, inspire youth
- Sania Zehra manages about 600 bee colonies, sells products across India
- She created an empowerment group to help aspiring women entrepreneurs
NEW DELHI: For the past four years, beekeeping has become central to Sania Zehra’s life. Every morning, she wakes at about 6 a.m. to tend to her colonies, before spending the rest of the day building the enterprise that turned her into the “bee queen” of Kashmir.
Her beekeeping journey began as a 16-year-old, watching her father hard at work at the family farm in Balhama in Indian-controlled Kashmir.
“I first saw my grandfather working with the bees, and then I saw my father doing the same business. When I saw my father working hard, I decided to also contribute and support him,” Zehra told Arab News.
She overcame her initial fear of bee stings and got to work immediately, applying for a government scheme that allowed her to expand the business.
It was not always smooth sailing — she struggled to make a profit in the first couple of years and had to juggle maintaining the hectic routine of beekeeping and selling her products.
But as her hard work of managing hundreds of colonies garnered her the “bee queen” title, today her products are being sold across the country.
“I am selling my product across India (and) I am getting orders from Saudi Arabia, Pakistan, Dubai, South Africa, Qatar and all,” Zehra said.
Beekeeping is a multi-pronged passion for the 20-year-old, who sees it as a way to protect the environment and preserve her family legacy.
She joins an increasing number of women in Kashmir who are running their own businesses, many of whom access government programs aimed at training and supporting women entrepreneurs.
Despite the social barriers that persist to this day, Zehra found support from her family, especially her mother.
“My mother supports me wholeheartedly. She says ‘I have sons but you have gone ahead of the boys and there is nothing that can stop a woman if she wants to,’” she said.
“For me, it’s a passion as well as a desire to carry the family legacy … I have been fascinated by bees’ social structure and the importance of bees in our ecosystem. I want to contribute to their conversation and produce natural honey and connect with nature. They are an inspiration for me.”
As time went by, she found that beekeeping was not only therapeutic for her mental health but also a way to support the entrepreneurial landscape in Kashmir.
To fuel that mission, Zehra created an empowerment group whose members comprise talented women who lack access to resources.
“My main focus is that I should act as a catalyst for many and help others to grow too,” she said.
With 40 members so far, Zehra is aiming to take it to 100 and help them gain access to the government initiatives that once helped her.
“I want to give employment to all,” Zehra said. “I have a future plan to address the unemployment issue in Kashmir and make Kashmir a wonderful place. I want to inspire young people.”
Pope calls for ‘arms to be silenced’ across world
- “I think of the Christian communities in Israel and Palestine, particularly in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave,” Pope Francis said
VATICAN: Pope Francis called Wednesday for “arms to be silenced” around the world in his Christmas address, appealing for peace in the Middle East, Ukraine and Sudan as he denounced the “extremely grave” humanitarian situation in Gaza.
He used his traditional “Urbi et Orbi” (“to the city and the world“) message to the world’s 1.4 billion Catholics to call for talks for a just peace in Ukraine as the country was pummelled by 170 Russian missiles and drones on Christmas morning.
“May the sound of arms be silenced in war-torn Ukraine,” the 88-year-old pontiff said, his voice strained and breathless. “May there be the boldness needed to open the door to negotiation and to gestures of dialogue and encounter, in order to achieve a just and lasting peace.”
In front of thousands of the faithful gathered in front of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, also appealed for a ceasefire in Gaza and for the freeing of Israeli hostages held there by Hamas.
“I think of the Christian communities in Israel and Palestine, particularly in Gaza, where the humanitarian situation is extremely grave. May there be a ceasefire, may the hostages be released and aid be given to the people worn out by hunger and by war,” he added.
Francis extended his call for a silencing of arms to the whole Middle East and to Sudan, which has been ravaged by a ravaged by 20 months of brutal civil war where millions are under the threat of famine.
“May the Son of the Most High sustain the efforts of the international community to facilitate access to humanitarian aid for the civilian population of Sudan and to initiate new negotiations for a ceasefire,” he said.
Passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashes in Kazakhstan with many feared dead
- The plane was carrying 67 passengers and five crew, Kazakh authorities say 12 people had survived
- Azerbaijan Airlines said aircraft forced to make emergency landing approximately 3 km from Aktau
ASTANA: An Embraer passenger plane flying from Azerbaijan to Russia crashed near the city of Aktau in Kazakhstan on Wednesday with 67 passengers and five crew on board, Kazakh authorities announced, saying 12 people had survived.
Unverified video of the crash showed the plane, which was operated by Azerbaijan Airlines, bursting into flames as it hit the ground and thick black smoke then rising.
The Central Asian country’s emergencies ministry said in a statement that fire services had put out the blaze and that survivors were being treated at a nearby hospital.
Azerbaijan Airlines said the Embraer 190 aircraft, with flight number J2-8243, had been flying from Baku to Grozny, the capital of Russia’s Chechnya, but had been forced to make an emergency landing approximately 3 km (1.8 miles) from the Kazakh city of Aktau.
Russian news agencies said the plane had been rerouted due to fog in Grozny.
Authorities in Kazakhstan said they had begun looking into different possible versions of what had happened, including a technical problem, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported.
Pakistan air strikes kill 46 in Afghanistan: Taliban spokesman
- Border tensions between the two countries have escalated since the Taliban government seized power in 2021
KABUL: Pakistan air strikes in an eastern border province of Afghanistan killed 46 people, the Taliban government spokesman told AFP on Wednesday.
“Last night (Tuesday), Pakistan bombarded four points in the Barmal district of Paktika province. The total number of dead is 46, most of whom were children and women,” spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
He added that six more people were wounded, mostly children.
A defense ministry statement late Tuesday condemned the latest strikes by Pakistan on Afghan territory, calling them “barbaric” and a “clear aggression.”
“The Islamic Emirate will not leave this cowardly act unanswered, but rather considers the defense of its territory and sovereignty to be its inalienable right,” the statement said, using the Taliban authorities’ name for the government.
Border tensions between the two countries have escalated since the Taliban government seized power in 2021, with Islamabad claiming militant groups are carrying out regular attacks from Afghanistan.
Islamabad has accused Kabul’s Taliban government of harboring militant fighters, allowing them to strike on Pakistani soil with impunity.
Kabul has denied the allegations.
