On March 13, The New York Times Sports section ran a long article about an Israeli basketball player under the title, “In Israel, an Arab Chooses Baskets Over Goals.” Karam Mashour of Nazareth plays for the team Bnei Herzliya. Reporter Sam Borden made this claim for him:
In a league full of Israeli Jews, top Europeans and talented Americans, Mashour is the only player of Arab heritage. Perhaps more pointedly, in a country where more than a fifth of the eight million residents are Arab, Mashour is one of only two to play in the top division in more than decade.
This is both inaccurate and obnoxious. The Times is stating baldly that “Arabs” cannot be Jews, when the truth is that many, many Jews are Arabs. They speak Arabic, or they are of Mizrahi heritage, coming from Arab countries. Israeli Mizrahi Jews are said to number about 3 million and are the largest ethnic group in Israel. That’s why Israeli Jewish names often strike American Jews as foreign. Their ancestors have Arab heritage.
The New York Times article’s premise that Arabs cannot be Jews thereby accepts a Zionist definition of Jewish nationality. “Arab” is generally a linguistic/cultural definition: it refers to people who speak Arabic. The article barely mentions Palestinians, but this is the actual distinction at work here: Mashour is a Palestinian, not a Jew.
There are actually many basketball stars of Arab heritage, including Doron Jamchi and Oded Katash. Thanks to our friend Ronnie Barkan for the info; here’s a list of all-time scorers. Many of them are Arab Jews.
The New York Times article only uses the word “Palestinian” twice, to refer to the Palestinian territories– when Palestinians inside Israel prefer to call themselves Palestinians, not Arabs. No, the article accepts the Israeli distinction, between Jews and Arabs:
According to Hagay Segal, a communications official with the Israel Basketball Association, about 10 percent of the 35,000 registered basketball players in the country are Arab.
No one doubts that there are sectarian divisions in the Middle East. But the New York Times is espousing Zionist dogma when it states that Jews cannot be Arabs.
Well, at least they didn’t (judging by the quotes) trot him out as an example of Israel’s wonderful ethnic diversity and lack of state-sponsored racism. Although he does seem to be somewhat characterized as a “good Arab”, one who doesn’t care about politics.
This assumption is almost universal. And sadly, Mizrahi Jews in Israel mostly seem to adopt it too, with some of them being the most virulent Arab-haters (recall the incidents during Protective Edge). It’s the phenomenon of the disadvantaged punching down at those who are more disadvantaged, the second-raters revelling in their advantage over the third-raters. It was rather surreal last year when a Mizrahi Jew was stabbed by an Ashkenazi Jew who mistook him for a Palestinian, and it was reported that he’d been taken for an Arab – but he is an Arab! A real lacuna in the public consciousness there.
Mizrahi Jews are racially Arabs, and were ethnically Arabs for most of their existence prior to the establishment of Israel in 1948. As such, I can never see them as the enemy of Palestinians, because they are practically brothers, even though some may exhibit problematic racist behaviors that were internalized through a life-long state sponsored indoctrination.
If I were to make an analogy, I see Mizrahim in Israel as Latinos in the US. Most Latinos have indigenous ancestry to the land in America, far more than the white Euro-Americans who are mostly descendants of violent, unwelcomed invaders. Yet, somehow the whites get to dictate who is more American, and not the Latinos even though white people are technically settler-colonialists that legally have no right to even be on American soil.
Here are the rules Israel plays by, on/ off the basket ball court .
Rule 1: Israelis have the right to play on both sides of the court, but Palestinians can only play on their own side.
Rule 2: For security reasons Palestinians do not have the right to pass the ball between players, the ball could hit an Israeli player.
Rule 3: There will be no basket on the Israeli side.
Rule 4: Israel is allowed to shoot at any time even during
time-outs.
Rule 5: Palestinians are not allowed to have supporters. Only Israelis should be supported.
Rule 6: Israel selects the sports press writers and what they report.
Rule 7: Israel encourages Palestinians to shoot into the Palestinian basket. Players who refuse will be nominated as terrorists and will not be allowed to play.
Rule 8: Palestinian players are allowed to leave the field, but cannot return. One exception: A Palestinian can be replaced by an Israeli!
Rule 9: Israel selects and instructs the referees, and tells them when to look away.
Rule 10: Israel selects the captain of the Palestinian team.
Rule 11: Israeli faults and Palestinian good plays will not be shown on TV.
Rule 12: Israel takes the money which sponsors pay to Palestinians clubs.
Rule 13: Only Israeli players get refreshments.
Rule 14: Palestinians are required to play, when and where designated by Israel.
Rule 15: Rules only apply to Palestinians; Israelis may change the rules during the game and are not required to advise the Palestinians of the changes.
Rule 16 , (my addidtion).
Any member of the Israeli team can shoot a Palestinian opponent who is moving and looks like a threat.I forgot to mention , all Members of the Israeli team are allowed to carry weapons .
Note , this is not my work.I don,t wish to be accused of plagiarism.
Great comments cannot disagree with any of them.
They clearly term the natives “Arabs” at all costs