Palestinians Want Their Soccer Star Back
Image by Getty Images
It seems that transfer is a dirty word among Palestinians — when it comes to soccer as well as politics.
Transfer is the euphemism used by members of the Israeli far-right who want to expel Arab citizens from Israel, an idea unsurprisingly detested by all Arabs in this region. But when the word is used to describe a sportman’s switch from one team to another, you’d think it would be less controversial.
Meet Ali Khatib, the man putting that assumption to the test. He is the newest player on the books at the Hapoel Haifa soccer club, and has instantly become a favorite with fans, scoring four times in his first four games. However, an official at Jabel Mukaber, the Palestinian team that he left to take up his Haifa job, has described his move as “treason.”
He said: “We gave him a Palestinian passport, advertisements and he became the face of the Palestinian football league. He ignores all that, everything we did for him,” he said. “We made him a star. He abandoned all that to go play with the occupiers.”
What is more, Jabel Mukaber claims that he is still legally bound to play there, and that his move was a breach of contract. Tel Aviv District Court ruled that the transfer was legitimate, but many Jabel Mukaber fans contest the authority of Israel’s courts and mistrust the ruling.
Khatib, 22, is now mulling the possibility of playing for Israel’s national team. If he does, expect protests from furious Arabs who say he should be playing for Palestine not Israel, and indignant right-wing Israeli Jews saying… that he should be playing for Palestine not Israel. Hey, maybe they could demonstrate together.
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 this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
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 this Passover 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.
