[News] No Justice, no play? Gaza anger overwhelms hoops contest
Anti-Imperialist News
news at freedomarchives.org
Fri Jan 9 11:59:46 EST 2009
NO JUSTICE, NO PLAY? GAZA ANGER OVERWHELMS HOOPS CONTEST
By Dave ZIRIN
<http://www.edgeofsports.com/2009-01-09-404/index.html>http://www.edgeofsports.com/2009-01-09-404/index.html
We have officially entered uncharted waters. Never before in my years
of reporting has a sports team been forced to abandon the field of
play due to political protest from fans. Never before have fans
become the central actors in turning a sporting event into a political melee.
But Tuesday evening in Ankara, Turkey, the Israeli basketball team,
Bnei Hasharon, had to flee the wrath of what the Associated Press
described as "hundreds of fist-pumping, chanting Turkish fans." What
exploded was yet another protest against Israel's bombardment of
Gaza. The shock here is the setting, a sports arena, and the target,
a basketball team.
It may be surprising that this came to pass in such a supposedly
apolitical environs--a Euro-cup game against a team called Turk
Telekom--but local officials knew this could happen and took every
precaution. Thousands of police officers surrounded the court, and
street demonstrations of 4,000 people were already taking place
outside the arena. Protesters shouted, "Israeli murderers, get out of
Palestine!" and "Allah-u Akhbar!" as the Hasharon team bus entered the arena.
Only 500 fans were even let into the arena and were also subject to
intense searches, but it wasn't enough. Police made the mistake of
not confiscating the shoes.
Before the game could begin, angry chants of "Israeli killers!" came
down from the crowd as smuggled Palestinian flags were unfurled.
Then, in a scene that would look familiar to a certain sitting
president, off came the shoes as footwear rained down from the stands
(the shoes didn't hit any players).
As both teams looked at the crowd, frozen in place, battles began
between police officers and Turkish fans, as the fans surged forward
to take the court. Both Hasharon and Turk Telecom were rushed off and
spent two hours in the locker rooms while the battle for control of
the arena raged on.
Hashoran captain Meir Tapiro spoke about the fear and chaos he felt
around him to the Jerusalem Post: "The fans raced on to the court and
ran towards us like madmen, but the police stopped them. It was really scary."
After ninety minutes all the fans were expelled, arrested or dragged
from the arena. The referees attempted to get the teams back onto the
court to play before an empty arena, but Bnei Hasharon, after two
hours of being prisoners in their locker room, had no desire to play.
Referees called it a forfeit, and the Turks were declared winners of
the game by the official forfeit score of 20-0.
Hasharon team chairman Eldad Akunis was understandably incensed.
"After such a trying ordeal, there was simply no point in playing.
The players were just concerned for their safety. We were also given
instructions by the Israeli embassy staff, who were monitoring the
situation, not to play," said Akunis.
There is no doubt that it was "a trying ordeal," a frightening
experience that not even Red Sox fans would wish on the Yankees. But
to put it mildly, it pales in comparison to the situation in Gaza
itself. With more than 500 deaths, 3,000 injuries and 100 tons of
bombs dropped on one of the impoverished regions of the world, the
trials of a basketball team seem trivial.
It's certainly true that none of the players--two of whom are
African, five of whom are American-born--bear a hint of
responsibility for any of this carnage. But it's difficult not to
remember the famous telegram sent by playwright Arthur Miller to
President Lyndon Johnson. Miller was invited for a gala of some kind
and refused, saying, "When the guns boom, the arts die." Perhaps when
the guns boom, sports should die as well.
We may recall January 2008, when soccer star Mohamed Aboutreika
lifted his shirt to reveal the slogan "Sympathize with Gaza." He
wanted people to stand up and notice that an economic blockade had
triggered, for the Palestinians in Gaza, a humanitarian crisis. The
new year begins with another instance where the reality of Gaza has
unexpectedly interrupted the field of play. Only this time--fitting
the new moment--it was altogether more livid, more dangerous and more
desperate. No sympathy has meant no peace.
[Dave ZIRIN is the author of "A People's History of Sports in the
United States" (The New Press) Receive his column every week by
emailing dave at edgeofsports.com. Contact him at edgeofsports at gmail.com]
Freedom Archives
522 Valencia Street
San Francisco, CA 94110
415 863-9977
www.Freedomarchives.org
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://freedomarchives.org/pipermail/news_freedomarchives.org/attachments/20090109/c958b8d2/attachment.htm>
More information about the News
mailing list