France-Israel: Jews, Arabs, Druze… not just a “white settler team”… what does Israel’s team look like?

The Nations League match between France and Israel, this Thursday, November 14, has already gone beyond the simple framework of sport. At the Stade de France, nearly 4,000 police officers and gendarmes will be deployed to supervise a meeting classified as very high risk by the National Division for the Fight against Hooliganism, dependent on the Ministry of the Interior. It follows the violent events that occurred last week in Amsterdam, where Maccabi Tel Aviv supporters sang racist chants, took down a Palestinian flag and beat up a taxi driver, before being victims of reprisals; according to local police, attacks had notably been planned via social networks, calling for targeting Jews.

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In this context, “it’s not even football or sport anymore” believes an Israeli supporter quoted by France Info. Based in Jerusalem, he hopes that this meeting will be an opportunity to give another image of his country. “Because we have a mix of players. They think that in Israel we are all white settlers. I’m not a white settler. I’m not white. My parents are from Iraq. A lot of people don’t do not understand that Israel is a mosaic with Jews, Druze, Christians, Muslims.

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Currently, while several players on the national team play elsewhere than in Israel – in Austria, Switzerland, the United States, Hungary, for example – all were born in Israel, with the exception of Ethane Azoulay, born in Paris in 2002. But different religious faiths actually coexist within the squad of the 78th team in the Fifa ranking. This is for example the case of Ramzi Safouri, player from Antalyaspor (Turkey) born in Jaffa to a Muslim family, or Mohammad Abu Fani, midfielder from Ferencvaros. Mahmoud Jaber was born in Israel to a Palestinian family. His big brother Abdallah Jaber was even captain of the Palestinian national team.