Dubai will make no legends by prejudice and exclusion
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/blog/2009/feb/17/tennis-shahar-peer...
Dubai will make no legends by prejudice and exclusion
The United Arab Emirates' decision to refuse a visa to the Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer demands a strong response from the international sporting community
Just imagine - and it is not beyond the bounds of possibility - that, by winning the Champions League final in May, Liverpool become Europe's representatives in the Club World Cup, to be held this year for the first time in the United Arab Emirates. It takes only one more step to envisage what might happen when visas are requested for the members of Rafael Benítez's squad. On present form Liverpool will be told to leave Yossi Benayoun, their Israeli international midfield player, at home.
The UAE has no diplomatic relations with Israel. This week a prominent Israeli sportswoman was denied a visa to compete in Dubai, one of the seven territories making up the Arab federation and a place that fancies itself as the epicentre of modern sport. The ramifications and potential consequences of this decision could be considerable.
At immediate issue is the tennis question, and the matter of a 21-year-old's right to compete in the Barclays Dubai championship. Shahar Peer, currently ranked 45th in the world, is a quarter-finalist in the Australian and US Opens who reached the top 15 before injuries held back her progress. Twelve months ago she became the first Israeli tennis player to compete in a Muslim country by appearing at a tournament in Qatar.
The refusal to give her permission to take part in the $2m (£1.4m) WTA Tour event, which started on Sunday, is said to have been provoked by Israel's recent military offensive in Gaza. We can all have our opinions about that, but Israel is not an outlaw nation and, unlike apartheid South Africa, has not been made the subject of internationally agreed sporting sanctions. The UAE's decision to pick and choose whom it admits to its events demands a response that should not be affected by its status as one of the few sources of funding still available to international sport.
Dubai is where rich sportspeople go for their holidays. Ambitious to become - according to its blurb - "a place where sport is life, champions live, and legends are made", it is also the location of a project called Sports City, a $4bn (£2.8bn) venture which, by the time of its completion next year, will incorporate the ICC's global cricket academy, the world hockey academy, the Butch Harmon school of golf, Manchester United's first purpose-built soccer school, a David Lloyd tennis academy, an Olympic swimming pool, a rugby academy and a country club.
The Dunes, a championship golf course designed by Ernie Els, will be bordered by the luxury villas of Victory Heights. There will be a 60,000-seat outdoor stadium, a 25,000 capacity cricket stadium, a 10,000-seat multipurpose indoor arena and a hockey arena holding 5,000. Looming above it all will be the Michael Schumacher World Champion Tower, designed by the architects of Beijing's Water Cube and allegedly "inspired by the geometrical order of a snowflake and the aerodynamics of a formula one car".
But can a place with such aspirations justify a policy that excludes competitors from countries with which it has political, religious or cultural differences? How does Schumacher, say, feel about putting his name to a project in a place that keeps out at least some Jews? And shouldn't the WTA and its chief sponsor, Sony Ericsson, be pulling out of a tournament that refuses the right of one of its members to participate purely on grounds of nationality? "She's a nice person and we're just athletes," said Venus Williams after hearing of Peer's exclusion. "We're not standing for anything except good tennis." Actually, Venus, you are. You are standing for common humanity and sometimes firm action is necessary to defend it.
By the time the 2009 Club World Cup kicks off, ironically enough, Liverpool FC may well have become the property of Dubai International Capital, a consortium which has been engaged in negotiations with Anfield's US owners for many months. If that transfer of property comes to pass, Benayoun will find himself employed by people who do not recognise his nationality and would not allow him to enter their country. The rulers of Dubai and the rest of their confederation need to be told - and, if necessary, shown - that, if they want to be a part of the community of world sport, they must play by all of the rules all of the time and not just when it suits them.
Lest we forget the stadiums that made sport great
Two modern stadiums were the objects of admiration this week. England's rugby players couldn't stop saying how much they enjoyed playing in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium while an Italian football reporter was said to have responded to his first sight of the Emirates Stadium in north London, on the occasion of the friendly between Italy and Brazil, by remarking that his country had nothing to compare with it.
But it was also a good week for old stadiums. A Test match abandoned at Antigua's highly unsatisfactory new cricket ground was rearranged for the old Recreation Ground in St John's, where the facilities are few but the patina of history is much cherished by those who witnessed immortal deeds being done there. And England's footballers met Spain not in the Bernabéu or the Camp Nou but in Seville's Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, a ramshackle 1950s edifice reeking of legendary exploits.
One day all major sport will be played in clean, well-lighted venues with padded seating and decent food. Until then we should make the most of the chance to remember how things were before the big money took over and smoothed away all the rough edges.
Overpaid Button the hero for Honda's F1 workforce
Just like investment bankers, top grand prix drivers are vastly overpaid. Take Jenson Button, currently earning around £8m a year. Curiously, however, it looks as though the Englishman's three-year contract with Honda may be playing a part in keeping his 700 colleagues at the team's Northamptonshire headquarters in employment, following the Japanese company's decision to get out of formula one.
To shut the team down completely would oblige Honda to pay off the entire staff – including Button, who would be due something like £24m under the terms of a deal due to begin this season. A cheaper solution for Honda is to provide around £40m to help keep the team running its two cars – for Button and the newcomer Bruno Senna – in new colours during the coming year while hoping that a new owner turns up with enough cash to fund the rest of the budget.
Kidney hung out to dry by slip of the tongue
Was I hearing things, or did Declan Kidney, the head coach of the Ireland rugby team, really tell a television reporter in the aftermath of his side's win in Rome: "The game turned out to be a lot scorer than the clothesline suggests"? I do believe he did.
Dubai will make no legends by prejudice and exclusion
The United Arab Emirates' decision to refuse a visa to the Israeli tennis player Shahar Peer demands a strong response from the international sporting community
Just imagine - and it is not beyond the bounds of possibility - that, by winning the Champions League final in May, Liverpool become Europe's representatives in the Club World Cup, to be held this year for the first time in the United Arab Emirates. It takes only one more step to envisage what might happen when visas are requested for the members of Rafael Benítez's squad. On present form Liverpool will be told to leave Yossi Benayoun, their Israeli international midfield player, at home.
The UAE has no diplomatic relations with Israel. This week a prominent Israeli sportswoman was denied a visa to compete in Dubai, one of the seven territories making up the Arab federation and a place that fancies itself as the epicentre of modern sport. The ramifications and potential consequences of this decision could be considerable.
At immediate issue is the tennis question, and the matter of a 21-year-old's right to compete in the Barclays Dubai championship. Shahar Peer, currently ranked 45th in the world, is a quarter-finalist in the Australian and US Opens who reached the top 15 before injuries held back her progress. Twelve months ago she became the first Israeli tennis player to compete in a Muslim country by appearing at a tournament in Qatar.
The refusal to give her permission to take part in the $2m (£1.4m) WTA Tour event, which started on Sunday, is said to have been provoked by Israel's recent military offensive in Gaza. We can all have our opinions about that, but Israel is not an outlaw nation and, unlike apartheid South Africa, has not been made the subject of internationally agreed sporting sanctions. The UAE's decision to pick and choose whom it admits to its events demands a response that should not be affected by its status as one of the few sources of funding still available to international sport.
Dubai is where rich sportspeople go for their holidays. Ambitious to become - according to its blurb - "a place where sport is life, champions live, and legends are made", it is also the location of a project called Sports City, a $4bn (£2.8bn) venture which, by the time of its completion next year, will incorporate the ICC's global cricket academy, the world hockey academy, the Butch Harmon school of golf, Manchester United's first purpose-built soccer school, a David Lloyd tennis academy, an Olympic swimming pool, a rugby academy and a country club.
The Dunes, a championship golf course designed by Ernie Els, will be bordered by the luxury villas of Victory Heights. There will be a 60,000-seat outdoor stadium, a 25,000 capacity cricket stadium, a 10,000-seat multipurpose indoor arena and a hockey arena holding 5,000. Looming above it all will be the Michael Schumacher World Champion Tower, designed by the architects of Beijing's Water Cube and allegedly "inspired by the geometrical order of a snowflake and the aerodynamics of a formula one car".
But can a place with such aspirations justify a policy that excludes competitors from countries with which it has political, religious or cultural differences? How does Schumacher, say, feel about putting his name to a project in a place that keeps out at least some Jews? And shouldn't the WTA and its chief sponsor, Sony Ericsson, be pulling out of a tournament that refuses the right of one of its members to participate purely on grounds of nationality? "She's a nice person and we're just athletes," said Venus Williams after hearing of Peer's exclusion. "We're not standing for anything except good tennis." Actually, Venus, you are. You are standing for common humanity and sometimes firm action is necessary to defend it.
By the time the 2009 Club World Cup kicks off, ironically enough, Liverpool FC may well have become the property of Dubai International Capital, a consortium which has been engaged in negotiations with Anfield's US owners for many months. If that transfer of property comes to pass, Benayoun will find himself employed by people who do not recognise his nationality and would not allow him to enter their country. The rulers of Dubai and the rest of their confederation need to be told - and, if necessary, shown - that, if they want to be a part of the community of world sport, they must play by all of the rules all of the time and not just when it suits them.
Lest we forget the stadiums that made sport great
Two modern stadiums were the objects of admiration this week. England's rugby players couldn't stop saying how much they enjoyed playing in Cardiff's Millennium Stadium while an Italian football reporter was said to have responded to his first sight of the Emirates Stadium in north London, on the occasion of the friendly between Italy and Brazil, by remarking that his country had nothing to compare with it.
But it was also a good week for old stadiums. A Test match abandoned at Antigua's highly unsatisfactory new cricket ground was rearranged for the old Recreation Ground in St John's, where the facilities are few but the patina of history is much cherished by those who witnessed immortal deeds being done there. And England's footballers met Spain not in the Bernabéu or the Camp Nou but in Seville's Estadio Ramón Sánchez Pizjuán, a ramshackle 1950s edifice reeking of legendary exploits.
One day all major sport will be played in clean, well-lighted venues with padded seating and decent food. Until then we should make the most of the chance to remember how things were before the big money took over and smoothed away all the rough edges.
Overpaid Button the hero for Honda's F1 workforce
Just like investment bankers, top grand prix drivers are vastly overpaid. Take Jenson Button, currently earning around £8m a year. Curiously, however, it looks as though the Englishman's three-year contract with Honda may be playing a part in keeping his 700 colleagues at the team's Northamptonshire headquarters in employment, following the Japanese company's decision to get out of formula one.
To shut the team down completely would oblige Honda to pay off the entire staff – including Button, who would be due something like £24m under the terms of a deal due to begin this season. A cheaper solution for Honda is to provide around £40m to help keep the team running its two cars – for Button and the newcomer Bruno Senna – in new colours during the coming year while hoping that a new owner turns up with enough cash to fund the rest of the budget.
Kidney hung out to dry by slip of the tongue
Was I hearing things, or did Declan Kidney, the head coach of the Ireland rugby team, really tell a television reporter in the aftermath of his side's win in Rome: "The game turned out to be a lot scorer than the clothesline suggests"? I do believe he did.
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by mohammad shoja hafi on -
am sorry to say that....
but why aone israeli player make ahuge problem...!!!
but the palestinians players and the national team is always restricted by israel and many time in the important games israel don't allow to them to go out....
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Permalink Reply by Basil Keilani on -
You know Bobby Fischer wanted to play in the Balkans, but the United States refused to allow him. He played anyway, and the US wanted him arrested. The US also has rules about where people can play and not play. Is it strange that Dubai can have rules saying they don't want Israelis to play there? It would be different if she was banned as a Jewish American player or French Jew or something like that. I, personally, wouldn't care if she played there or not.
There are risks to excluding her. As far as Israel not being an outlaw state, Israel doesn't follow or attempt to follow the Geneva Convention or the UN Security Council resolutions. South Africa wasn't an outlaw state before it became one, and Israel was allied to it. The major reason Israel is not treated as an outlaw state is because it is shielded by the US.
Being Israeli is a nationality, being Jewish is not being Israeli. The woman is an Israeli, not a Jew who is simply an American or competing on an American passport. She is using her passport. The writer of the article forgets that Israel bulldozes the homes of Arabs, takes their farmland, and throws them on the street basically without compensating them. This is clearly in violation of international law. Should it come as a surprise that an Israeli woman has a hard time because of it.
She may be an awesome Israeli, a great woman, but South Africa was boycotted. She wasn't excluded because she was Jewish. Bahrain has a government official who is Jewish. If she wants to visit Dubai, she wouldn't have a problem. She is Bahraini. She'er is Israeli. If America had no relations with France and problems with France, it would naturally not allow French players to play in America. And as another poster said, Palestinian players have been discouraged from playing by Israel.
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Permalink Reply by Mazin Qumsiyeh on -
I agree with Basil. She represents her country Israel. Athletes and artists should be boycotted unless they clearly and unambiguously condemn the occupation and apartheid policies and support human righst and international law. Certainly Israelis like Ilan Pappe or Jeff Halper and Norman Finkelstein (who was in Dubai just recently) are not boycotted so this has nothing to do with prejudice as she and the Israeli spin media claims.
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Permalink Reply by Basil Keilani on
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Mazin, Norman Finkelstein is not Israeli. He is an American of Jewish heritage. He was incidentally banned from Israel for 10 years because Israel doesn't like that Jew's views. He could technically overcome the ban, perhaps, by exercising the law of return, but he doesn't want to do that. Jeff Halper, I believe, is an American citizen. American citizens who are Jewish and use an American passport should have no problems. Yes, such a sports boycott would keep out some Jews as the author said, but that would be like when sanctions against Serbia affected just some Orthodox Christians. It is funny, that Finkelstein, a Jew is allowed in Dubai, but he isn't allowed in Israel.
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Permalink Reply by Mazin Qumsiyeh on
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I know all of this Basil. I was addressing really the media claim that it is about bias. I was perhaps not clear about that. What I wanted to say basically is that
- Dubai does not prevent Jews.
- Dubai does not prevent Israelis (many Israeli Arabs and Israelis opposed to the occupation visited there)
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Permalink Reply by Basil Keilani on
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I was not aware, Mazin, that non-Arab Israelis traveling on Israeli passports are allowed in Dubai. Has Ilan Pappe visited the country? How are things done in the absense of relations?
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Chase on -
From what I know, I thought that Israel had informal ties with Dubai.
I mean I had heard that Israeli buissnessmen are allowed to go there, and Israelies can travel there.
I am told that it is one of the few countries in the Gulf states in which you can go with Israel stamped on your passport--> is that true?
This would be very valuable info for me, since I have Israel stamped on my passport, and I would like to travel to the UAE! :)
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Chase on
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To Basil and Mazin--
While I am personally against the atrocities that Israel has done to the Palestinians (+ with the Freedom of movement), I do think that it is immoral to not allow someone to play at a tournament because of his or her nationality.
She is not a politician, and probably lilke most people wants to live in peace and live a normal life.
Why should she have to suffer because of her nationality?
In my opinion, REGARDLESS of which country someone comes from, this is a form of discrimination.
People go to have a good time.
How about if I was an athlete representing the US, and the games were held in Iraq (hypothetically), and I am not allowed to play because I am American--- should I have to suffer from the War Crimes that previous corrupt leaders of my government has committed?!
Abosolutley not.
Events like these need to realize that governments are NOT representational of their people. Events like these should be about competing , cultural exchange learning to love one another.
Not excluding someone because of their nationality.
Now this is what I have a problem with!
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Permalink Reply by Basil Keilani on
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Stephanie,
The world had no problem doing it to South African players. Various forms of pressure were brought to bear on South Africa. Also, your position contradicts your support of a boycott. I mean a boycott could hurt Israelis based on their nationality as well regardless of their political stance. Why is an economic boycott of a state okay, but not a sports boycott?
Anyway, the US barred Bobby Fischer from playing in a chess tournament. It was actually against the law. That's even worse. She is not simply representing herself, she is representing her state. Well, then, Stephanie do you think the boycott of white South African players was wrong?
It allowed for only white players. You could argue they didn't create the system. You can also rationalize against the idea of divestment in that it would harm all Israelis to some extent.
For me, I don't care if she plays there or not. Either way is fine with me. There are also security concerns when there are tensions like when those basketball players from Israel went to Turkey and feared their safety. The UAE also cited security reasons.
The US has done similar things to Cuba, I believe.
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Permalink Reply by Stephanie Chase on
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Basil-
Let me reitterate myself.
I am for an Economic boycott of Israel that profits from the illegal occupation of the West Bank, and the siege over Gaza.
I think that culture and sports should not be boycotted, since it is apart of one's culture, and they should be proud of it (just as much as Palestinians should be proud of their culture; just as much as any other person should be proud of their culture). Shame should only come into play with the people who are in power, who have manipulated the citizens into doing bad things.
I don't see any contradictions in my theory.
It would be like applying the same standards to American athletes that play abroad-- they are representing the American Empire, and the war crimes that have been done in Iraq and Afghanstan. Now why isn't the same applied?
As I said before, people should not be punished nor banned because of their nationality.
The governements and officials should.
I believe that there are good aspects in EVERY nationality, just as there are bad.
We need to focus on the positive.
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Permalink Reply by noel hershfield on -
most of you are obviously anti semitic-you believe the Islamic propaganda about Isreal why do you not believe that Israel is the last best hope for Jews. Why do you not condemn the 8 years of Hamas rocket attacks on innocent Israelis? Strange behaviour for peacemakers! Israel is not an apartheid state-why do one million palestinian still live there-and have members of parliament,doctors,and by the way,the best standard of living of any Arab state? Your solution appears to be like Hitler(do you know whi he was?). Never again!
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Permalink Reply by Neri Bar-On on -
Dear Noel,
welcome to mepeace.org. This is a multi-political community hence we have open door for all the views that exist and all people who can respect members who think differently from different political angle.
Please visit: We cannot blame the blamers its their "truth" after all.
Please visit: Humans in Wolves clothing - how do you envision shared future which doesn't exclude anybody.
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