Sunday, July 02, 2006

World Cup notes


In a week's time the World cup fever will be over, I hate football ( soccer) and if it were not for two things this year's world cup would have passed unnoticed as usual.
First was when I found out that the vet was more interested in watching his favourite teams than treating my injured pet , and the second one was the stunt pulled by the player John Pantsil from Ghana .

The world reaction was as expected....because it is Israel, people are quick to say oh it's cute etc... but if an Arab team had Oh God forbid waived a Palestinian flag, then it would have had to face the consequences.

"He's unaware of international politics. We apologise to anybody who was
offended," The Ghanaian Football Association .

Nope I dont't agree, his action was cold and calculated , who on this globe has not heard of Israel and Palestine ? He got what he wanted and he chose his camp. Which is good because for this one simple gesture the US will look favourably on Ghana and so will Israel.

There are moments in time which should be seized. This guy just made it to the top . I'm happy for him and for Ghana as they are laughing tongue in cheek now. Also the fact that he had the flag in his socks meant he intended to do this - premeditated. He cannot ignore politics , because the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is almost daily a front stage drama.


I don't follow the world cup, so I have no idea if there are any Arab teams left especially at such an advanced stage ( doubt it) in the game but if there are I urge them strongly to waive the Israeli flag ( Yes I meant it ) whether they win or loose. This would do more good then the 50 years of attempted diplomacy.

15 comments:

programmer craig said...

but if an Arab team had Oh God forbid waived a Palestinian flag, then it would have had to face the consequences.

You are kidding, right? How many thousands have times have we all seen American and/or Israeli flags being set on fire in the Arab world, my dear? What "consequences" - we might think Arabs don't like the US and Israel? :O

This is why I like you so much, Highlander... you don't pull any punches when you state your opinions :)

Highlander said...

Hi Craig I meant we will never hear the end of this media wise , not get punished militarily .... :)

Anonymous said...

The world reaction was as expected....because it is Israel, people are quick to say oh it's cute etc... but if an Arab team had Oh God forbid waived a Palestinian flag, then it would have had to face the consequences.

Yeah, the reaction was expected. Arabs - and now I don't mean, Highlander, you but some earlier reactions I read - reacted to this thing with conspiracy theories and there was in my understanding quite a strong condemnation of the thing. Just like if the poor guy had waived the Palestinian flag - assuming he had played in say FC Bethlehem or Gaza City United (if there are teams called that) - there would have been a strong condemnation of that from some Israelis and probably Ghana had been labelled an anti-Semitic country. Yeah.

Nope I dont't agree, his action was cold and calculated , who on this globe has not heard of Israel and Palestine ?

Don't overestimate football players' intelligence, Highlander :).

Which is good because for this one simple gesture the US will look favourably on Ghana and so will Israel.

Israel yes and logically so, USA not. You're way too intelligent, Highlander, to resort to far-fetched conspiracy theories so please don't ;).

I think it's stupid from a player of a national team to waive the flag of another country in a World Cup match. However, the stupidity here is not waiving the Israeli flag but the deed would have been as stupid had the guy waived any other flag.

Why on Earth does this whole Israeli/Palestinian thing always draw so much attention? I understand the issue touches Jews and Palestinians and to an extent people from the ME countries closest to Israel/Palestine but what about the rest? I simply don't understand, say, fanatic Texan Christians thinking the Israelis are the promised people of God fulfilling Biblical prophecies and neither do I understand Indonesian Muslims who think Palestine is the greatest human rights concern in the world when they should first clean their own backyard.

Had the poor Ghanaian waived an Argentine flag, had anybody paid attention? Argentina thinks Falkland Islands should belong to them, so would anyone claim a Ghanaian waiving an Argentine flag is supporting the Argentine claim to the islands against the UK? The same goes for waiving the Union Jack as well.

Besides ice hockey is the real thing, not football ;).

NBA

programmer craig said...

Well i say fuck them!!!!!! We need to stop going by what they say, we need to stop trying to appease

I never would have guessed you'd do such an about face :P

You used to be such a reasonable guy! Don't worry, LW, we got a 500 pounder with your name on it too. Now we just need to get you over to Iraq and we're all set. You have a paypal account for the plane ticket that I can contribute to?

programmer craig said...

I haven't threatened you with physical violence. I merely offerred to help you do what you want to do, wage war on the US. If you can afford the travel expenses on your own, then please do so :)

Less talk. More fight.

programmer craig said...

Oh, yeah, I forgot. I'm talking to the new "civilized" LibyanWarrior, and not the guy who wants to kill everyone on planet earth who isn't a berber. Sorry about the misunderstanding :P

Anonymous said...

Last time I checked this thread there were three comments (mine was the last one then), so when I saw now that the three had expanded to eleven, I immediately guessed our friend LW must have been on a visit...

No problem with that but I was disappointed not to get any sensible response to what I wrote from any other reader. In my humble opinion the topic would have been worth a further exchange of ideas (and personal threats/insults ;)).

Happy 4th of July, Craig! Ah yes and LW, too, as you claimed you love your country America!

NBA

programmer craig said...

Happy 4th of July, Craig! Ah yes and LW, too, as you claimed you love your country America!

Thanks NBA :) Another 15 minutes and it'll be midnight. Maybe I'll grab my rifle and go outside and shoot up in the air wildly. My neighbors should get a kick out of that :P

Anonymous said...

You Americans are so far behind us ;). We've celebrated, or better said, had the reason to celebrate, 4th of July for 11.5 hours already :). Not that I saw anyone out in a party mood because of that day anyway.

NBA

Highlander said...

Just like if the poor guy had waived the Palestinian flag - assuming he had played in say FC Bethlehem or Gaza City United (if there are teams called that) - there would have been a strong condemnation of that from some Israelis and probably Ghana had been labelled an anti-Semitic country.

I think I agree with you on that one here NBA . Well anyway it was a stupid move . If it was me and I got to be in some world competition I would only be waving a Libyan flag ( like in my avatar) .

Don't overestimate football players' intelligence

Actually you're right I did overestimate it , I used to think that Beckham was such a hearthrob but when he opened his mouth he put me off with his vulgarity yikes ! So It does not matter if he plays good since I can't have a good conversation with him!

My last time on ice was when I was 12 :( I don't think I can manage to get in a rink again *sigh*

programmer craig said...

Good good! Can I still call you NBA, though? :)

By the way you can always change the profile display name at any time.

programmer craig said...

Now I just have to avoid the temptation of checking every five minutes if anybody except for myself has viewed my profile ;).

I know what you mean! I used to lobby people to view my profile, seriously! :D

Us non-bloggers have to find something to compete about, right? You already have 12, that's pretty good for a brand new account :D

Highlander said...

LOL ! NBA Mabrouk ( that's congrats in Arabic) you have taken the plunge ...now watch the emails coming your way :)

Maya M said...

I'm staying mostly offline these days, missing interesting things. Highlander, thanks for the long reply (at the long comments chain). Non-Blogging, congratulations for the profile, but why not become a blogging Non-Blogging?
LW, am I too pompous to suspect that the remark about foreigners infecting Libyans with AIDS was a random shot in my direction? I've commented earlier about the too-numerous skilled and educated guest workers in Libya (http://lonehighlander.blogspot.com/2006/03/case-441999-revisited-libyan-aids.html#comments).
About Israel and Palestine - I think NBA is wrong, the issue is very important and everybody must be engaged and keep talking about it. It is the abscess, the site of persistent infection poisoning the blood of the patient (the world). As long as the puss stays there, keeping the patient in fair condition by antibiotics is all you can hope at, and really more than you are likely to achieve.
I don't know about the particular incident - I guess the Israeli employers of the player gave him the idea, and possibly the flag. But I think the Arabs did wrong by responding to the provocation (intended or not), it's usually wrong to bite the bait. They expressed indignation and made noise until the Ghana football association apologized. This is possibly the best way you can inspire hate against yourself (by pushing people to the wall). Remember how you felt when you were a child and after a quarrel with another child (of course you are sure you are 100% right) an adult "judge" insists, "Say sorry!". I don't know whether in 3 months somebody in Israel, let alone USA, will remember the waived Israeli flag, but some people in Ghana are likely to remember for long how they were forced to prove that they aren't camels.
Otherwise, I think Highlander is right that we shouldn't miss an opportunity to show goodwill. "Arabs for Israel", which I mentioned briefly once, really does exist (www.arabsforisrael.com). I also read a report that some opposition Iranian expatriates attended the World Cup matches carrying the old Iranian flag and also the Israeli flag, to show that they don't share Ahmadinejad's genocidal wishes. Alas, I can't find the link now.

Highlander said...

hi Maya , yes I saw the Iranian fans with the old Iranian flag but not with an Israeli one, but I would not surprised they did it as well.