Palestinian Star Knocked Out in Israel Soccer Brawl
A Palestinian member of an Israeli soccer team was knocked out during a brawl at the end of the game.
Ali Khatib of Hapoel Haifa, who also plays for the Palestinian national team, was hit in the face and kicked while he was on the ground, allegedly by members of the Maccabi Petah Tikvah team’s management at the end of Saturday night’s game.
The blow reportedly knocked Khatib out; he was treated at a nearby hospital and released. He also reportedly lost several teeth in the altercation.
Footage from a local television crew showed that the attackers reportedly were Maccabi’s goalie coach and another team official. The men remained in police custody following the incident.
The attack comes two weeks after hundreds of fans from the Beitar Jerusalem soccer team chanting anti-Arab slogans assaulted Arab workers at a Jerusalem shopping mall following a local game. Sixteen fans were arrested and six banned from future games in the incident.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news. All donations are still being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000 until April 24.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
