Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Fans ridicule Jewish man at European Championship soccer final

The experience “only strengthens my anti-racist belief,” said Jewish actor and satirist Jolyon Rubinstein.

Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.
Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom. Credit: Wikimedia Commons.

A Jewish actor and satirist detailed on Twitter how he was “racially abused” on Sunday night at Wembley Stadium in the United Kingdom as he watched the UEFA European Championship final between England and Italy.

Jolyon Rubinstein said he wore to the game a jersey that had his last name on the back and immediately after he took off his coat, a group of six men in their 50s asked, “Are you even from this country?” and then said, “He’s a Jew,” which was followed by “laughs and jeers.”

Rubinstein wrote: “I told them that my grandad fought the Nazis. They laughed. My message to them is that you will never win. That this team represents unity and diversity. You are the past. You’re dying out.”

He added that the experience “only strengthens my anti-racist belief.”

He wrote, “I stand with progress and a new progressive patriotism that is about inclusion and respect. We have work to do in this country. Those at the very top need to lead by example.”

Italy won the European soccer championship for the first time since 1968.

The promotion of one of the president’s most partisan and hard-nosed lieutenants to one of the most powerful jobs in Washington may signal how Trump intends to respond to his party’s defeat in the midterms.
“It’s an evolving trend that shows greater signs of permanence than temporary quality,” Dan Diker of the Jerusalem Center for Foreign Affairs told JNS.
“She’s young. She’s dumb. She deserves an opportunity to become a better person,” Liz Benichou told JNS. “The only way to do that is through accountability.”
“The most powerful response we can offer is not conflict but proudly and peacefully enjoying the food, atmosphere and togetherness that these wonderful businesses bring to Philadelphia,” the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia said.