Munas Dabbur (r.) is considered the most successful soccer player of Arab origin in Israel – and that’s one of the reasons why he keeps getting caught between political fronts.
Photo: imago images / Piotr Kucza
In September 2021, Israel’s footballers achieved the most impressive victory in their recent history. But in the 5-2 win against Austria in the World Cup qualifier, an eternal conflict erupted again. At Haifa’s Sammy Ofer Stadium, fans booed and scolded Munas Dabbur, one of their most talented players. Far-right politicians and nationalist TV commentators called for Dabbur’s expulsion from the national team. This opinion is still widespread in Israel.
The particular hostility towards the 29-year-old has its roots in May 2021. Fighting between Israelis and Palestinians broke out again. The Israeli government launched a military operation in the Gaza Strip, the radical Islamic group Hamas fired rockets at Israel, killing almost 250 people. And Dabbur published a photo of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, one of Islam’s holy sites in Jerusalem, along with a quote from the Koran: “Do not think that God will ignore the deeds of evil people.” Nationalists gave him this as support the Hamas out.
This Saturday, the German team welcomes the Israeli selection to an international match in the TSG Hoffenheim stadium in Sinsheim, where Dabbur has been under contract since 2020. He is one of the most successful national players of Arab origin in Israeli history – and has long been considered a symbol of Muslim participation in the Jewish state. Around twenty percent of Israelis are of Arab origin. On average, they have a higher standard of living than Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. But compared to the Jewish majority, they encounter resistance more often: in health care, education or looking for a job. The 2018 nation-state law declared Israel the “national home of the Jewish people” and Hebrew the sole national language, with Arabic demoted.
Football at least gave a picture of the approach. Over the past twenty years, the number of Arab-dominated teams playing in Israel has increased. There were sometimes five or six Arab players in the national team’s starting XI. “With the help of football, many Israelis can persuade themselves that their state offers everyone the same opportunities,” says sociologist Tamir Sorek. “The Jewish public supports the Arab players as long as they succeed and quietly submit. But as soon as they criticize the system, acceptance is over.«
Sorek describes football in the Middle East as a meeting place, but also as an instrument of control – and has been for decades. In the first half of the 20th century, this sport was initially shaped by Jewish and English teams in the British Mandate of Palestine. Many Arabs resisted the “Western import” of football. The first association in the region, founded in 1928, called its national team the “Land of Israel” and used Zionist symbols, writes Palestinian sports historian Issam Khalidi in his book One Hundred Years of Football in Palestine.
The immigration of Jewish refugees from Europe during World War II left many Arabs feeling marginalized. In a 1946 appeal, Muslim politicians called on teachers and athletes to do the following: »As a soldier, you should be active on the sports field for many years.« The founding of Israel in 1948 and the war of independence against neighboring Arab states stopped Palestinian sports culture. Khalidi also describes how Israel’s authorities walked a fine line in the 1950s and 1960s. On the one hand, they wanted to limit the establishment of Arab sports clubs because they feared that young men would mobilize against the state. On the other hand, they tolerated tournaments in Arab villages because they found football less threatening than political parties.
Rifaat Turk, who was called up to the Israel national team in 1976 as the first Arab player, then caused the breakthrough. “With commercialization, the boundaries became blurred,” says the Israeli historian Moshe Zimmermann. »The professional clubs wanted to be successful and were also looking for talent in Arab communities.« Arab young people hoped for social advancement in football. It was different in basketball, handball or swimming. Even today, Arab Israelis are underrepresented in these sports. But there were also setbacks in Israeli football. During the »Second Intifada« there were outbreaks of violence between Palestinians and Israelis from 2000 onwards. Games in Arab villages have been canceled or controlled by the police. In May 2004, Israeli troops stormed a Palestinian refugee camp in the Gaza Strip because they suspected terrorists were there. At that time FC Bnei Sachnin from northern Israel became the first Arab club to win the national cup. Yasser Arafat, President of the Palestinian Authority, spoke of “pride for the Arab nation”.
Bnei Sakhnin FC captain Abbas Suan established himself in Israel’s national team. Like other Muslims, he said he had to do better to be accepted by the Jewish majority. He didn’t want to sing the Israeli anthem “Hatikwa” because it emphasized the Jewish element. “Suan spoke out in favor of an independent state of Palestine,” Middle East expert James M. Dorsey recalls. “He was also celebrated for this in the Gaza Strip and in the West Bank.” For example by Jibril Rajoub, a politician from the Fatah party. As president of the Palestinian Football Association, Rajoub has repeatedly called for Israel’s expulsion from Fifa.
Jewish nationalists pay close attention to who is co-opting Arab-Israeli internationals like Munas Dabbur. Far-right fans of Beitar Jerusalem keep mobilizing for attacks on Arabs like they did a year ago after the escalation in the Gaza Strip. This is one of the reasons why footballers rarely speak up with political messages.
