Soccer, Cell Phones, and the Jewish People

כ׳ לחודש השלישי תשע"ה

Although I am not at all anti-sports, nor anti-competitive sports, I must tell you about what is wrong with Israel's recent, and not yet finished, battle withing the Fédération Internationale de Football Association [FIFA].

Arutz 7: Rajoub: Israel Suspension from FIFA Still on the Table
Palestine Football Association head clarifies he plans to move forward with having Israel suspended from FIFA.

Ido Ben Porat and Elad Benari, 5/31/2015

A day after withdrawing his request to have Israel suspended from FIFA, the head of the Palestine Football Association, Jibril Rajoub, on Saturday clarified he intends to try to have Israel suspended again in the future. (cont.)

Some appear to claim that we have brought this on ourselves...

(YNET Op-Ed) It also means that the troubling issue of racism against Israeli Arab footballers is expected to echo in our ears. And it mainly means that the Rajoub-Eini-Netanyahu affair (with Abbas' encouragement) is holding a mirror up to our eyes: When there is no peace process, when we insist on building in the settlements and there are no voices of peace, the political game reaches the soccer fields – and it's not in our favor. 

- Smadar Perry, 31.05.15

This is just silly, especially since there was no mention of the "Israeli Arabs" at Israeli soccer games, yelling in Arabic, "With spirit, with blood, we will redeem the Aqsa Mosque!" and receiving absolutely no consequences, while Jewish soccer fans are demonized, and jailed.



This is not the first time, politics has been played out on the soccer field. Which was worse, a French soccer player's reverse Nazi salute, or Israeli fans fawning over the Qatari supported, Barcelona soccer team? I would say the latter.

And now, many are crying about the next threat to Israel's acceptance as a sovereign state, with a right to exist.

YNET: Israel's next battle will be over Olympics, diplomats say
After Palestinians withdraw proposal to ban Israel from FIFA, Foreign Ministry and sports officials warn Israel's deterrence is eroding, saying attempts to de-legitimize Israel will continue in other fields. 

Itamar Eicnher, Eldad Beck, 05.30.15 

While the fight over the Palestinian attempt to suspend Israel from FIFA has ended on Friday in Zurich, Israeli diplomats warn that the next battle is near – the Olympics.
"Rajoub has three roles - he's the head of the football association, the minister of sports and the chairman of the Palestinian Olympic Committee," a Foreign Ministry official said.

"The Olympics are in a year. Today it started with soccer, tomorrow it could be volleyball, handball or basketball," the official continued. "We have to stay on our toes and realize there is now a political dimension to Israeli sports." (cont.)

The fact that the Olympics originated from the same Hellenist empire, we fought against, culminating in the celebration of the first Hanukkah, was not mentioned. What can I say? The revisionist historians have gotten the best of us, when it comes to Hanukkah.

The more recent fact that the 1972 Munich Olympics will always be known to us as the "apolitical," international sports competition in which 11 Jews were kidnapped and murdered, was also not mentioned. (I'm not holding my breath.). Yet, the International Olympic Committee [IOC] refuses to allow even a moment of silence to memorialize their brutal deaths, insisting that the Olympics remain "apolitical."

The Arab terrorists who murdered these 11 Jews obviously did not care about the supposedly apolitical nature of the Olympics. Neither did U. S. President Jimmy Carter in his boycott of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, in protest of the Soviet Union's invasion of Afghanistan, and creating the Taliban in the process.

But, I digress...

Of course, the non-Jewish endeavor to separate us from them has been going on since our "liberation" from the ghettos. But, we Jews continue to battle against this, and by extension, battle against our status as a separate and distinct people.

Leaving the ghettos was supposed to be a victory, a blessing if you will. But, has it been? I suppose it has, in that we have had to learn how to maintain our Jewish identity in the face of galuth (exile), and threats of foreign cultures, while attempting to glean the permissible wisdom from the goyim (non-Jews), making us stronger, and gaining zekhuth (merit) for ourselves, as a result.

On the other hand, so many of us have failed at this miserably, that one could just as easily see leaving the ghettos in an opposite light, or at the very least, as one of the greatest challenges in our history.

The goyim continue to demonize us, and push us away, and we continue to fight against this.

YNET: The global boycott of Israel is growing silently
European banks are cutting ties with Israeli counterparts, while supermarkets across the world are appeasing violent protesters who attack their Israeli produce.

Navit Zomer, Itamar Eichner and Udi Etzion, 06.04.15

In April 2012, the Co-operative, Britain’s fifth-largest food retailer, declared it would no longer be importing agricultural produce from the territories or any Israeli supplier linked to produce from there. Five years earlier, retail giant Marks and Spencer announced that it was boycotting products from the West Bank, while the Tesco supermarket chain stopped marketing dates from the Jordan Valley.

And they are not alone: Over the past few years, numerous other companies from various countries around the world have announced some kind of a boycott of Israeli goods or companies. (cont.)

The latest supporter of the boycotts against Israel has been a partner company of one of Israel's own cellular phone companies.

(Arutz 7) If he could, Stephane Richard, the CEO of French mobile company Orange said Wednesday, he would “tomorrow” end his company's association with its Israeli partner.

Why hasn't anyone suggested a boycott of the Orange Company in Israel? There has been plenty of whining across the political spectrum, from Tzipi Hotovely, Aryeh Deri (Shas), and Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid), but as far as I know, no calls for a counter-boycott.

(Arutz 7) Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely (Likud) on Wednesday night sent a letter to the CEO of the France-based Orange mobile company, Stephane Richard, urging him to take back his remarks regarding a boycott of Israel.

A protest on Facebook has been launched, but by any Israeli officials? Nope.

Orange in France apologized.

Orange in Israel says the apology is bologna.

I am surprised that Orange in Israel has not fallen already, with new, and much cheaper, competition on the scene, such as Golan and Rami Levy. But, that is another matter.

But, anyway, so what?

It is all the same, and it will all continue, until we let go of our desperate attempts to seek love from th goyim, and validation for our existence, instead of seeking both from The Holy One, Blessed Be He, the only love and validation and guidance we ever need.

The goyim are doing for us, what we are apparently unable to do for ourselves.

Let's stop caring, and let them.