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Peace building? The coverage of Arab football players in the Hebrew sports media during the October 2000 riots
Abstract
This paper is a preliminary report of a wider examination of media coverage of Arab football players in the Israeli Hebrew language media during the past 15 years. It aims to examine the extent to which this media serves as a peace-building measure that aims to reduce the incentives for conflict between Jewish and Arab communities in Israel. The current paper examines how the major Hebrew newspapers and Internet sites depicted Palestinian Arab football players during the October 2000 riots. In addition, the paper shows how globalization and professionalism impact the Hebrew language Israeli media and depict an alternative narrative to the ethno-national discourses that stress estrangement between the Arab and Jewish communities.
Since the turn of the century, public investments in high performance sport are booming which requires policy makers to justify the expenses. Thus, governments predominantly argue that elite sport will trigger a range of benefits for the population. The latter is contested among academics as there is lack of robust evidence that supports the governmental claims. Moreover, evidence highlighting the ‘dark sides’ of sport is mostly ignored. Surprisingly, valuable insights in how the tax-payer observes the societal impact of elite sport is scarce. Therefore, the research aim is to examine what negative and positive societal impact of elite sport is perceived by the population of Belgium (n = 1102). The results indicate that the Belgian population generally perceives less negative than positive societal impact of elite sport. The most negatively perceived impact relates to excessive costs, disturbed local living conditions and athletes’ harmful physical and mental integrity issues.
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to fill the gap in the research literature on how sport can be used more productively as a peacebuilding device in post-conflict countries.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper uses interviewing method that includes both semi-structured and unstructured interviews with trainers, instructors and children involved in implementing Open Fun Football Schools (OFFSs) in Kosovo.
Findings
Findings show that OFFSs have played a vital role in peacebuilding in Kosovo by bringing together people from different ethnic backgrounds in Kosovo, which contributed to social inclusion of Albanians and Serbs, and other communities by changing their initial attitudes toward one another.
Research limitations/implications
The main research limitation is the usage of semi-structured and unstructured questionnaires instead of structured questionnaires, which would provide more generalized conclusions about the OFFSs. More research is needed on this topic to investigate the effect of similar programs in other country contexts.
Practical implications
The most important practical implication of the research is that conflict mitigation through football sports programs and activities can be used in other similar contexts by donors and the international community. OFFSs offer a hope for peacebuilding, and if adequately implemented can contribute to peacebuilding in post-conflict societies similar to Kosovo’s context. The positive attitude changes as a result of participation in the OFFS programs shows that these joint programs can promote better ethnic relations. There is a need for the expansion of such programs to reach more people.
Originality/value
The study provides an original contribution as there has been almost no prior research which actually measured the effects of OFFSs on change of youth attitudes through the integrated sport programs with different ethnicity in Kosovo.
Over the last two decades soccer has become a major institution within the popular culture of the Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel. They have attained disproportionate success in this field. Given their marginalisation from many areas of Israeli society as well as the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such a prominent Arab presence highlights the tension between their Israeli citizenship and their belonging to the Palestinian people. Bringing together sociological, anthropological and historical approaches, Sorek examines how soccer can potentially be utilised by ethnic and national minorities as a field of social protest, a stage for demonstrating distinctive identity, or as a channel for social and political integration. Relying on a rich combination of quantitative and qualitative methods, he argues that equality in the soccer sphere legitimises contemporary inequality between Jews and Arabs in Israel and pursues wider arguments about the role of sport in ethno-national conflicts. Ideal for researchers and graduate students.
Both the optimism and pessimism of Turkish society are reflected in the statement ‘Nowhere else in the world’. Many Turks will claim that their country’s natural beauties, hospitality, political scandals, outbreaks of public disorder, and perceived degeneration cannot be found in such intensity elsewhere in the world. Such claims are exaggerations usually reflecting an ignorance of other countries and cultures. But, as is frequently said, ‘The love for football in our country may be found nowhere else in the world’; such an assertion is worth considering. For Turkish people, the epitome of good football is the Brazilian style; similarly, the idealised form of football passion is Brazilian. Yet Turks visiting Brazil often return disappointed with the reality, airing the above familiar statement.1 Indeed, one can ask is there any other country in which a World Cup qualifier against minnows San Marino could transform vibrant cities into dead ones for the duration of the game? In which other country is the ratio of active club supporters per capita so high?2 Can another place be found where intellectuals, workers, peasants, ‘yuppies’, the rich and the poor, power elites and ordinary people spend so much time engrossed in football, and where around significant fixtures the whole country speaks only of football for days?
Scotland’s contribution to the historical development and cultural richness of world football cannot be denied. Scottish players taught the world the benefits of the ‘passing game’ at the turn of the century, and became the first to defeat England regularly home and away (Walvin 1994). Scottish players and managers have been vital to the success of British clubs in domestic and European competition, while Scottish coaches and administrators continue to play a leading role in world football’s affairs. However, Scotland’s influence in the playing and administration of football has been in some decline in recent years. It may even be said to have been outshone by the Scottish supporters, whose international significance has long been noteworthy.
Fan behaviour in the former Yugoslavia reveals a structural nexus between football fandom and politics during times of grave social crisis. This politicisation of the fan world and political instrumentalisation of fan behaviour occurred during the massive social crisis of civil war that afflicted Yugoslavia between August 1991 to the present day and in the context of the ethnicification of politics (Offe 1994) following the death of Tito in May 1980. In turn, this has resulted in the emergence of new states which act not only as nation states but also as nationalising states (Brubaker 1996). There is no chasm between the subculture of football followers and the mainstream culture; both in regard to violence as legitimate during social and political crises. The ‘tribal’ activity of football following, particularly ‘hooligan’ actions, was transferred from the ends to the trenches. Waving banners and scarves was replaced by the brandishing of weapons, evidencing what one writer calls the ‘move from dramatic and ritualistic representation or rather from symbolic behaviour to non-symbolic behaviour’ (Battacchi 1988: 325). To borrow Ficoneri’s (1990: 59) words, ‘these absurd soccer warriors’ turned almost overnight into soldiers in a cruel war. The symbolism of fan aggression was easily transformed, first into aggressive political symbolism, then into military symbolism, demonstrating that ‘it is possible to die by symbolism, and that this was not purely symbolic at least for the dying ones’ (Battacchi 1988: 326).
Football was introduced and played by members of Brazil’s elite as a way of confirming their distinctive position against other social groups. Yet football’s popularity spread extraordinarily from the end of the 1910s. In the following decade, in Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, highly talented players emerged among the working classes. They opened the way to the professional age, despite a strong defence of amateurism mounted by most directors at the leading clubs. The defence of professionalism and its subsequent developments helped to forge a sense of national identity through football. This sentiment was related to the creation of a style of play that owed much to working-class players. Paradoxically, the same players’ characteristics were criticised whenever a defeat was anticipated or actually occurred. The specific qualities of these players were seen as weakening the nation’s status vis-à-vis European nations or Brazil’s South American rivals, Argentina and Uruguay (cf. Leite Lopes 1997). Often, these criticisms emphasised the lack of physical and tactical discipline which supposedly influenced the results, even if an elegant style of playing had been exhibited.
Sport and the Media: managing the sport-media nexus is a unique text which combines an analysis of the sport media industry with practical sport media management skills. The book is designed to equip students within sport management and related courses who need to understand the nature and scope of the sport media nexus, as well as develop the skills to manage the media promotion and coverage of sport organisations. This books covers topics including: Historical development of sport and the media Current commercial and contextual relationships between the media and sport industries How audiences and advertisers drive the media coverage of sport Ways in which the media industry generally and the sport industry more specifically are structured to produce content/news/products How the media represents sport in order to sell it This book will help students to acquire a working knowledge of sport-related media that will help their studies and their progression towards a career in this sector. It is also a useful guide for teachers of the subject and practioners already working in the industry.
I use the term 'Arab teams' when I discuss football clubs which have Arab owners and represent cities inhabited mostly by Arabs
- Zuheir Interview
- Bahloul
- Sport
- Journalist
Interview with Zuheir Bahloul, Sport Journalist, 27 October 2011. I use the term 'Arab teams' when I discuss football clubs which have Arab owners and represent cities inhabited mostly by Arabs.
Sport, Identity and Ethnicity', in Sport
- J Macclancy
J. MacClancy. 'Sport, Identity and Ethnicity', in Sport, Identity and Ethnicity, ed. J. MacClancy (Oxford: Berg, 1996), 2.
Introduction'. In Football Cultures and Identities
- G Armstrong
- R Giulianotti
G. Armstrong and R. Giulianotti. 'Introduction'. In Football Cultures and Identities, ed. G. Armstrong and R. Giulianotti (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 1999), 3–4.
Football and Nationalism (Tel Aviv: Resling, 2003) in Hebrew
- Amir Ben
Amir Ben-Porat, Football and Nationalism (Tel Aviv: Resling, 2003) in Hebrew, 26–9.
View from the Periphery: Indonesia', in Football Cultures and Identities
- F Colombijm
F. Colombijm, 'View from the Periphery: Indonesia', in Football Cultures and Identities, ed. G. Armstrong and R. Giulianotti (Basingstoke: Palgrave, 1999), 126–38.
The Territorial Politics of Soccer in Northern Ireland', in Football Cultures and Identities
- A Bariner
- P Shirlow
A. Bariner and P. Shirlow, 'The Territorial Politics of Soccer in Northern Ireland', in Football Cultures and Identities, ed. G. Armstrong and R. Giulianotti (Basingstoke: Pal-grave, 1999) 153–63;
Observe the Sons of Ulster: Football and Politics in Northern Ireland', in Off the Ball. The Football World Cup
- A Bairner
- J Sugden
A. Bairner and J. Sugden, 'Observe the Sons of Ulster: Football and Politics in Northern Ireland', in Off the Ball. The Football World Cup, ed. A. Toml-inson and G. Whannel (London: Pluto Press, 1986), 95–113;
Africa football was perceived for decades as a game for the blacks while cricket and rugby were perceived as the game of the whites. Another exam-ple is the Gaelic games in Northern Ireland which aim to estrange the British
- For
- South
For example, in South Africa football was perceived for decades as a game for the blacks while cricket and rugby were perceived as the game of the whites. Another exam-ple is the Gaelic games in Northern Ireland which aim to estrange the British. S. Kuper, Football Against the Enemy (Tel Aviv: Xargul, 2002), 146–67.
Soccer as a Mediator for Fostering Relationships and Building Peace Among Jewish and Arab Players', (forthcoming) Arabs have minor rep-resentation in other sports such as basketball, volleyball and team handball
- R For
- B Lidor
- Blumenstein
For this data see: R. Lidor and B. Blumenstein, 'Soccer as a Mediator for Fostering Relationships and Building Peace Among Jewish and Arab Players', (forthcoming). Arabs have minor rep-resentation in other sports such as basketball, volleyball and team handball.
Soccer as a Mediator for Fostering Relationships and Building Peace Among Jewish and Arab Players' (forthcoming)
- R Lidor
- B Blumenstein
R. Lidor and B. Blumenstein, 'Soccer as a Mediator for Fostering Relationships and Building Peace Among Jewish and Arab Players' (forthcoming);
Media Made Sport " A History of Sports Coverage in the United States Sage, 1989) 49. At late nineteenth century sport journalism was established. McChesney also argues that during the 1920s sports coverage
- R Mcchesney
R. McChesney, ' " Media Made Sport " A History of Sports Coverage in the United States'. In Media, Sports and Society, ed. L. Wenner (Newbury Park, CA: Sage, 1989) 49. At late nineteenth century sport journalism was established. McChesney also argues that during the 1920s sports coverage helped to increase sales due to its escapist and sensational stories.
Peace Journalism -A Challenge
- J Galtung
J. Galtung, 'Peace Journalism -A Challenge', In: W. Kempf and L. Heikki, (eds.) Jour-nalism and the New World Order, Vol.2. Studying the War and the Media (Gothenburg: Nordicom, 2002).
Reporting Conflict: New Directions in Peace Journalism
- J Lynch
- J Galtung
J. Lynch and J. Galtung, Reporting Conflict: New Directions in Peace Journalism (Australia: University of Queensland Press, 2010).
Epilogue: Peace Journalism – The State of the Art', Conflict & Communi-cation Online
- Dov Shinar
Dov Shinar, 'Epilogue: Peace Journalism – The State of the Art', Conflict & Communi-cation Online, 6. 1 (2007).
Azmi Nasser: I don't hate Jews, only the state of the Jews'. Yediot Aharo-not, Sport sectionAzmi Nasser, a former Soccer & Society Israeli Arab coach of the Palestinian national soccer team
- M Halabi
M. Halabi, 'Azmi Nasser: I don't hate Jews, only the state of the Jews'. Yediot Aharo-not, Sport section, p. 6, 11 October 2011; A. Gali and Agencies, 'Azmi Nasser, a former Soccer & Society Israeli Arab coach of the Palestinian national soccer team, died on Monday after a lengthy battle with cancer', Haaretz, 27 March 2007.
Azmi Nasser: I don't hate Jews, only the state of the Jews'. Yediot Aharo-not, Sport section
- M Halabi
M. Halabi, 'Azmi Nasser: I don't hate Jews, only the state of the Jews'. Yediot Aharo-not, Sport section, p. 6, 11 October 2011.
Not Fair', Yediot Aharonot, Sport section
- B Cohen
B. Cohen, 'Not Fair', Yediot Aharonot, Sport section, p. 2, 15 October 2000.