PHOBIA from page 23 Made possible by a generous gift from Bill and Audrey Farber Sunday, February 29, 2004 10:30 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Max M. Fisher Federation Building 6735 Telegraph Rd. • Bloomfield Hills 5 ways that YOU can get involved Bnei Sakhnin fans cheer during the game, before Monday's violence. MAKE Mishloach Manot Parcels at home! ;KING your completed Mishloach Manot to the Federation Building! MATE MAKE a Purim Parcel Project Program of your own! Mishloach Manot Parcels with D'vora! TAKE your Mishloach Manot parcels from the Max M. Fisher Federation Building to residents of various senior facilities; Coville jrN co „o Apartments; Jewish Family Service clients; Kadima clients; JARC clients; Kosher Meals-on-Wheels recipients, Yad Ezra; and many others! t For information, call Gail at the JEFF office at (248) 205-2536. 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Cholov Yisroel 1/23 2004 24 Enjoy an incredible combination of Religious Observance & Recreational Activities at Affordable Rates CALL NOW 1-877-4-PESACH TODAY or visit us on the web (Reservations must be paid in full by Feb. 20, 2004) at www.madankosher.com working together," said Eliezer Yaari, executive director of the New Israel Fund, an organization that promotes equality, democracy and social justice. Lior Asulin, a Jewish player, scored the winning goal for the Arab team, Bnei Sakhnin. He was cheered and hoisted on his teammates' shoulders as fans roared and whooped. Racism in Israeli soccer stems mostly from Jewish fans who feel they can shout slogans such as "Death to the Arabs" and "Go to Palestine" without fear of repercussion, experts say. The same cannot be said for their Arab counterparts. Jews playing on Arab teams say they feel at home on their teams. The Arab fans "give us lots of respect; there is no racism. They treat us well and we enjoy every minute," Asulin said, smiling as he was slapped on the back after the game by a steady stream of fans. In the late 1970s, the first Arab play- ers were included on Jewish teams of the top league. This season, for the first time, two Arab teams, Bnei Sakhnin and Maccabi Ahi Nazareth, performed well enough to be included in the pre- mier league. In a sign of soccer's potential to become a beacon for coexistence, fans of the Nazareth team cheered when Israel's star player, Chaim Revivo, appeared on the field to play for the Jewish team of Ashdod. The Ashdod fans applauded the Nazareth fans in return. Last year, a team from the Arab town of Kafr Kana was invited to play a match in Jordan but were told by the Jordanians that they would have to leave their Jewish players behind. The Kafr Kana management refused to go with- out the Jewish players. Sponsors also may shy away from teams with a reputation for racism. The Cellcam phone company dropped its sponsorship of Beitar Jerusalem, which is considered to have the most racist fans in the country. The fans have shouted "Death to the Arabs" for the duration of entire games, and the team is the only one in the premier league that has never hired an Arab player. Team officials denied any link between Cellcom's decision to drop its sponsorship and fan behavior. At Beitar Jerusalem games, song sheets have been passed out with racist lyrics. At one game, the song was directed at one of Israel's top Arab players, Salim Toameh, who plays for Hapoel Tel Aviv. "This is the Land of Israel, Toameh. This is the Jewish state. I hate you Salim Toameh, I hate all the Arabs," the fans sang. The song now is commonly heard at games across the country and is directed at Arab players, whether or not Toameh is playing. According to the New Israel Fund racism index, Beitar Jerusalem fans ranked as the most racist. Beitar Jerusalem spokesman Lior Mai took issue with the index, saying it provoked fans to want to win first place — even as first-place racists. Racism on the Israeli soccer fields is not limited to the Arab-Jewish arena. Black players — both Ethiopian Jews and players from Africa — have been taunted with shouts of "Dirty black" and "Go back to the jungle." Baruch Dago, a Jewish Ethiopian player for Maccabi Tel Aviv, is consider- ing leaving the team because he is so disheartened by racist slurs hurled at him by his own team's fans. Anti-black sentiment is especially rife in European soccer, and public aware- ness campaigns are trying to help fight it. Anti-Semitic epithets sometimes are shouted at players on British and Dutch teams considered to be "Jewish teams" because they either are owned by Jews or traditionally have been supported by Jewish fans. In the dilapidated streets of the Hatikva neighborhood, Bnei Yehuda is king. One teenage supporter, catching his breath after running after the bus of Bnei Sakhnin fans, tried to downplay the racism. "In the Hatikva neighbor- hood, we have only one thing to be proud of: Bnei Yehuda. It's not a person- al thing between Jews and Arabs," said Ben-Ezra, 17. But his friend, Lior Mizrani; also 17, said racial epithets are part of general tensions. "We do say these things out of hatred," he said. "It comes from all the terror attacks and shootings and it ends up here, on the soccer field." ❑