Israel Matzav

'Israeli Arab' soccer team pays tribute to traitor Azmi Bishara

Many of you might recall former Balad MK Azmi Bishara who fled the country and resigned from the Knesset after it was discovered that he helped Hezbullah spot rockets during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. On Saturday, the soccer team in the 'Israeli Arab' town of Bnei Sakhnin - which is part of Israel's national league and plays games against teams from all over the country - paid tribute to Bishara, prompting calls to suspend the team from the league.

At the beginning of the Bnei Sakhnin vs. Hapoel Tel Aviv game, the team held a ceremony thanking a wealthy man from Qatar for contributing $2 million to the team.

Balad party representatives accepted the award, mentioning Bishara’s name.

Bishara founded Balad and was an MK in the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th Knessets.

He fled Israel in 2007 while under investigation for passing information to Hezbollah during the previous year’s Second Lebanon War. He currently resides in Doha, where he is the director of a think tank and is reportedly close to Qatar’s royal family, a major sponsor of Hamas.

Fans in the stands Saturday night waved banners reading “Jerusalem is ours,” with an illustration of the Temple Mount wrapped in a keffiyeh, and “The police are whores.”

Earlier this week, there were violent clashes between Muslims and police on Temple Mount.

I'm wondering what HaPoel Tel Aviv did during the 'ceremony.' In any event, Israel's 'Football Association' is claiming they were tricked.

The Football Association said Bnei Sakhnin asked only to give certificates of honor to the team’s sponsors and did not mention Bishara, and the association will put the team’s management on disciplinary trial.

FIFA and UEFA rules do not allow soccer teams to mix politics and soccer. 

Hmmm.

Labels: Azmi Bishara, Balad, Israeli Arabs are a fifth column, soccer

posted by Carl in Jerusalem @ 10:31 AM