JERUSALEM — An Israeli soccer club with an unofficial tradition of not signing Arab or Muslim players welcomed two Muslim-Chechen members Wednesday amid rising tensions from its fans.
Beitar Jerusalem has fans who are known for being hostile to Muslims and Arabs and who have opposed the Chechens’ arrival.
At a league game Saturday, some chanted anti-Muslim slogans and unfurled a sign protesting the arrival of Zaur Sadayev and Gabriel Kadiev. Three fans were arrested for the behavior, which drew widespread condemnation from ranks as senior as Israel’s president.
At a news conference shortly after their arrival, Sadayev and Kadiev seemed unfazed by the fans’ behavior as they donned their yellow and black Beitar jerseys.
“I’m happy I came here,” said Sadayev, a 23-year-old forward signed from FC Terek Grozny. “And I will please the fans with my game.”
Kadiev, a 19-year-old defender from the same team, said he was “not afraid” of playing in front of Beitar fans.
Granted, the 2 new players were NOT Israeli Arab non-Jews who make up over 30% of Israel’s population, but it’s a start as they condition their uneducated racist fans to learn to accept their global brothers and sisters.
Beitar fans have been punished in the past for displays similar to Saturday’s, and police beefed up security at a match Tuesday when Beitar played a team from the Arab town of Umm al-Fahm. At first, police decreed an empty stadium but then reneged.
Hundreds of police, some on horseback, patrolled inside and outside the stadium and said they would arrest anyone displaying racist behavior. No major incidents were reported, and 12 fans from both sides were banned from the game.
Highlighting the gravity of the fans’ behavior, Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat attended Wednesday’s news conference, seated near the two Chechen players. He denounced violence and racism.
Beitar coach Eli Cohen acknowledged the fans’ rowdiness but hoped the Chechens’ arrival might chart a new course for the team.
“I know there will be growing pains but I believe that this club will embark on a new journey and will change its image,” he said.
Johnny Punish founded VT in 2004. After 20 years at the helm, he “retired” from the daily operations in late 2023 passing the ball over to the new owner of VT, Chief Justin Time. He now writes for VT as “Writer Emeritus”. He is also a global citizen eco-activist, visionary, musician, artist, entertainer, businessman, investor, life coach, podcast host, and syndicated columnist.
Punish is an ethnically cleansed Palestinian-American whose maternal family was evicted from their home in Haifa, Palestine in 1948 by Irgun; a Euro-Zionist Settler Terrorist Group. The family became part of the over 1,000,000 Palestinians who are Al-Nakba refugees (The Catastrophe). The family fled to Beirut Lebanon for 13 years eventually emigrating to the USA in 1961 via a Brasilian passport obtained by his Palestinian Brasilian-born grandmother (In the early 1900s, the family was sent to Sao Paolo Brasil as guest workers in the mining industry. Punish’s father is Italian-American from New York City. Punish’s paternal great-grandparents emigrated to the USA from Naples Italy and Marineo in Sicily in the 1890s. Punish was born in the Bronx, New York in 1963.
Punish was educated at the University of Nevada Las Vegas (1980-81) and California State University Fullerton (1981-1984) with studies in accounting and business. Before the “internets” had been invented, he owned and ran (5) national newspapers in the United States of America from 1987-1998. From 2004 to 2023, he owned and managed VT Foreign Policy retiring at the end of 2023.
Punish is also a recording artist. He has over 100 original songs written. He records and produces music. A member of ASCAP, Punish has several songs placed in feature films. His music is promoted worldwide and played on all digital networks and net radio.
He is also the founder and owner of Global Thinkers, a freedom media that helps free thinkers create real wealth.
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