Racist Beitar Jerusalem fans hold up a training session to vent their anger at their team
Saturday, August 9th, 2008
At the start of the week, the buzz in Israeli football was on a high as champions Beitar Jerusalem were looking forward to beating Wisla Krakow in the Champions League, booking a glamour tie against Barcelona in the Holy Land. Beitar lead 2-1 from the first leg, and their dream was in touching distance of becoming a reality.
Yet on game night the Israeli’s produced a truly woeful performance, taking a 5-0 drumming at the hands of the Poles, and crashing the dreams of the local, fanatical supporters who always expect their team to do better. Beitar’s fans however draw little compassion from anyone outside the club or around the country, being historically linked to the ultra-nationalist right and the Beitar political movement, the club’s supporters are tainted for their extreme, often violent behaviour and their anti-Arab chants.
Much like the ultras of Lazio, the Beitar fans actually exert a degree of control over the team. At the end of last season, with Beitar having just four minutes to play out before sealing the championship title, the fans caused the match to be called off due to an early pitch invasion.
But it is their racist reputation which draws the greatest disdain, and on their team’s return to Jerusalem from the Polish debacle, the supporters descended onto the training ground and made their feelings publicly known.
Standing in the stands, pearched over the players, they hurdled monkey noises at Beitar’s Ghanaian midfielder Derek Boatang (regarded as one of the best players in the league), while screaming abuse at their players telling them they are a disgrace, asking them if they are not embarrassed, and taunting them that they are only at Beitar for the money. (The owner, Russian-born billionaire Arkadi Gaydamak, is Israel’s version of Roman Abramovich.)
Eventually the Beitar players reacted, with club captain David Amsalem confronting the abusive supporters before Yoav Ziv got involved in a tit-or-tat exchange with the fans.
See the footage of confrontation between the Beitar players and their fans here.
11 Responses to “Racist Beitar Jerusalem fans hold up a training session to vent their anger at their team”
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August 9th, 2008 at 12:23 pm
I hate Beitar, fucking pathetic and embarrassing team, as well as being useless in Europe. They bought their last two league titles and hopefully this season Maccabi Haifa can win the league again, since they are the most decent team in the league and are very good in Europe as well.
August 9th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
It wasn’t Michael Zandberg, it was Yoav Ziv who was talking to them …
August 9th, 2008 at 8:05 pm
Living in Jerusalem, I go to occasional Beitar matches and see a lot of their fans.. As a whole, the fans are not as bad as the international press make them out to be. Majority of them do not chant anti-Arab chants and are not violent, but the foreign press, in the UK in particular, take the behavior of the minority and reflect their actions on their whole fan base. Typically, a Beitar fan is passionate and loyal, but I mist say I’m disgusted by the behavior of these ‘fans’ in the video, THEY are “fucking pathetic”.
August 9th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
Chaim - well said dude. I go to games too and most fans are NOT like these. But the media, especially in Israel, paint them as racist due to their background (generally right wing sfradim, Jews of Arab descent). Fact is - when Arab fans from Sachnin booed the minute of silence for the 8 yeshiva kids, there was BARELY a peep from our media.
August 9th, 2008 at 10:44 pm
cant believ they are considered a part of fucking europe
August 10th, 2008 at 2:17 am
to be honest what theyve done in the past is irrelevant, becacause this episode was a fucking disgrace
i have my beitar shirt and now i dont know why
what they did to boatang was shameful and i dont know why he didnt climb up there and beat the living shit out of those “fans”
if they want to be fans, they should rethink the way they respond to a defeat
August 10th, 2008 at 7:12 am
agee with united_ here … these fans, who as we all know are a small minority, are a bunch of idiots and an embarrassment to the \’term\’, fan.
with regards to Popo\’s wonderful post, what do you want them to be considered as?
August 10th, 2008 at 7:50 am
middle easterners
August 10th, 2008 at 10:56 am
well … it would make it rather troublesome for FIFA if Israel were considered a part of the easier Asian bracket, no?
August 10th, 2008 at 10:57 am
well … it would make it rather troublesome for FIFA if Israel were considered a part of the easier Asian bracket, no?
August 10th, 2008 at 10:59 am
well … it would make it rather troublesome for FIFA if Israel were considered a part of the easier Asian bracket, no?