(Warning: Strong language ahead)
Forgive my next few words as I open up this piece, but this story is set on a country torn apart by war, racial and religious tensions, and also unwanted interference by the western world. I know where I stand on this subject, and as with many other Indonesians, my stance is that piece of land on the Middle East, where Jerusalem is located, where the Mosque Al-Aqsa is standing, is rightfully belong to Palestine and to Palestinians. I hold nothing against Israeli citizens and the Judaism faith, but it's your government and their allies that is the source of all the fiasco over the last few years. With that being said, I can only say this: Those settlements that you call "Israel" is actually stolen from the rightful owners, the Palestinians. Therefore, you are basically squatters. You literally live on a stolen land, you pompous fucks.
With that out of the way, let's turn to the world of sports, where somehow, football and politics could mix (yeah, nice one right there, FIFA, I thought your stance is to keep football and politics separated, you hypocritical fuckwits). Football clubs are long associated as the identity of one city, or even a country or certain ideology. Like for example the Glasgow Celtics, known to be one of those left-leaning clubs, all because if its history of its formation by Scotland's exiled-Irish community, or even the subject of this story's bitter rival, Hapoel Tel-Aviv, tracing their roots back to the trade union movement. But this one is not only heavily right-wing, but also quite unapologetic about it. Hell, they even pride themselves as "the most racist football club in the world."
May I introduce to you Beitar Jerusalem Football Club, based in (you guessed it) Jerusalem. This is one of a kind for reasons that even Hitler would be blushing in his shit-ridden grave. This club is the only club in the Israeli football league system to never signed a player of Arabic ancestry to this day. The reason being their fanbase (or at least the most fanatic section of it) holds an extreme anti-Arab and anti-Muslim stance, to the extent of hurling abuse at their own players if they are happened to be either or both. The club itself first founded in 1936, as a youth team by Shmuel Kirschstein and David Horn. Throughout its long history, dating back to the 1940s, this club has been tightly connected with various political entities, like the paramilitary organization called Igrun, to the right-wing Israeli political party named Likud, also known as the National Liberal Movement. Hell, one of the most prolific fans of this club is former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is the leader of the Likud party. Several players also unofficially aligned with the Revisionist Zionist Movement. This club was dismantled once in 1939 and had several of its players among the 251 deportees to Eritrea, Kenya, and Sudan by the British Mandate Authorities. Despite the turbulent history, Beitar managed to win several accolades within the league system, such as 6 Israeli Premier League titles, 7 State Cups, 3 Top division Toto Cups, 2 Israeli Super Cups, and 1 League Cup title. Beitar plays their home games at Teddy Stadium, with the capacity of 34.000 seats. Their crest features the menorah, and the club colors are yellow and black, with the home kit usually features yellow base with black sleeves, or even yellow-black stripes.
But what made Beitar famous is not their playing style or their accolades inside the football pitch. It's the hostile nature of its fanbase. There is one section of fans called "La Familia" who usually occupies the eastern stand of the stadium. They are notoriously anti-Arab and anti-Muslim, displaying their proud connection to their Jewish heritage. In line with their fanbase' sentiments, even some of the players admitted that they have problems with Muslims, while stating in the same breath that they have no quarrels against the Christians. Their player demographics are mostly and exclusively Israeli Jews, partly because of their pride, and partly because of the Israeli foreign players regulation, which only allows up to 6 non-Israeli players in one squad. Although, during the club's tenure, there are 5 Muslim players that once played for the club. The first was a Tajik named Goram Ajoyev. during 1989-90 season, his religious status went unnoticed by the fans, and was well-liked by the Beitar fans. Albanian Viktor Paço was the second Muslim signed by the club, scoring 21 goals in 67 games and at least 2 State Cup goals in two separate seasons. Then came Ndala Ibrahim. The Nigerian was on the team briefly in 2005 on loan from Maccabi Tel-Aviv, played 4 games but left after being mobbed by Beitar fans. The real shitstorm started in 2013 when the club decided to sign Zaur Sadayev and Dzhabrail Kadiyev, both are Muslims from Chechnya. When the fans caught wind of this, they revolted against their own club in disapproval of the two new signings. Two fans even set the administrative office on fire in response to the news. Hell, some even chanted "death to Arabs" despite the fact that they are actually Chechens from Russia. During one game against Maccabi Netanya, Beitar fans put up a banner in Hebrew bearing the words "Beitar-forever pure", and when Sadayev scored his first goal for the club, instead of celebrating, fans walked away from the stadium, allegedly in disgust. In 2019, Ali Mohamed from Niger signed for the club. Despite his name, he is actually a Christian. But the fans are not pleased and demanded him to change his name as the name "Mohamed" was deemed 'too Muslim'. To this day, no players of Arabic heritage ever laced up their boots to play for Beitar Jerusalem, all because of the facts above. Ironically, in 2020, 50% of the club's stakes was acquired by an Arab Muslim from the United Arab Emirates, and not just some Arab Muslim. That man is Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, who is the cousin of the crown prince of UAE, Muhammad bin Zayed. I guess God really has a twisted sense of irony. Even I can't believe it at first, that the most openly Islamophobic football club is co-owned by a member of an Emirati Arab royalty.
Beitar Jerusalem is truly a one-of-a-kind football team. Other teams are known for their flair attacking football, some are known for their tight defense, some teams are known to be the richest clubs in the world, buying quality players from around the world, but none of them are as famous for the hostility of their fans, particularly towards certain race or religious beliefs. I only hope that this particular club sees the error of their ways and move towards a more inclusive direction. But then again, this is Israel. There will still be conflict of all sides, and tensions between Jews and Arabs could re-escalate at any time. With this new co-ownership, who knows what the future holds for the most racist football club in the world. All I can say in closing is let there be peace in the world, and again, let Palestine be free.
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