A Massachusetts high school fired its successful football coach and hired an outside consultant Wednesday to assist an investigation into reports that the team used anti-Semitic language, including a mention of Auschwitz, in its on-field play-calling during a recent game.

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"The outrage is real, warranted, and we hear it," Duxbury High School's administration said in an emailed statement. "The fact that members of our school community used such offensive language, including anti-Semitic language, is horrifying and disappointing."

In response, the school has "severed ties" with head coach Dave Maimaron and canceled this Friday's game against Hingham, said the statement, signed by four members of the administration, including district Superintendent John Antonucci.

Maimaron, a special needs teacher at the school, was placed on paid administrative leave from his teaching position pending further investigation.

The district has also hired Edward Mitnick of Just Training Solutions LLC to assist in the investigation. Mitnick is an attorney and investigator with 30 years of experience in such matters.

"We know from many conversations, emails, and online posts that many people want action now, and we appreciate that sentiment. However, we are still in the middle of an active investigation and it is important that we get accurate information and facts in this case," the statement said.

The announcement came the day after Robert Trestan, president of the New England Anti-Defamation League, called for an independent investigation. Trestan said he was told by Antonucci that the words "rabbi" and "dreidel" were also used in Duxbury's March 12 game against Plymouth North. Plymouth school officials alerted Duxbury about the matter.

"It's deeply hurtful to the Jewish community to learn that the plays somehow connect to the Holocaust and Judaism," Trestan said. "This is a really serious situation. There are indications of a systemic failure both on and off the field."

The insensitive words were not directed at the opposing team or at a particular player, Antonucci said.

Maimaron had released a statement this week in which he apologized.

"On behalf of the staff and players of the Duxbury High School football team, I want to extend my apology for the insensitive, crass and inappropriate language used in the game on March 12th," he said. He called the language "careless, unnecessary and most importantly hurtful on its face – inexcusable."

Massachusetts high school football is being played in the spring this year because the coronavirus pandemic caused the postponement of the fall season.

Duxbury in recent years has been one of the state's most successful teams, with five state championships since 2005. The affluent coastal community about 30 miles south of Boston has nearly 16,000 residents, according to the Census Bureau.

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Online commerce giant eBay on Friday said it had removed at least 15 Nazi-themed toys from its auction listings.

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Among the items now removed from the website included SS guard figurines and miniature Nazi tanks.

According to eBay's terms and conditions, it has the right to remove items that do not meet its community standards, including products that promote hate or violent ideologies.

Items promoting anti-Semitic stereotypes, as well as "Historical Holocaust-related and Nazi-related items, including reproductions, any item that is anti-Semitic or any item from after 1933 that bears a swastika [and] media identified as Nazi propaganda" are also banned from the auction site.

Nazi German coins are an exception.

Other online retail giants, including Amazon and Etsy, have also removed items promoting anti-Semitism and conspiracy theories following a public backlash.

Last year, Amazon stopped sales of some books following protests that the titles, including some for children, were Nazi-era "propaganda."

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Etsy removed a T-shirt with the words "Camp Auschwitz" following the Jan. 6 mob invasion of the US Capitol.

The e-commerce site made the move six hours after being called on by the Auschwitz‑Birkenau Memorial and State Museum to do so.

i24NEWS contributed to this report.

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The Conservative Political Action Conference, the largest conservative conference in the United States, was the focus of controversy earlier this week as one of the scheduled speakers, an online commentator named Young Pharaoh, was canceled after being exposed as an anti-Semitic proponent of racist conspiracy theories.

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The cancellation put conference organizers in an embarrassing position, as the theme of this year's CPAC is "American Uncanceled."

Over the past year, Young Pharaoh has posted on social media that Judaism is a "complete lie" and "made up for political gain." He also said that Jewish people are "thieving fake Jews," tweeted that "all the censorship and pedophilia on social media is being done by Israeli Jews," and claimed that "all of these big tech [companies], media, and social media platforms are controlled by CCP [Chinese Communist Party] and Israel through Jewish CEO[s] and corrupt Democrats."

This week's CPAC is featuring a speaker named Young Pharaoh. In the past year, he's claimed that: 1) Judaism is a "complete lie"; 2) Jewish people are "thieving"; 3) and "all the censorship & pedophilia on social media is being done by Israeli Jews." https://t.co/km1UFzl1IQ

— Eric Hananoki (@ehananoki) February 22, 2021

Young Pharaoh's name and links to his content were removed from the CPAC website. As stated, the focus of this year's CPAC was the rise of "political correctness" and the "cancel culture" it has seemed to espouse, mainly as it pertains to conservatives and their political views.

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Ylwa Pettersson, Twitter's head policy for the Nordic countries and Israel said that such posts are considered mere "foreign policy saber-rattling."

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Twitter's rules on terrorism and violent extremism state, "There is no place on Twitter for … individuals who affiliate with and promote [terrorist group's] illicit activities. … Our assessments in this context are informed by national and international terrorism designations."

"We have an approach toward leaders that says that direct interactions with fellow public figures, comments on political issues of the day, or foreign policy saber-rattling on military-economic issues are generally not in violation of our rules," Pettersson was quoted by the Times of Israel as telling the Knesset's Committee for Immigration, Absorption, and Diaspora Affairs, via video-conference.

Today more than ever, the interest of the Islamic Nation lies in #unity, the type of unity that creates power against enemies and shouts out loudly at the embodied #Satan, the encroaching US, and its chained dog, the #Zionist regime, and stands up against aggression.

— Khamenei.ir (@khamenei_ir) July 29, 2020

"Calling for genocide on Twitter is okay, but commenting on the political situation in certain countries is not okay?" asked Blue and White MK Michal Cotler-Wunsh, to which Pettersson reportedly replied, "If a world leader violates our rules but there is a clear interest in keeping that up on the service we may place it behind a notice that provides some more context about the violation and allows people to click through if they wish to see that type of content."

"Wow. Twitter just admitted that tweets calling genocide against Jews by Iranian leaders DON'T violate its policy!", Cotler-Wunsh tweeted after the session ended. "This is a double standard. This is antisemitism."

Hearing in the Immigration and Integration Commmittee today following the #NoSafeSpaceForJewHate blackout.

I called on Twitter to adopt the IHRA definition of antisemitism. Twitter cannot claim to be combatting this form of a hatred without using the consensus definition for it. pic.twitter.com/ENU5sCBf0D

— מיכל קוטלר-וונש - Michal Cotler-Wunsh (@CotlerWunsh) July 29, 2020

A spokesperson for Twitter later said that tweets the likes of which are posted by Khamenei "are not in violation of our policies," pointing to the company's policy according to which "foreign policy saber-rattling on economic or military issues are generally not in violation of the Twitter Rules."

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He said that prominent Jewish figures such as Alan Dershowitz and former Trump administration Middle East negotiator Jason Greenblatt are Satan, and emphasized that it is his job to expose Satan so that every Muslim picks up a stone against him like they do during the pilgrimage rituals in Mecca.

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Farrakhan also said that the reason Jews hate him is because he represents the end of their civilization and because he reveals their wicked ways.

In addition, Farrakhan said that he is the one who exposed those who "suck the blood" of the poor. Urging American mayors and governors not to allow their police forces to train in Israel, Farrakhan claimed that Israel is the reason that there are guns, drugs, and counterfeit money in black neighborhoods. He added that Israel will suffer from divine retribution and that it will not last long.

"I represent the uncovering of their wickedness, fulfilling the judgment that God has come to bring down on America and the world," said Farrakhan.

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"So that's why they hate me, Americans. Because they are wicked and they know they cannot say that I am lying about them. They just say: 'He is a bigot. He is anti-Semitic,'" he added.

"Israel, let me tell you, your day is here now. You don't have to applaud. The God of justice has something for you, Israel. You are troubling some waters and you won't be there long if God gets after you," said Farrakhan.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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Thursday's decision by the BfV intelligence agency to increase monitoring of "Der Fluegel" – The Wing – deals a blow to Germany's biggest opposition party, undermining its efforts to fend off accusations that it harbors racist views.

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The AfD has ridden a wave of anger at Chancellor Angela Merkel's 2015 decision to welcome almost 1 million asylum seekers, and the BfV decision follows fatal attacks on Jews, Muslims and a liberal politician in Germany.

"Today I inform you that The Wing has been upgraded to an extremist entity," BfV chief Thomas Haldenwang told a news conference, calling its leaders "right-wing extremists."

The Wing, which is headed by Bjoern Hoecke, the AfD's leader in the eastern state of Thuringia, had already criticized the decision to conduct a 14-month review of its activities. Another of its leaders, Andreas Kalbitz, dismissed the BfV's conclusions on Thursday as politically motivated.

"This is no surprise because the political decision was made long ago even though it is groundless and motivated purely by political considerations," Kalbitz said. "We will exhaust all judicial means available to fix this mistake."

Hoecke has condemned an attack at shisha bars in western Germany last month by a racist gunman who shot and killed nine people before killing his mother and himself. He also condemned attacks in October by an anti-Semitic gunmen in the city of Halle against a synagogue and a kebab restaurant that killed two.

Hoecke issued a statement with other AfD officials on Wednesday clarifying earlier comments about foreigners and the Holocaust that had caused controversy, apparently in anticipation of the BfV findings.

The deadly attacks shattered Germans' sense of security, renewed fears of far-right violence and prompted mainstream parties to accuse AfD politicians of contributing to an atmosphere of hatred that encourages violence.

An investigation against the AfD as a whole is still under way. Haldenwang said the BfV estimates 20% of the AfD's 35,000 members belong to The Wing.

The designation of The Wing as extremist enables the BfV to deploy additional espionage methods to monitor its activities.

Haldenwang said the agency estimates that some 20% of AfD's 35,000 members belong to The Wing.

Joachim Seeger, which heads the BfV division for far-right extremism, denounced what he said was a racial purity agenda among some of The Wing's leaders that excludes non-Europeans, especially Muslims.

The Jewish community welcomed the BfV's decision.

"State organs must at the same time investigate how big The Wing's influence is within the AfD," said Charlotte Knobloch, a member of the Jewish community in Munich. "The whole party should be monitored given that it enters elections as one and poses a threat to democracy."

The decision could renew a debate in the AfD about Hoecke's growing influence in the party.

"Hoecke must ensure that The Wing draws a clear line between itself and extremists," said AfD Berlin lawmakers Georg Pazderski.

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The teen was in an induced coma and on a ventilator with serious wounds to his head, a broken skull, and internal bleeding. He was slated to undergo surgery early Wednesday afternoon.

Overnight Tuesday, the teen's condition went downhill, but on Wednesday morning he stabilized and was listed in moderate condition.

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From initial reports, the incident occurred when the teen was riding in a car on Purim Eve with a number of other Jewish residents of the area. The car stopped at a traffic roundabout on the road that leads to hilltop outposts, and the teen and his brother got out and started dancing to Purim music. According to reports from the Samaria Regional Council, a number of young Palestinians pulled up alongside them and began cursing and assaulting the teens. The fracas attracted more Palestinians, and the incident escalated.

Both the Israel Police and the IDF said it is unclear who began the fight and that damaged cars had been spotted throughout the Palestinian village of Hawara. Security forces also said the Jewish boys had been drunk.

Samaria Regional Council head Yossi Dagan called the attack "an attempted anti-Semitic murder, and a hate crime in every aspect."

Dagan said he had spoken with the teen's father and was urging the public to pray for his recovery.

"I've never seen an Arab stop in a Jewish area and get attacked with such murderous violence," Dagan said.

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Arthur Jones, 71, did not mention his contentious views to many voters when he asked them to sign petitions allowing him to appear on the ballot in the upcoming March primary, several people told the Chicago Sun-Times. In the 2018 Illinois congressional primary, he received 20,681 votes, according to the AP Election Research and Quality Control.

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Anthony Sarros, executive director of the state's GOP, said the party is planning an awareness campaign that could include digital advertising, Facebook ads, or mailers ahead of the primary, to lay out Jones' beliefs and remind voters that there are two other Republicans running.

"We want to make sure that the Republicans, Democrats, and any Illinois citizen know that this is not a candidate that we support and we don't want him winning the election," Sarros said. "We hate this. We don't want this to happen and now I kind of want to know how this happened and how do we prevent this."

Jones is a retired insurance agent from Lyons who has run for the GOP nomination eight times before in the 3^rd Congressional District, a heavily Democratic district stretching from Chicago's southwest side to suburban Western Springs and LaGrange. He's also an outspoken Holocaust denier, anti-Semite, and white supremacist who founded the American First Committee, whose membership is exclusive to "any white American citizen of European, non-Jewish descent."

Jones, who could not be reached for comment, said before that his perspectives on the Holocaust are not an issue.

"It never comes up. When I got my signatures, nobody asked me about the damn Holocaust," Jones told the newspaper in 2018. "It's totally irrelevant to my campaign. Totally irrelevant."

Jones amassed 844 signatures in areas that include Palos Hills, Hickory Hills, Stickney, and Oak Lawn, records show. Slightly more than 600 signatures were needed to get on the ballot.

Some of those who signed his petitions told the newspaper they did not know Jones' background.

Ronald Ogarek, a Palos Hills man who signed the petition prior to learning Jones' history, said he's a Republican and a President Donald Trump supporter, "but I don't support white supremacists."

"I had no idea that he was a neo-Nazi or a white supremacist," Ogarek added. "I would have kicked him out if I knew that."

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"Malaysia does not support the reimposition of the unilateral sanctions by the US against Iran," he told the Doha Forum, also attended by Qatar Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani.

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Malaysia and other countries have lost "a big market" because of the sanctions on Iran, he said.

"Such sanctions clearly violate the United Nations charter and international law; sanctions can only be applied by the United Nations in accordance with the charter," he added.

Mahathir, 94, has for decades been accused of anti-Semitism for his attacks against Jews. In a BBC interview last October, he described Jews as "hook-nosed" and blamed them for the troubles in the Middle East.

In June, Mohamad added to his anti-Semitic record, eliciting laughter from the Cambridge Union – the more than 200-year-old debating and free speech society in Cambridge, England, and the largest society at the University of Cambridge.

"I had some Jewish friends, very good friends. They are not like the other Jews, that's why they are my friends," he said in response to a question about his previous remarks that have been deemed anti-Semitic.

The World Jewish Congress condemned his comments.

In January, the International Paralympic Committee stripped Malaysia of the right to host the 2019 world para-swimming championships after the country banned Israeli athletes from participating.

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The six dead in the incident, which began in a local cemetery, included three civilians, one police officer, and both shooters, authorities said.

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According to the police chief, the suspects first killed a police officer in the cemetery. They then ran to the grocery store, killed four, and were ultimately killed by police in a shootout.

New Jersey's attorney general's office is now handling the investigation of the shooting, which left one police officer and three civilians dead. The attack is being investigated as an anti-Semitic incident although the authorities have yet to classify it as such.

In October 2018, 11 Jews were murdered in a Pittsburgh synagogue, and in April 2019, a woman was killed in an attack on a synagogue in Poway, California. This latest attack, if deemed as an attack targeting Jews, would be the third deadly anti-Semitic incident in the United States in 14 months.

The exact motives of the attack are unclear, but an official told The New York Times Wednesday that people working on the case are under the impression that anti-Semitic and anti-police sentiments were the likely motives. It has also transpired that the killers drove a U-Haul truck that had been used during a homicide over the weekend.

Leah Minda Ferencz, 33, and Moshe Deutsch, 24, were among the four people who were killed at the kosher grocery. The two suspects in question were killed by authorities during a shootout.

Jersey City Mayor Steven Fulop is adamant that Tuesday afternoon's shooting was not a random attack, but that the kosher grocery store in question was targeted.

He did not, however, specify if the attack was anti-Semitic.

Citing surveillance footage to back up his claim, Fulop tweeted, "Last night after an extensive review of our CCTV system it has now become clear from the cameras that these two individuals targeted the kosher grocery."

He added that his department "feels comfortable that it was a targeted attack on the Jewish kosher deli."

Since the crime scene stretched across three different locations, authorities say the investigation could take weeks or months.

New York's Mayor Bill de Blasio said that he's deployed officers to protect Jewish institutions across the city.

"Although there is no credible or specific threat directed against New York City, I have directed the NYPD to assume a state of high alert. Tonight, NYPD assets are being redeployed to protect key locations in the Jewish community. Tomorrow, we will announce additional measures," de Blasio tweeted on Tuesday.

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