Philadelphia man playing pro basketball in Israel returns home, focuses on his nonprofit
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) – As the conflict in Israel continues a pro basketball player, who fled the country, is now back home in Philadelphia.
"This is just a safe haven place for me," Jared Armstrong said.
For Armstrong, ever since he was just 3 years old, his safe place has always been on the court. But that sense of home was all of a sudden disrupted when he found himself in the middle of a war zone.
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"I live in Ashkelon, so it's about 15 minutes from Gaza where things started," Armstrong said.
The 27-year-old Jewish American was in his third season as a pro basketball player in Israel when the attack forced him to find refuge near Tel Aviv.
"I just saw a lot of buildings that were smoky. There were a lot of security and police out. We had to go through about five checkpoints before we even got to northern Tel Aviv," he said.
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CBS Philadelphia spoke with Armstrong several times throughout the past few weeks.
Finally, he was able to make it back to the U.S. and reconnect with his family.
"I saw my mom first and she just gave me a big mom hug. She was very paranoid," he said. "I wish I could be in Israel. I wish I could be playing. I wish I could be around my family and community over there, but it's really sad times with what's going on."
Armstrong said his future as a professional basketball player in Israel is still uncertain, but he's now using his newfound time to devote to his nonprofit, where he hopes to educate the youth on antisemitism.
"It's much more of a need, antisemitism has been on the rise," he said.
CBS Philadelphia visited him at one of the courts where he's held previous basketball camps for kids with the goal of using sports as a way to end division between communities.
"Someone that may not look like you, believe the same way as you do, or come from the same background that you come from," he said.
These are all differences that Armstrong hopes can one day lead to a peaceful resolution
