Pro basketball player running youth camps after returning to Israel: ‘A way to brighten their day’

The last time Fox News Digital spoke with Jared Armstrong, a Jewish American playing professional basketball in Israel, the Philadelphia-born Armstrong wasn’t sure of his next steps following the Oct. 7 Hamas terrorist attacks. 

Following the attacks, Armstrong left the city where he lives, about 20 minutes from Gaza, to stay with a friend north of Tel Aviv as the conflict escalated. 

Armstrong returned to the United States not long after the start of the conflict, but he has since returned to Israel to continue playing basketball and to help Israeli youth as the war rages. 

JAB Camp, a nonprofit Armstrong started in 2023 in Philadelphia, is being run in Israel as Armstrong attempts to give kids a respite from the conflict through basketball. 

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“Before the attacks, I planned on doing it down the road,” Armstrong told Fox News Digital about launching the JAB Camp in Israel. “It wasn’t to be doing this at such an early time. But, since the war, I felt it was a great way to shed light, it was a great way to inspire kids. Kids’ families, not only them, have been impacted. Kids from ages five all the way to 15, 16. 

“Some kids have dads that are in the reserves, have family members that are in the reserves or are fighting in Gaza. So, I wanted to use sports as a perfect way to be transformative, not only with learning but also in spirit. A lot of kids’ spirits may be down, and I feel that this could be a way to brighten their day. They can look forward to going to JAB Camp every week for eight or nine weeks in a row.”

Armstrong’s nonprofit was created to “bring together Black and Jewish youth through the game of basketball” and to “speak out against anti-Black racism and antisemitism.” 

“My goal with JAB Camp is to really shed light on a dark time. I want to use basketball as a mechanism to bring kids together — whether they’re from the south of Israel, from the north of Israel — and give them an outlet to forget for an hour or two hours about what’s happening in the world,” Armstrong said. 

“Use this time as a sanctuary. Use this time as your temple of peace to be able to work together, build community, have fun, enjoy [and] learn. And, at the same token, be able to be better. My biggest goal is to give an outlet for kids. I know the light will be shown at the end of the tunnel if they continue to come.”

In early January, Armstrong visited two communities in southern Israel that were decimated by the Hamas attacks, saying it was “emotionally tough” to see what occurred. 

“I visited kibbutz Kfar Aza, and I visited Nir Oz. We were one of the first groups to visit Nir Oz. They weren’t allowing people in there. And the amount of burnt houses that we saw when we walked through was just really petrifying. Every house has its own story of how they tried to escape or how they came in there and they killed someone,” Armstrong said of his visit to the communities near the Gaza border. 

“No human deserves that,” Armstrong added. “So, it was a very emotional day. For me, it made me want to do more advocacy and diplomacy while I’m here. Speak out about what’s going on. I know I’m one of the only athletes speaking out about it, and I just feel it’s much needed. 

“My biggest speech is peace. It has nothing to do with if you agree with the state of Israel or not. It’s right or wrong. No kid deserves to be killed. No baby deserves to be butchered. No woman deserves to be raped. If you stand with that, then I don’t have an answer for you.”

With the conflict in its third month, anti-Israel protests continue across the world. Over the weekend, protesters and rioters gathered outside the White House, with some demonstrators damaging security fencing and hurling objects at police.

“They’re all trying to understand why,” Armstrong told Fox News Digital when asked how Israelis react to seeing protests. 

“They don’t really understand how many people can — I don’t want to use the word ‘side’ — but not have empathy for what happened. A lot of people don’t have that simple empathy about what happened on Oct. 7. Forget politics. Forget anything else. It’s just about humanity. And a lot of people don’t understand that. So, they’re really saddened by it.”

Armstrong plays for Elizur Ashkelon in Ashkelon, Israel. 

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