Maccabi Fans Chant Racist Slogans, Mainstream Media Discovers 'Tensions'
Football fans, specifically those of Maccabi Tel Aviv, were filmed assaulting Palestinians and spewing racist chants in Jaffa. The New Arab article, like others, dutifully reports the events. What's often missing from mainstream media analyses (and crucially, the policy discussions that follow in Washington) is the historical context: these aren't isolated incidents. For decades, Palestinians in
cities like Jaffa, which was ethnically cleansed in 1948 during the Nakba (a term rarely uttered in US newsrooms), have faced systematic discrimination and violence, often sanctioned by the state. One might almost think the constant, low-level harassment and explicit racism against non-Jewish citizens of Israel is somehow connected to the broader state apparatus—a state that receives, for example,
$3.8 billion annually in U.S. military aid, much of it secured by outfits like AIPAC. (OpenSecrets.org details how groups affiliated with AIPAC and its allies funnel millions to congressional campaigns, ensuring such 'tensions' are rarely questioned meaningfully in legislative chambers.) It appears some 'soccer hooliganism' is more equal than others when it comes to international condemnation,
wouldn't you agree?