IF HE PLAYED IN ISRAEL,HE WOULD RECEIVE A MOST WARM HEARTED WELCOMEFROM THE ISRAELI CROWD. IT IS A TRIBUTE TO THEM THAT THEY KNOW HOW TO HONOUR GUESTS AND CAN DIFFERETIATE SPORT FROM POLIITICS.THE REGIME IN IRAN WOULD NOT TAKE KINDLY ,TO SUCH A PEACEFUL APPROACH TO SPORT,AND ROPE HIM IN AS A TRAITOR ,THAT IS THE REASON FOR HIM TO FEAR FOR HIS LIFE,NOT FROM ISRAEL,BUT FROM THE TWISTED MENTALITY OF THE REPRESSIVE RULERS IN IRAN.

...so, I hope he doesn't read Israel newspapers' talkbacks. With an Iran and german citizenship, he maybe should be worried. Or not? What would a soccergame with germany would worth for you without being able to damn the germans in general?

..without accepting the player's behaviour; without having made the decision or any comment, woul a german-iranian player being welcome in Israel? Isn't there any racism?

He's hinted at what the problem is and all of us already know that a man capable of building and using nuclear weapons against Israel would have absolutely no problem threatening his family if he played. The name of Ahmadienjad's game is to embarrass Israel with the world every place he can. Having said that many of the reactions here play right into Tehran's hands. A better reaction from everyone here would be indifference. Leave it be and let the officials wort it out. If he doesn't want to play in israel - his loss, Lets all move on now, shall we ?

any items that have been developed by Israel - or by Jews anywhere, since that's his main problem.... Call him on his cell phone and tell him that.... Oops, that's an Israeli development.... Or send him an e-mail... Nope, Windows, Pentium, all that too... Or leave him a voice mail message .... same thing.... Well, just give him a good punch in the nose as a message. He won't be able to get into a hospital without receiving some kind of care or medication developed by Israelis. And probably the doctor is a Jew....

You Made the right decision..... an extremist could possibly kill you and then the israeli regime will claim that he is crazy!

...and some US talkbacks about "eurabia" are the strangest. do you really think, we in germany are listening to the mullahs from iran, are learning anti-semitism in school, have nothing learned by history and would like history to repeat? are you sure that you are not "brain-washed" by your media or your politicians in your "non-racist" state - birthplace of freedom and equal rights? it's more a bad joke... We have still a very strong open and intellectual society that forms our culture, our media and our politics; it's very strict against fanatism and non-democratic ideas and controls our government. But in your country, it's certainly the same, isn't it? the article is just about a soccer-player,but it's used to spread simply wrong facts and propaganda about europe; maybe the last place of democratic states..... -time to answer. I'm definitly NOT and anti-semite and I always supported Israel's right to exist. Judging someone because of his nationality is nothing else than racism!

...in a lot of aspects between Europe and Isreal shouldn't be denied neither be damaged (by this case). In sports, it's a fact that the asian state of Israel is seen as a european one....

I can't speak for all Israelis, but can't remember any incident in the past where a European of Arab descent was booed or insulted during an international game. (I see a lot of Zidane jerseys among Israeli Arabs.) I don't think there is any special antipathy towards German soccer players either. (Germany, Poland, Greece, Latvia, whoever, all were complicit in the Holocaust..but fans don't seem to care.) In fact, there was an article in the 'Jerusalem Post' during the last World Cup about recent Iranian immigrants who snuck out of the country but still were cheering for the Iranian national team. Which is odd, but the point is I doubt Dejagah would be in danger. He should have just lied and told his coach that he was injured or something,

Why doesn't he want to play against israel, why we threatened to wipe Iran from the earth? Anyway whocares about an Iranian/German player, those countries don't have a history to be proud of...

football players coming down the field.

it an asian state too.

if he decided to play. They are mucking things up for their citizens all over the world with their oppressive policies. DOWN WITH THE AYATOLLAHS!

which country does have a history to be proud of? (exept of Turkey of course -their glorious history is part of their constitution...) I don't see your link to the subject...

ok, you're right! By publishing his true reasons (who knows if he decided so because of social pressure in his native country), the political message was created by himselfs.... ...so I think he already decided not to follow a carreer as a national soccer player in germany. he cannot represent this country (even he IS, as a citizen, a part of it); -his own decision.

I tend to agree with # 10 that this young player is really afraid for his family still living in Iran. We all know how criminal and barbarian the Iranian regime is. For them serving death sentences to their citizens is like having another Iranian Revolutionary Guards rehearsal parade. But the real question lies in the hands of the German authorities. Namely, are they willing and able to do anything against this terrorist regime, like warning them not to touch any of this player's family. Or, even sterner than that: give Dinajad's bloodthirsty regime an ultimatum as to what may happen to them if they touch as much as a single hair of the player's family. Be all sure that Germany would get all the backing they need in the world, Arab countries included. Question is: is Germany up to this ?

While i don't doubt that Iran's terror regime would cause harm to his family, i think Dejagah should never play for Germany again, because to me, it's totally unacceptable for a german national player to refuse to play any country (especially Israel) for whatever reasons. If he can't play for Iran anymore because he played for Germany at the age of 21 before, tough luck - he should've thought better when choosing which country to play for. It's not like it's the first time Iran puts pressure on a persian player to not visit Israel (Bayern's Hashemian was "injured" twice before the games against Tel Aviv), it's not like he didn't know he still had relatives there and he certainly had to know about the responsibility that comes with being a national player. Also, he now said in an interview that he had "more iranian than german blood" and acted out of respect for his (iranian) parents. So why didn't he choose to play for Iran in the first place?

Dude, if you think such a characterization of Germany as part of Eurabia is inapt, you need to get out more. The issue isn't primarily you at all, but the rapidly growing number of Muslims throughout Europe and the negligible native European birth rate. Do you think the French voted against a constitution and for Sarko based only on promises of economic reforms? (It seems about 100% of French Muslims voted for his opponent.) And to tell you the truth, if it becomes a lot easier to be anti-Jewish in Europe than to be neutral to Jews for today's majority, I rather doubt that the neutrals will win.

Let's not rush to judge this player. we know the cruelty of the Iranian regime. We can't rule out the possibility that he and\or his family have been threatened by those Iranian fanatics. It is very likely that had he played in Israel, his family in Iran would suffer consequences and he or his family may never be able to go to Iran for a visit.

HIs "personal reasons" might just be that the regime has threatened to jail (or worse) members of his family in Iran. Since he still holds Iranian citizenship, they could claim he must abide by Iranian laws, and not enter Israel. The Iranian government is well-known for its disregard for human rights.

Hey, Mr. Jefferson from God-bless-the-US and A! I won't comment on your talkback since I think it speaks for itself. Having read your talkback over and over again in disbelief about the incredible "enlightment" of its author, a question was eventually crossing my mind: How on earth can anyone be surprised about the fact that Europeans think they are smarter?

Dejagah isn't worried about his safety at all if he were to actually find himself in Israel. Honestly, what Dejagah wishes to avoid is a scenario in which Muslims grab on to him & his family to inflict punishment for chasing a soccer ball down the field in Israel.

Where is Marcel. He should be here by now telling us that this is the fault of none other than Bush/Rice.

Sadly, you are buying this guy's story if you think he wouldn't be safe in Israel. Arab men and women have regular access to all our major cities - they shop freely, go to our hospitals, etc. - without being harrassed on a daily basis. Compare that to an Israeli who accidentally drives into an Arab area in Israel - usually, they get lynched, at least attacked. This player doesn't want to play where his team wants him to...kick him off the team or give into his own form of terrorism. Fear or hatred - makes no difference. As to our damning the Germans - first, we don't do that...but we have a right to our memories, our pain. You don't like that we remember? That's not our problem. We are not causing you harm by paying respect to our Holocaust survivors. My mother-in-law lost her family in Auschwitz. My husband's uncle to this day walks around with a tattoo that will never go away - why do you think that we are damning the Germans if we choose to give honor to these people? The Iranian player has a choice - play in Iran against Muslims, or play in Germany against westerners...including Israelis. The response to this WILL be a test for Germany. You can't twist it around to put in on OUR plate.

Is he scared that Israel would give him right and freedoms that he doesn't and will never have in Iran?

Okay - so don't play in Israel