Zach Banner, Alysha Clark, Josh Bell to headline ‘Athletes against Antisemitism’ event
(JTA) — Zach Banner, Alysha Clark and Josh Bell will be among the professional athletes to headline an event discussing activism against anti-Semitism and how athletes can contribute to the effort.
Banner, an offensive lineman for the Pittsburgh Steelers, spoke out against anti-Semitism following anti-Semitic social media posts by DeSean Jackson, a wide receiver for the Philadelphia Eagles. Banner connected his concern to the 2018 shooting at Tree of Life*Or L’Simcha, a Pittsburgh synagogue.
Clark, a small forward for the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, is of Jewish descent and has played for three Israeli basketball teams during her career. She has Israeli citizenship.
Bell, a first baseman, played until recently for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
The event, to be held virtually on Feb. 17, will also include other activists as well as Tree of Life’s rabbi, Jeffrey Myers. It will survey anti-Semitism locally in Pittsburgh and nationally, and will discuss the importance of activism by athletes.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
