KABOBfest » sports

Football, Facebook, and soft wars over Palestine

Guest — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 17:00:43 +0000

Contributed by Maryam Monalisa Gharavi, of South/South fame.

Nb: This post refers to football, a term favored by every participating nation except the United States. In American English, football is ‘soccer.’ The word Palestine is mentioned in quotation marks in the title because I treat it here as not only the boundary of a physical land mass named Palestine but a historic and international recognition of an unjust loss and a movement toward regain.

Last month there was a stirring around the Brazilian football player Marcelo Vieira (known simply as ‘Marcelo’ to fans), first for purportedly having his page deleted* from Facebook and then for being cut from his team. In both cases the prevailing belief was that Marcelo suffered these infringements on account of his solidarity stance with the Palestinian cause. Among non-mainstream sources, I estimate that the report first began by a young Palestinian blogger, Palestinian Field Negro, followed by Raphael Tsavkko’s blog.

PFN noted:

[The picture and caption Marcelo posted to his Facebook page] along with the caption received wide attention, it had 4000+ likes and a couple thousand comments. While I was surfing through the comments, I saw different and varying opinions, people appreciating and showing respect, while others were arguing and showing their disapproval of what he said.

Two days later, the unexpected happened. Marcelo Vieira’s official Facebook page was shut down. [The] official Real Madrid website mentioned that the Facebook administration received requests from Israelis to shut down the page as it was inciting violence against Israel by supporting the Palestinian Intifada.

Tsavkko linked to an article about Marcelo and other players cut from the Copa America team, ‘A surpresa mais considerável foi a troca do lateral-esquerdo Marcelo, do Real Madrid…’ (‘The most formidable surprise was switching the lateral-left Marcelo, of Real Madrid…’ My translation.) I linked to his blog as both charges seemed to check out: Marcelo’s page had been deleted by Facebook’s administrators, he had been cut from the national players team (which was noted as unusual by both formal and informal sources I checked), and he was outspoken in supporting Palestinian resistance against the blight of Israeli aggression.

An unlikely source—Noor Al Hussein, the wife of the late King Hussein of Jordan—took up this issue, and was smart to include the conditional ‘if.’

(I say unlikely because the human rights record of the Jordanian kingdom is highly unethical, nay, downright embarrassing, with Jordan being only the second Arab country to normalize relations with Israel after Egypt in 1994, and when one considers the presence of nearly two million people Palestinians registered as refugees within a population of a little over six million people—an average of one in three people in Jordan as Palestinian—the normalization treaty with the state that created the refugee ‘problem’ and its continued puppeteering in collusion with the U.S. extraordinary rendition program compete more sordidly with the flattering Twitter profile and the expressions of sympathy for Palestinians it lets on.)

Jillian C. York also commented on the Marcelo affair. In the past, she has warned about the inefficacies of Facebook as a trustworthy mobilization platform (‘My advice to activists: avoid Facebook at all costs. They don’t care about you.’), concluding that Facebook’s content managers are ’utterly inept at policing content on its site.’ She has noted that rather than instating a real, live, breathing human to review flagged content, Facebook simply removes it: ‘Attempts to appeal the content typically result in refusal to reinstate it, unless of course you’re Sarah Palin, or your story gets picked up by CNN.’

In keeping with what is acknowledged about Facebook’s basic abandon of a supremely important function, namely the reporting of content that may or may not be spammy, illegal, libelous, ‘offensive’ or ‘inappropriate’ by a company-regulated moral perimeter, etc., York concluded:

[Because of] the attention Vieira’s comment received (it was highlighted in YNet and before being removed had nearly 2,000 comments), I’m guessing that someone–or a group of someones–decided that Vieira should be targeted. And because Facebook has no solid appeals system (users whose content is removed are often told the decision is final), or because the Page was maintained by someone other than Vieira who didn’t know what to do, the Page went down and has not been reinstated.

There’s a sizeable digital trail that suggests this, as Facebook has in the past come under scrutiny for allegedly (I say allegedly, but this actually happened) blacklisting the word ‘Palestinian’ from its Pages. Despite Mark Zuckerberg’s assurance that he works extremely hard for Facebook (taking out time only to learn Chinese, attempt to overthrow Google for an even bigger position as master of industry, and slaughter his own food), ‘Facebook does not have a strong customer support team to handle complaints about this, nor do they seem to care.’

It’s the outright deletion of the word ‘Palestine’ and/or ‘Palestinian’ (whether by an eradication bot or in the case I’ll now describe, as an editorial decision) that has been the most irksome. The BBC recently censored the word ‘Palestine’ on a program on Radio 1Xtra, and was met by significant anger, including in this open letter:

We condemn, in the strongest possible terms, the BBC’s censorship of the word ‘Palestine’ from a song played on The Hip Hop M1X with Charlie Sloth on BBC Radio 1Xtra. The edit was made three minutes into a recording by the artist Mic Righteous, with the word ‘Palestine’ being blanked out of the lyrics ‘I can say “Free Palestine.”‘ As artists, academics, lawyers and parliamentarians, we oppose this attack on the principles of free speech and on the freedom of artists to express political viewpoints through art.

[Signed] Mark Thomas, Jeremy Hardy, Mark Steel, Alexei Sayle, Miriam Margolyes, Benjamin Zephaniah, Ken Loach, Robert del Naja, Lowkey, Bella Freud, Bernadine Freud, Ahdaf Souief, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Andy Slaughter MP, Dr Karma Nabulsi, Professor Ilan Pappé [...]

BBC’s response was noxious, laughable, and brief.

We have received complaints about the decision taken in editing the song ‘Fire In the Booth’ by Mic Righteous—the phrase ‘Free Palestine’ was obscured.

All BBC programmes have a responsibility to be impartial when dealing with controversial subjects and an edit was made to the artist’s freestyle to ensure that impartiality was maintained.

If a football player’s sentiments over the Palestine/Israel debacle can trigger a (likely) automated Page removal on Facebook; if Facebook has historically revealed a tendency to disband Palestine-related material flagged as ‘offensive’; if the BBC can issue inane hand-waving over its ‘obscuring’ of a Palestine-related phrase; can an activist, artist, reader, listener, user, person of conscience, etc. help but draw attention to a pattern of ‘soft’ censorship?

One could argue—and many have—that this form of censorship is unsurprising (I tend to agree) or a useless and enervating battle (I tend to disagree). But it might serve as a useful gateway to a more comprehensive discussion about actual state propaganda, an ever-widening desert valley that in the case of Israeli hasbara appears more like a glass-encased anthill than the Grand Canyon.

it might serve as a useful gateway to a more comprehensive discussion about actual state propaganda, an ever-widening desert valley that in the case of Israeli hasbara appears more like a glass-encased anthill than the Grand Canyon.

How significant is this so-called web war? Ha’aretz recently published a long article about it called ‘Israel preparing itself for Twitter war over Palestinian state’, stating that the Foreign Ministry is ‘bracing’ itself for a ‘flood of tweets.’ Scary stuff for a state with its own ‘information and Internet division at the ministry’ of around 10 people, plus external consultants who ‘run websites in Hebrew, English, Arabic, Russian and Persian’ and operate on a budget of NIS 3 million (almost US$1 million), ‘not including the wages of the unit’s seven state employees.’ One million dollars to type out multilingual tweets: not shabby.

The operation director told Ha’aretz, in a factual, not-closely guarded moment that the lesson Israel learned from the aftermath of the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident was that ‘no explanations will—not in the old media or in the new—will change minds among the hard core of opponents. There are groups and organizations whose activists are impermeable to arguments [...]. Unfortunately, these people are intensely active in the social media, where they disseminate their messages.’ The insight this yields, I believe, is that Israel simply sees the ‘opposition’ as practically another nation-state, which if not technically endowed with the power of statecraft, can nonetheless shape, inform, and influence with an equanimity that Israel fears and invests enormous resources to counteract.

‘Recently a Facebook page went online that provides links to all the Facebook pages of Israel’s embassies and representations around the world: facebook.com/IsraelMFA. The ministry also runs official state Facebook pages in several languages, including facebook.com/IsraelArabic, which has 72,000 “fans” – not quite the word, really, considering that most posters are pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel.’ Altogether the Foreign Ministry has about 100 Facebook pages.

Popular cultural pastimes, whether football or Facebook, tend to leave a residue of unseriousness in serious discussion by sheer virtue of their play interfaces. This is where I return to softness as a question of collective response and action, where mediums like football or Facebook shed their categorization as amusement, play, or even instances of possible reconciliation, and become ‘soft’ targets. In this respect, Israel has racked up significant propaganda losses, and if its own Foreign Ministry is to be believed, knows it.

Soccer Politics‘s Danny Mammo wrote on Lula’s 2009 attempt to join Israelis and Palestinians in a football match against Brazil, ‘I say [it's] interesting and hesitate to say encouraging because while I believe in the power of football to engage different communities that are unfamiliar with each other, I am skeptical about any effect it could have on Israeli/Palestinian relations.’ I lived in Brazil during this entire period and never heard of Lula’s unity match proposal , but even so, recall the anti-propaganda (and by extension, anti-normalization, anti-conciliatory) premise laid out earlier.

No one believes football or Facebook are going to create a just solution to Palestine/Israel, however, football, Facebook, and similar mediums can (and have) become berths of ‘soft’ resistance that have undoubted effect**, not only on the politics of free speech or civic freedom or sports but on a propaganda machine that acknowledges its own machinations. In June of the same year that Mammo cites (I mentioned it here), Corinthians (the team of famed striker Ronaldo) and Flamengo (a globally appreciated team) played a solidarity match in Ramallah, refusing to play in or with Israel. The Israeli Foreign Ministry called it ‘an act of ostracism.’

_____________________________________

* A solidarity page has sprung up, but Vieira’s page has not at this writing been reinstated.

** I noted here that the group that broke the American embargo on Iraq was none other than the Palestinian national football team.

The original post is on South/South.

The Bedouin Olympics in Pictures

Guest — Tue, 26 Apr 2011 14:34:15 +0000

Contributed by Mosa’ab Elshamy

A few months ago, I had the privilege of spending several days with a group of Bedouins in Egypt’s deserted yet lovely Valley of Camels, deep in the deserts of the Red Sea — the province of the Red Sea, not the actual sea, I know how odd this sounds. It is hundreds of miles away from the boisterous Cairo.

This Valley of Camels, as the name suggests, is pretty populated with camels, but also features other forms of wildlife.

It is the ancient home of Egypt’s Beja tribes, who happen to be, like all Bedouins, a very loving and welcoming bunch. I thoroughly enjoyed my stay with them and was quite humbled to get a peek into their daily lives.

Living with them during that period, I was drawn into a whole new set of culture and traditions that was unknown, to say the least, to me. I am fairly representative of the large bunch of city-living, traffic-loathing, air-condition-depending population of Egypt, I’d say.

It would take months to cover all aspects of their lives from the experience I had, but I thought I might start with one small, but fascinating and beautiful, part of their lives: their attachment to sports. This series of photographs captures sports in their lives. I call the series, the Bedouin Olympics.

Sword fighting round. It's life a Fight Club. Don't let the smiles fool you, those are real swords. But unlike Fight Club, both can (and always do) make it out alive.

Not only are those kids skilled with the inner and outer matters of footie, they also get to do Godly acts like been friends after a game and posing with a stabilized ball.

Bedouin kids Champions League. It's a battle of epic proportions. The desert is your field. Nike would say, Just Do It.

Bedouins defy gravity, and laugh their butts off while doing so.

Long, high or projectile jump, it all started in the desert.

Tug of war.

Celebrating the Olympics with a cold, mineral glass of water sounds like the most fitting thing to do in a desert

And here is where the day ends. Camels racing

If you haven't got a camel yet, well, you've still got legs.

Not all of the crowd are into the sport fiasco though, some chill under a tree..

...and others pray

Have a good day!!

Follow Mosa’ab Elshamy on Twitter: @mosaaberizing

Homeless Football World Cup

Fayyad — Thu, 30 Sep 2010 04:17:56 +0000

Currently held in Rio de Janeiro… With Palestine representing for the first time, and bring a whole new meaning of what constitutes “homeless”. It is being represented by a team of Palestinian refugees from Camps in Lebanon.

But there’s a difference between being homeless and not having a homeland. For the first time in the cup’s eight-year history, there’s a team for Palestine, made up of players from refugee camps in Lebanon.

GREENSPAN: The Palestinian team is a pack of darting, weaving limbs that keeps the ball flying from end to end. Their opponent in this game is Hong Kong with a tightly woven defense that keeps the ball from getting too close. Palestine takes its time, passing the ball back and forth, looking for an opening, and then…

GREENSPAN: …they score. Ismael Mashaal plays striker for the Palestinian team. He has no job waiting for him back home.

Mr. ISMAEL MASHAAL: I’m still a student, study, but when I finish my study, I can’t work in Lebanon. When I finish my study, I have to find another country, like United Arab Emirates, Canada, Australia, USA. It’s difficult because I’m Palestinian.

GREENSPAN: For Mashaal’s team, the competition is about putting Palestine on the map, figuratively, if not literally. Back on the soccer pitch, the Palestinian team wins this game, beating out Hong Kong 8-2.

After shaking hands and hugging the players from Hong Kong, the teammates kneel and press their foreheads on the turf in a brief moment of thanks.

In Cuba, economic immigrants form the eastern part of the country to Havana, who often live raggedy slums resembling refugee camps are called “Palestinos”. It is somewhat derogatory now, but one can guess how the name came about. Yes, there is a difference between being homeless and having no home, or homeland, but it may be a lot smaller than it appears.

The United State of Algeria

Fayyad — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 12:19:04 +0000

US or Algeria in today’s game? I can’t decide…and honestly, I did not even know the decision was going to be this hard nor that the feeling would be so torn.

I thought I was going to be solidly, unconditionally behind Algeria. Yes, my reasons are perhaps incompatible with 21^st century universalist view of the world, and even wrong. Rooting for Algeria for political, nationalistic reason is not easy to live with. Not only it’s ethically and nationalistically motivated, views I advocate against, but it is also that case I have not material or tangible connection to Algeria.

It’s an Arab nation, but what connects me personally to it? Nothing… I have as many friends from Algeria as I do from Chile, Austria or the Philippines. I have never been to the country. But it is the only Arab nation to qualify, and for better or worse, the whole world looks at us as one group, (until we try to act as a group that is, then a host of multi national organizations spring up to action telling us we’re not). And Arabs are oppressed, in their home, in Diaspora, for being, for being Muslim, by the west, by Israel and dictators who are supported by the west… So damn it, it’s about time I find solace in an Arab team qualifying, even if that’s the 20^th furthest out of 22 from me.

So I unabashedly rooted for Desert Warriors as they took on Slovenia, and especially England… All the contributed to the world was colonialism, bad food, and financial meltdowns.

I thought I’d do the same against the US. Not so easy. Remember what I said earlier about never being from Algeria and having virtually no connections to it…? Talk about the extreme opposite; I’ve lived in the US for just short of half of my life. The US has given so much, next only to my home, Palestine. The US has given education, multiple degrees, livelihood, even a career, a new perspective, world view, great life, plenty of vacations, and even a platform to advocate on behalf of Palestine (probably would have been censored had I tried it in most Arab countries.)

Yes, The US is the empire and the oppressor. But soccer is by no means the spectator sport of the elite or warmongering, gun touting, republican voting swats of the country. On the contrary, soccer is an oppressed minority in the US; in fact, the word “soccer” is the N word for what is really football, (American football is thrown by hand, so…). Soccer fans are generally such because they traveled abroad, or come from families with that kind of view, so good for the future of America as a multi cultural nation and a friend of world, that the right wing nuts have been lashing out against it. Besides, on an athletic level, the US is not soccer superpower… which I would have taken delight in their embarrassment, like England and France, and hopefully the imminent, similar fate awaiting Germany and Italy.

So go Algeria, or US, if I figure that out by the time of the game I may enjoy the game more… We’ll see, they can’t both advance. May be this is how it is when you make a good life in a country the oppresses your people… How did Latinos living in the US watch games between the US and South and Central American nations?

Soccer is Officially An American Game Now!

Hanitizer — Sat, 12 Jun 2010 20:33:06 +0000

The second day of 2010 World Cup tournament saw an action packed day where Team USA took on England on Saturday, June 12th, at 8:30 p.m. local time at the Royal Bafoking Stadium in Rustenburg in the nations of South Africa. The cousins have met before, but England almost always schooled the US.

This is the first official match up between the “cousins” since the 1-0 U.S. defeat of Team England during the 1950 World Cup in Brazil; a game many consider the greatest upset in World Cup history and possibly the U.S. team’s greatest victory. Sixty years ago, when the U.S. and British media finally got around to reporting the game, many considered the news of the 1-0 U.S. win to be a typo.

From National Geographic

The US England game is the first World Cup game I am truly excited to watch. I am hoping to see a solid performance from the US as we have been hearing waves and waves of news about how good the American soccer have become (You might want to thank an English for that).

I think this game will decide how invested Americans are in the World Cup, with the BP fiasco, I hoped Americans can get a win, this would be tough if no impossible against England which has been leading the world in soccer for generations. If history any indication, the US is doomed! Take a look:

1950 In one of the biggest upsets in soccer history, USA beat England 1-0 in the 1950 World Cup in Brazil.
1953 In a friendly match in New York, England got revenge from the 1950 upset bybeating USA 6-3 in Yankee Stadium.
1959 England demolished USA 8-1 in Los Angeles in 1959. Bobby Charlton scored a hat trick.
1964 England pounded on USA once again in New York in Downing Stadium, winning 10-0. Roger Hunt scored four goals.
1985 England routed USA 5-0 in Los Angeles, California.
1993 USA upset England in the 1993 U.S Cup in Foxborough by a score of 2-0. Thomas Dooley and Alexi Lalas scored.
2005 USA lost 2-1 to England in a friendly match in Chicago’s Soldier Field, America’s first loss on home soil in more than two years.
2008 England beat USA 2-0 in a friendly at England’s Wembley Stadium. Goals were scored by John Terry and Steven Gerrard.

So, this game might change some of those stats…

US just rocked the UK with one of the easiest goal you will see….At minute 40! The England keeper must feel bad that ball looked too easy…but again it is all in the head….I am sure Green will redeem himself in the near future.

The US players know there is so much at stake….they want revenge and they want to become mainstream, a win and strong showing in the World Cup won’t hurt….

Ending the game with a tie where the score to 1:1, an upgrade for the underdog American team!

Game still going, lots of energy on both sides. 3 minutes from original time….England is pressuring the States, but the Americans are up to the challenge, stellar finish for the US. Both teams had mis-communications. But when the game was over, my first thought “Dude, soccer now is officially an American Game.”

Last Word, Tim Howard (The American goalkeeper) should be the Secretary of Homeland Security…he is definitely keeping America SAFE!

Israel’s Latest Propaganda Tool Malfunctions

Fayyad — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 03:54:51 +0000

One of Israel’s most hyped new propaganda machines stalled over the weekend during a show it put on in Yankee Stadium. Boxer Yuri Foreman, seemingly a nice Belarusian, Jewish boy has become Israeli hasbara’s most polished news story of late. He was TKOed by Miguel Cotto in the first boxing match in the new Yankee Stadium.

Most media outlet, including the sports commentators and analysis of ESPN and HBO who hyped the fight, or more realistically Foreman, recognized that he was no match for Cotto, yet he was the news story because of his “unique” and “emotional” story, born in Belarus, temporarily Israeli, living and training in the US, studying to be a rabbi, became the darling of the Israeli Consulate, and by extension, US media.

Even NPR featured him unabashedly, while recognizing the manipulation of, but leaving unquestioned, the fact that he is far more of a propaganda project than a boxing champ:

Normally, the sparring at Demarco’s doesn’t occur in a ring decorated with Israeli flags. And this sweat-drenched space, a floor above Ace Auto Styling, isn’t usually populated with officials from the Israeli Consulate. Joel Lion is one — and he says Foreman offered himself up to the consulate as a goodwill ambassador. It was Foreman’s idea, Lion says, to set up events like the Staten Island boxing clinic in the name of Israeli national outreach.

Somehow this more of an emotional story than the fact that Cotto’s father and coach has just passed away, and this would be Cotto’s first fight since his father’s passing, or the fact that Cotto is fighting to reclame his championship title after losing to Pacquiao a few months ago.

Foreman is an Israeli who lived in Israel less than he did in either the US or Belarus. He trained at a Palestinian gym, yet has no problem claiming at every turn that those Palestinians who hosted him and trained with him despised and resented him. But as NPR mentions and fails to analyze, Israel is desperate for “outreach,” read some propaganda and PR in light of Israel’s reprehensible self-inflicted image and the cultural boycott that has been hitting Israel.

This time Israel’s new PR machine malfunctioned, and was left permanently damaged (Foreman’s knee gave out), given that this happened during the same week as Israel’s attack on the Freedom Flotilla and the ensuing condemnation, it is a metaphor that can’t be over looked.

Ali Farokhmanesh Is One Frisky Persian Cat

Fayyad — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 06:02:23 +0000

Just few hours after the Egyptian Kid pulled off the first upset in the 2^nd round of March Madness, we get a Persian Kid leading the Northern Iowa Panthers into the tournament’s biggest upset, period. The Panthers ousted the number 1 overall seed, Kansas Jayhawks.

Ali “Long Name” Farokhmanesh led his team in scoring, including a picture-perfect three-pointer that sealed the deal, when common wisdom calls for running the clock and not take chances that could result in mistakes and turnovers. But his gutsy play earned the glory, and placed Kansas in a deeper hole than they could dig out of in 30 seconds.

Yet again, an upset that destroys my bracket… I’m not even looking, I may have picked Kansas to play in the final. But I don’t mind much, I’ll take another one for another hommie representing. Shout out to brown people who are not that brown.

Here is what I don’t understand though, what does his mom really mean by this quote?

There are 35 seconds left, 30 on the shot clock, and Farokhmanesh’s Northern Iowa team is up one. It’s a split-second decision that will rock the NCAA Tournament.

“I always want him to shoot it,” [his mom] says. “Always. His dad yells the same thing, but he’s Iranian, so you can’t always understand it.”

What is the implication being Iranian here? Is it that he’s hard-headed and never listens? Is he a ball-hogger? Does he resort to the ‘nuclear option’? You let me know if you do…

Omar Samhan: The Egyptian Gael Who Blew Villanova Away

Fayyad — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 20:01:41 +0000

The superb performance by the 6-11 senior, Omar Samhan, just lifted St Mary’s College Gaels past 2^nd seed Villanova in the first upset of the 2^nd round in the NCAA Tournament.

The Egyptian-Irish Gael scored 32 of the games 75 points (more than the 5 Aussie players on his team combined), while Nova doubled up his coverage for most of the game. He led his team with a performance that exuded confidence and disciplined play. He acted like the odds were in his team’s favor, and he rubbed off on his teammates. His confident play was a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Mr. Sphinx was not heavily recruited out of high school, may be because he was heavy. The kid weighed in at 310 pounds, a little more than ideal for a 6-11 height. But the dude is at 260 lbs now, and his mastery of the game ranks among the best college seniors out there. So his professional prospects just went up massively; may be the San Antonio Spurs have a good fit for him…

And as for St Mary’s, they should retire his jersey immediately, the dude just took them to their 1^st and 2^nd NCAA Tournament wins ever. If he wins in the Sweet 16, they should build him a statue. Although an Omar Samhan Facebook fan club is a good start.

Samhan’s performance and his upset win royally messed up my bracket as I had Nova going to the final four, but I kinda don’t mind that much, I’ll take for a fellow Arab man. Besides, his mom already scolded him for messing up her bracket too.

Ray Hanania Adopts Jackasses

Hanitizer — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 14:05:29 +0000

Ray Hanania, a Palestinian-American comedian whose funny bone has yet to be verified, recently unveiled plans to adopt a number of jackasses housed in zoos across the nation. His goal is to unite them and form a lobby that is able to adequately represent their rights in the United States. His efforts are being supported by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Hanania, the WWF-appointed spokesperson and mascot of the movement, stated: “Jackasses, like me, are a dying breed. All my life I’ve worked hard to become a world-class jackass, and now – after I’ve made it – we’re almost extinct. Worst of all, no one seems to care. Not even Al Gore is paying attention!”

He continued, “I won’t rest until I revive the species. I’m as passionate about being a jackass as Angelina Jolie is about adopting third-world babies!”

Carter Roberts, president of the WWF, explained his organization’s support of Hanania’s initiative: “We first approached Governor Rod Blagojevich since he’s a nationally recognized jackass. He declined, but referred us to Mr. Hanania, another Chicago native. After running a thorough background search on him, we decided Ray’s the best guy for the job.”

Still, not everyone is happy about Hanania’s appointment.

Injured Chicago Bears player Israel Idonije argued that Hanania’s allegiance should be to his ailing team – not jackasses. “This is a ludicrous idea from a very unfunny man,” said Idonije. “As a resident of Chicago, Ray should be more focused on helping the Bears improve our horrible team performance – not jackasses!”

Hanania, however, dismissed the criticism. “Look, I would love to help,” he said. “But I’d rather stick to things I know a lot about.”

[Tarboush Tip: Programmer Buydatti]

My Personal Challenge to Niveen Rasheed

Will — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 05:18:36 +0000

The New York Times had a write-up about Niveen Rasheed, the leading scorer of Princeton University’s women’s basketball team. The Times took particular and primary interest in the fact that her teammate, friend and fellow Bay Areaite, Lauren Polansky, is Jewish.

Whoopty-do (sp?).

These Arab-Jew buddy stories are so stale and idiotic, and are only interesting for the ignorant. Sure, it rubs against false views that Palestinian qualms towards Israel are driven by anti-Jewish sentiments. But, they are so not. Every displaced people resents their usurpers. Israel is built on stolen Palestine, and the state’s founders dispossessed the Palestinians, straight-up. The Jewish people as a whole did not do this, as much as Israel claims to be the Jewish state. It is unfair to associate a whole people with one state’s historical crimes.

So why wouldn’t she be friends with Polansky?

The failure by too many Times readers to understand the gravity of the Palestinian narrative, makes such stories seem unique. What is funny is that such friendships in the United States are very common. Though Rasheed is politically-minded, Polansky cares less about Israel; and that is what makes it works. I only know a few politically-committed Palestinians who could actually be friendly with those who rabidly support a state build on their exile. Now that would be a story.

So as nice as Polansky sounds, Rasheed should get news coverage on her own. She is worthy without the frame of her — WOW — having a Jewish pal.

The only thing the press would like more than a Palestinian athlete with a Jewish friend, is a Palestinian athlete who wears a hijab and has a Jewish friend.

Frankly, I think this is not fair to her.

Rasheed is possibly the best Palestinian basketball player since Rony Seikaly.

That is, if she can beat me.

If you know Niveen Rasheed, tell her she has to play me one-on-one for a shot at Seikaly’s championship belt. Is she up for the KABOBfest challenge? Would she be able to stop my tomahawk lay-up move, or get around my hack-a-Niveen defense? Give me 6-7 months to train and I highly doubt it.

She couldn’t even beat me in a Jewish friends contest.