Opinion
Arab soccer strike, now
Arie Maliniak
Published: 28.03.12, 17:22
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1. Freedom of expression
Marc ,   Australia   (03.28.12)
Arabs love chanting the old famous "itbach al yahud" and "al malwt le isra'el", people like the author of the article are so used to hearing those two phrases that it's become the accepted norm as a form of expressing one's cultural nationalism. Yet as soon as Jews do it, suddenly it's racist and politically incorrect. Well Jews have a right to do like wise. I'm personally not even a soccer fan, but Beitar's games got my support for being the few venues in Israel where freedom of expression is more than just a PC term.
2. stupid leftists!!!
ester   (03.28.12)
3. Quid pro quo
Jeffrey Korman ,   Douglaston, NY   (03.28.12)
4. I agree with Marc.
Efraim ,   Virginia USA   (03.28.12)
I am a soccer fan and a soccer coach! BTW: Its called Football.
5. Very disgraceful for Israel
DAvid ,   USA   (03.28.12)
These fans should be targeted by security forces and banned for life from the games. Toss them out. The far right wing element of Israel will one day destroy the nation. Very disgusting act by some ISraelis.
6. what a MORONIC article
Daniel Rossi ,   Great Neck   (03.28.12)
Don't you have anything better to write about? Moronic liberal Jews- Mooslims are slaughtering us like sheep all over the world, and this moron is worried about some chanting. I bet he has no problem with anti-Jewish chants in European soccer matches.
7. #1 and #4 - actually no. Israel has a law against incitement
Henry from New York ,   USA   (03.28.12)
Though it's not very well-defined. They have this because uncontrolled incitement can lead to very horrible things (like the assassination of a Prime Minister).
8. Beitar Jerusalem has no class.
Henry from New York ,   USA   (03.28.12)
Hapoel Tel Aviv's ultras conduct themselves with more dignity and grace.
9. Arab Israelis are integrated with Israeli
RobertHaymond ,   Israel/Canada   (03.28.12)
Jews on most soccer teams. It is poor practice to allow fans to chant "Death to Arabs" even if the teams were not integrated. We wouldn't, and don't like it, when it is done to us in Europe, i.e., professional tennis matches in Malmo. And, incidentally, I am a bonafide rightwinger residing in a village east of the Green Line (if anyone has any question about where I come from, politically).
10. And when the Arabs do it daily
Gee ,   Zikron Yaakov   (03.28.12)
The silence is truly deafening. I do not support it, but if you want to ban it - then you damn well do to all that incite - especially since the vast majority of the incitement is against Jews and we see that nothing is done about it.
11. So dont play!!
KACH 613 ,   Judah, Israel   (03.28.12)
Make my day, Get off the field!!!!
12. Do not mix sport with politics,
E,M Jordan is Pales ,   SF   (03.28.12)
Since there are equal rights for Arabs population this kind of action is not tolerable and will bring bad name for State of Israel I hope police will arrest them and make end to that kind of shameless action.
13. Also jewish players should strike
rachel ,   usa   (03.28.12)
Why only the Arab players? Jewish players should strike against this too. It's an embarrassment to Israeli society and racism is bad for everyone.
14. subhuman hooligans
Michael ,   Haifa   (03.28.12)
I exercise my freedom of expression to condemn violent Arabs who scream "Death to the Jews", moronic Beitar subhumans who scream "Death to the Arabs" and also Marc from Australia and Ephraim from Virginia who belong to the same category of thugs.
15. It is not about the arabs!!!!
Yael ,   Canada   (03.28.12)
chanting racist slogans cannot be justified by the simple fact that some of the Arabs are anti-Semitic. These cheers are nothing but an indicator on how low the morals and ethics of those singing them. And for those justifying that with freedom of expression. I would like to see how you react to a football team whose most popular cheer is "death the Jews" while doing the nazi salute. Would you also claim freedom of expression??
16. I've been to quite a few football/soccer matches in Italy...
Noodles ,   Coney Island   (03.28.12)
where the fans literally throw cherry bombs and M-80s at each other, with a few coming within three feet of me, so name-calling and racial taunts could be considered fairly harmless, if not pleasant. I am also a Beitar fan that believes that politics should be kept out of sports, and at the risk of sounding like a liberal (which I'm not) some of the Arab players are actually a type of good-will ambassadors.
17. @ Marc #1
AF-22 ,   Herzliya   (03.29.12)
I am a strong advocate of free speech and I think these fans should be protected as long as they haven't caused anyone physical harm. But freedom of expression also means that people have the right to protest against injustice whenever it occurs. Israeli players should also take a stand for their fellow Arab teammates.
18. @ Michael # 14
Achi ,   B'shamayim   (03.29.12)
Hey Mike, I've been to a few games when arab teams played in ashdod. When the arabs scored a few goals, they got all excited as the arabs tend to do, started screaming itbach al yahud, threw a few icecreams over the fence at the jewish spectators and all round was a pleasant time. If you enjoy getting ice pops and slander thrown at you then keep up your undivided suport for your arab homies, but personally i prefer to have nationalistic expression of the jewish kind, so full support to the Beitar folks ;-)
19. @ 14 ( Mr Fake)
Efraim ,   Virginia   (03.29.12)
Michael from Haifa is probably Kevin from Dublin. Do not insult others. Maybe you are the thug or even worse. Besides, what do you understand about footy? You sound like a hateful nutter.
20. @ Yael 15
Koen ,   Amsterdam, Holland   (03.29.12)
If u know about soccer hooligans around the world than u should know by now that teams like Rotterdam ( Feyenoord & Lazio) are anti- Semitic and the fans are chanting death to Jews so thats nothing new, it's rivalry on the extreme side
21. #19
Michael ,   Haifa   (03.29.12)
Your response was moronic...made no sense. If I were Kevin from Dublin, the chances are that I would be just as moronic as you
22. #1 Marc: Disgusting opinion
Yitzhak ,   Israel   (03.29.12)
Yes, it is true there are Arabs who are racists against Jews, who shout antisemitic slogans and engage in anti-Jewish violence. What are you suggesting, then? That we descend to that level? You say Jews have a right to do likewise? Yes, in a free society Jews have the right to behave just as boorish and idiotically as anybody else. But, when that behavior turns into violence against a minority, freedom of expression ends and that is when the police are supposed to step in and arrest the thugs. Our police failed in their duty, and that is what this is really all about.
23. Listen to Maliniak - why should Jews behave like thugs?
Brian Cohen ,   Judean Peoples Front   (03.29.12)
Listen up, folks. There is indeed a discrimination problem in Israel - and this is coming from me, a "settler" living "over the green line". Arie Maliniak is an expert on Israeli sports and knows of what he speaks. I'm sick of hearing people make excuses on how some Jews have the "right" to behave like Iranian sheep and chant "death to Arabs." Nobody has that right. It is not covered in any laws for freedom of expression. In fact, the opposite is true. We certainly look at thousands of Iranians chanting "death to Israel, death to America" and think that they are uncivilized barbarian thugs who want to commit mass murder. Why do you think that Jewish thugs should behave the same? And no, Marc, you do not have the freedom of expression in Melbourne or Perth to have a crowd chant "death" to anybody. It's not freedom of expression - it's expressing the fact that you're a boor calling for people to break the law.
24. I second Brian (#23)....
Mitchell Cohen ,   Gush Etzion, Israel   (03.29.12)
I am also a "settler", yet I agree with what Brian posts in #23. So because the Arabs do it, we have to do it too? I am not talking about committing national suicide and expecting the IDF to not respond to missiles aimed at our civilian populations, but I can think of only one word for the Beitar fans that physically assaulted the Arab workers in Malcha mall - THUGS....
25. I "third" Brian
Michael ,   Haifa   (03.29.12)
26. What about Arab Knesset members?
Reuven   (03.29.12)
These racists incite against Jews and our country all the time. Why aren't they arrested and thrown out of the Knesset permanently?
27. disgusting behavior...but not racism.
rick ,   walnut creek   (03.29.12)
it is totally unacceptable to shout anti-arab slogans. on the other hand, it is not "racism" and should not be characterized as such. there is a place for a constructive response to arab belligerence; that energy should be effectively directed against arab thugs in Jerusalem, the Galil, Haifa, the Negev. stupid, hateful shouts against arabs, in general, should be stopped.
28. Double standards
Gee ,   Zikron Yaakov   (03.30.12)
Today the State Attorney's Office has refused to file charges against a former lecturer at the Bezalel art school who wrote "death to the settlers" on his Facebook page. Hum - so it's okay to call for the deaths of certain groups but not others.
29. NO ROOM FOR POLITICS IN SPORT!!
Iranian Jew ,   Los Angeles   (03.30.12)
We get all upset when Iranians are banned to compete against us. So why do we stoop that low and chant " Death to Arabs"? That is just classless and barbaric. what good does it do?
30. To # 23 Brian Cohen
Abu Yussef al Yahudi ,   Bue_Aires-Argentina   (03.30.12)
Well said Brian ! I strongly agree with your clear post ! BTW - Here in Buenos Aires, there is a Football Club named "Atlanta", and his fans are mainly Jews. When this team plays, a lot of times the fans of the adversary team start to chant "Mueran los judios" (Death to the Jews). In these cases, the Referee STOPS immediately the match, and the play is not resumed until the fans stop the racist chants. There is in Argentina an Anti-Racist law that constrains the referees to do that suspension in case of any racist chanting . I think that the above described, is a good example to be taken into account by the Football Authorities of Israel.
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