Itamar Marcus and Nan Jacques Zilberdik
The following article from the sports pages of the official PA daily is an example of how neutral Israeli activities are twisted and used to promote hatred of Israel in the PA.
The article is about Israeli international sports contacts and criticizes Israel's invitations to foreign athletes. Israel is accused of inviting the athletes that Palestinians admire most - just in order to frustrate Palestinians.
"'Israel' aims its poisoned arrows with great accuracy at the heart of every sports star who enters the hearts of Palestinians and Muslim Arabs. It is clear that Israel is able to invent ploys and set traps in order to attract the Arabs' favorite international football stars... to cause frustration to the Palestinians... Since our enemy is shrewd, it is well aware of how the Spanish [football] League is admired by Palestinians and Arabs; therefore, it continues to target the stars of the outstanding Spanish League..."
The writer criticizes Israeli President Shimon Peres and the Peres Center for Peace, describing the President as the "tip of the triangle of destruction," and attacking the center for "spewing its poison in the faces of the Palestinians." The Peres Center for Peace promotes coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians through sports events and Peace Matches, where mixed Israeli-Palestinian football teams play against top international teams like Real Madrid and others. Internationally acclaimed athletes and other celebrities act as Ambassadors for the center and help promote awareness of these peace-promoting initiatives. The writer of the article in the Palestinian daily describes the participation of the international sports stars and their visits to Israel as anti-Palestinian activities.
One such athlete criticized in the article is Argentinian footballer Maradona, who was criticized for being "one of the first athletes to don a skullcap and pray at the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall), shedding crocodile tears in occupied Jerusalem in 1986."
The article also includes general hate speech, referring to Israel as "the Zionist entity," writing that "the Zionist octopus' arms reach out in every direction," and slandering Israel by claiming that "the Zionist policy of oppression... has not limited itself to destruction of [sports] facilities and the murder of athletes."
In addition, the words Israel and Tel Aviv throughout the article appear in quotation marks as an indicator of non-recognition of Israel.
Hate speech about Israel's contacts with international sports stars:
"The [Israeli] 'War of Stars' is made up of dirty campaigns which the Zionist machine carries out against Palestinian sports..."
"'Israel' aims its poisoned arrows with great accuracy at the heart of every sports star who enters the hearts of Palestinians and Muslim Arabs."
"It is clear that Israel is able to invent ploys and set traps in order to attract the Arabs' favorite international football stars..."
"Since our enemy [Israel] is shrewd, it is well aware of how the Spanish [football] League is admired by Palestinians and Arabs; therefore, it continues to target the stars of the outstanding Spanish League..."
"[Argentinian football player] Maradona, who is incapable of standing on principle or sustaining a position... was one of the first athletes to don a skullcap and pray at the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall)..."
"The current manager of Real Madrid visited the Zionist entity..."
Hate speech about Israeli President Shimon Peres and Peres Center for Peace:
"The tip of the triangle of destruction - Shimon Peres."
"The Peres Center for Peace, which scatters roses in all directions while spewing its poison in the faces of the Palestinians..."
Hate speech about Israel in general:
"The Zionist octopus' arms reach out in every direction..."
"The Zionist policy of oppression, which has not limited itself to destruction of [sports] facilities and the murder of athletes..."
"... methods of Hebrew deception."
"...the foremost racist entity..."
"The 'Tel Aviv' government knows that sports are the most important means to improve its ugly image..."
"The racist Israeli policy..."
All this and more in an article about Israeli invitations to foreign athletes.
The following are longer excerpts from the article in the official PA daily:
Headline: "Israel conducting War of Stars against Palestinian sports"
"The Zionist octopus' arms reach out in every direction in order to obstruct all attempts to bring about a recovery in the various areas of the Palestinian experience. Sports are not detached from the Zionist policy of oppression, which has not limited itself to destruction of [sports] facilities and the murder of athletes, but works to sway the opinions of international sports stars to its side by falsifying and changing facts in the ugliest manner.
Within the occupation entity (i.e., Israel) intensive activity is carried out, led by the most senior politicians headed by the tip of the triangle of destruction - Shimon Peres. This is done through the Peres Center for Peace, which scatters roses in all directions while spewing its poison in the faces of the Palestinians. The activities of the occupation state focus on bringing the most glittering international football stars, by inviting them to social events, charity activities (from their perspective), regional conferences and peace encounters, or by other methods of Hebrew deception. The visit by the Spanish player Gerard Piqué, defender for the Spanish Barcelona team to the occupation entity, will not be the final chapter in the 'forbidden love' series between the entity [Israel] and the [international] stars. The entity's leaders have prepared further prayers of appeasement and certificates of stardom for whoever joins those who have preceded them in illegal relations between the world and the settler entity.
The 'War of Stars' is made up of dirty campaigns which the Zionist machine carries out against Palestinian sports, aided by all the celebrities of the world's sports sector, after it identifies them as being ignorant of anything related to the Palestinian cause, or having a bias in favor of the colonialist state.
Crocodile tears
It started with [Argentinian football player] Diego Armando Maradona, who is incapable of standing on principle or sticking to a position. Despite his revolutionary chatter and his loyalty to the liberation ideas of [Che] Guevara and Castro, he was one of the first athletes to don a skullcap and pray at the Al-Buraq Wall (i.e., the Western Wall), shedding crocodile tears in occupied Jerusalem in 1986. Afterwards Maradona dedicated the World Cup which Argentina won that year to 'Israel', in response to Italy having dedicated the Cup to the Palestinians four years earlier...
Accurate arrows
'Israel' aims its poisoned arrows with great accuracy at the heart of every sports star who enters the hearts of Palestinians and Muslim Arabs. It is clear that Israel is able to invent ploys and set traps in order to attract the Arabs' favorite international football stars, to pollute their history and their past, and to cause frustration to the Palestinians - even before [frustrating] the Arabs - because of the stars' disregard for the Palestinian right and their visit to 'Israel' which murders, kills the Palestinian soul, and destroys and ruins sports facilities.
Since our enemy is shrewd, it is well aware of how the Spanish [football] League is admired by Palestinians and Arabs; therefore, it continues to target the stars of the outstanding Spanish League, from the presidents of the clubs to managers and players.
José Mourinho, the current manager of Real Madrid, visited the Zionist entity in 2005, as manager [and coach] of Chelsea, champion of the English League. He said then that he had come to 'Israel' in order to prove that football brings hope, and to aid the efforts of the Shimon Peres Center to create a better world through the establishment of mixed Palestinian and 'Israeli' teams...
Kidnapping the stars
Since Real Madrid and Barcelona are factories for champions, the feverish Zionist activity focuses especially on the various African and European players of these two clubs.
The Cameroon player Samuel Eto'o acquiesced in 2006 to Peres' invitation to visit the occupied territories... How could a player who was burned for so long by the fire of racism on European playing fields come and support the [state that is the] foremost racist entity according to the language of international conventions?
Since the 'Tel Aviv' government knows that sports are the most important means to improve its ugly image in the world, it does not suffice with this quantity of glittering stars who have fallen into the trap and justified this [visit] by meeting with 'Israeli' children, victims of what they call Palestinian terror. The 'Israeli' organization One World announced that it has come to an agreement with the Brazilian Ronaldinho, currently playing for Milan, to distribute sports shirts with the Brazilian star's signature and sports socks as gifts to the [Zionist] entity's children. It said that the reason for this [initiative] is the positive effect that this will have on these children's psyches...
Warm friendship
Women have been a central factor in drawing the [football] game's stars to the [Zionist] entity's state. The most famous manager in the world right now, and coach for the Spanish Barcelona [football club], Pep Guardiola, did not renege on his promise to his 'Israeli' girlfriend, singer Ahinoam Nini, to [visit] occupied Jerusalem as part of the Zionists' celebrations of the establishment of their state...
The eyes of the world have been turned in recent weeks to Spanish Barcelona's defender, Gerard Piqué, as he visited 'Israel' - for several reasons. First, he is the defender for the world's best football team. Second, he accompanied his girlfriend Shakira, the best-known singer in the world, who appeared at the World Cup in South Africa with the song 'Waka Waka'. Third, Shakira herself is of Lebanese Arab descent, regardless of her Colombian citizenship. She had refused more than once to visit the Zionist entity, and she made statements against the racist Israeli policy."
[Wasfi Shahwan, Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, July 1, 2011]
No comments:
Post a Comment