Redskins, shmedskins: Palestinians name soccer teams after suicide bombers

Redskins, shmedskins: Palestinians name soccer teams after suicide bombers

Kids playing soccer
‘Allahu Akhbar, Billy!’

Soccer is a violent sport. How violent? Last July, angry Brazilian fans stormed the field of play and stoned a referee to death. Afterwards they quartered and decapitated the body and paraded around the stadium with the man’s head on a pike. Of course, that was after the ref had stabbed a player to death. Violence begets violence, and all that.

For those who need more evidence, consider a story reported by Palestinian Media Watch, which reveals that soccer teams in the Palestinian territories are taking on the names of infamous jihadists. One team changed its name to that a suicide bomber who led an attack that killed 37 people, including 12 children. No word on whether the team mascot is a bloody figure waving around a machete.

Al-Hayat Al-Jadida, the official daily newspaper of the Palestinian Authority, reported on Oct. 23, 2013:

The Media Department at the Al-Quds University in Abu Dis… conducted the draw for the Martyr (Shahid) Jahjouh Football Tournament… which will begin on Thursday at the new El-Bireh [sports] field. Eight teams from the university will participate. [The teams] were named after Martyrs and divided into two groups. The first group included [teams named after] Mu’tasim Adwan, Amer Nassar, Ghassan Kanafani, and Dalal Mughrabi. The second group included [teams named after] Younes Jahjouh, Amer Nawfal, Khaldoun Shouman and Yahya Ayyash.”

Fox News provides some insight into the identities of some of the “martyrs” who inspired the names:

  • Yaha Ayyash is widely credited with being the father of Palestinian suicide terror attacks. Ayyash is often referred to as, “The Engineer.”
  • Ghassan Kanafani is a former leader of terror group, The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) who has planned and carried out numerous attacks against civilians on Israel since 1967.
  • Dalal Mughrabi is a female suicide bomber revered for leading a 1978 attack in Israel in which a public bus was hijacked and 37 civilians were killed, including 12 children.

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Howard Portnoy

Howard Portnoy

Howard Portnoy has written for The Blaze, HotAir, NewsBusters, Weasel Zippers, Conservative Firing Line, RedCounty, and New York’s Daily News. He has one published novel, Hot Rain, (G. P. Putnam’s Sons), and has been a guest on Radio Vice Online with Jim Vicevich, The Alana Burke Show, Smart Life with Dr. Gina, and The George Espenlaub Show.

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