Maccabi Haifa: Israel's beacon of hope amid political, social strife

(Full disclosure: My five-year-old grandson, Carmel, is a rabid fan and loves wearing his green Maccabi Haifa outfit. And my grandson Zvi was thrilled to attend a Maccabi Haifa Champions League qualifier, which they won.)

On May 15, Maccabi Haifa won its third-in-a-row Premier League championship, 15th in total. Thus it became the first Israeli club to do so in a season in which it also reached the UEFA Champions League group stage.

Why is Maccabi Haifa a beacon of light and civility?

Writing in Haaretz, Adrian Hennigan observed last year that the Beitar club “… has become one of the most notorious clubs in the world over the past decade. It was catapulted to infamy due to the shameless racism exhibited by a virulent group of its supporters, known as La Familia, who reside in the Teddy Stadium’s East Stand.” Many of the club’s supporters virulently oppose adding Israeli Arab players to the squad.

This year, notes Ben Kroll in Haaretz, “wearing the green jersey of Maccabi Haifa are [players] drawn from 10 countries and represent four different religions, while their coach Messay Dego, a former star player, is from the Ethiopian community.” Polar opposite of Beitar Jerusalem.

Maccabi Haifa reached the third round of the Champions League qualifiers, bowing to the stellar Swiss team Young Boys 3-0 in a two-game aggregate.

Kroll explains “Maccabi Haifa has also become associated with the country’s Arab community. At every home fixture, Haifa’s Sammy Ofer Stadium is filled with more than 30,000 fans – Jews, Christians, Muslims, Druze and Circassians alike. …Many of the country’s biggest Arab soccer stars have played for Maccabi, including Taleb Tawatha, Beram Kayal and Walid Badir. Today, two of the team’s biggest stars are Arab Israelis – Dia Saba and Mahmoud Jaber – while Arab youngster Anan Khalaili is one of the rising stars of Israeli soccer.”

Why is Maccabi Haifa so popular among Israeli Arabs at a time when divisions between Arabs and Jews appear large and growing? Haifa University sociologist Oz Almog, quoted by Kroll, explains:

“Haifa is the capital of northern Israel, where many Arab towns and villages are located. …For the Druze and Arab communities, Maccabi Haifa is the team. Sports in general, and soccer specifically, are the most significant channel of social mobility in Israel and the world – and this includes social mobility for Arab citizens.”

Consider the formidable diversity of Maccabi Haifa. For this year’s team, players represent four religions: Judaism, Christianity, Islam and Druze. They come from 10 countries: Angola (Manuel Luís da Silva Cafumana, known as “Show”); Croatia (Lorenco Smic); France (Pierre Cornud); Germany (Erik Shuranov); Haiti (Frantzdy Pierrot); Niger (Ali Mohammed); Senegal (Abdoulay Seck); Surinam (Tjaronn Chery); Sweden (Daniel Sundgren); and, of course, Israel. They speak different languages and come from different cultures.

What unites them? The desire to win. And they do.

Led by Shahar, Maccabi Haifa’s management have two advantages. First, they seek quality players wherever they are found, whatever their country of origin and religion. Second, they are able to scan the world to do so. There are an estimated 130,000 professional soccer players in the world. Tracking them wisely would take a super-computer.

Facing the contrast between Maccabi Haifa, a strong winner, and Beitar Jerusalem, which just lost its season opener to Hapoel Haifa, one might think that the success of diversity and a color-blind mindset might lead teams to a more enlightened approach. After all, there are a huge number of talented Muslim and/or Black players in the world, and excluding them means your team is trailing right from the outset.

This is reflected in the current market value of Israeli teams. Leading is Maccabi Tel Aviv, valued at $27.7 m., followed by Maccabi Haifa ($23.4 m.), Hapoel Beersheva ($17.9 m.), and Maccabi Netanya ($11.1 m.).

Beitar? A paltry $7.7 m.

The basic problem with Beitar is the small band of rabid Beitar fans, La Familia, formed in 2005, occupying the east section of Beitar’s Teddy Stadium, numbering some 3,000 or about one in five of Beitar’s die-hard supporters.

In 2005, at its inception, the group was violently against the signing of talented Nigerian Muslim Ibrahim Nadallah. He lasted just half a season, and the episode discouraged Muslims from joining the team afterward, as La Familiar swore that “we won’t change.” Nor have they. Beitar has never signed an Arab player so far.

Sports journalists report that there were many changes at Maccabi Haifa over the summer. They include the departure of head coach Barak Bakhar, who went to coach a top Serbian team Red Star Belgrade. Star midfielder Omer Atzili became the first Jewish Israeli to play in the United Arab Emirates. Kafr Qara-born favorite Mohammad Abu Fan signed with Hungarian champs Ferencváros. While Neta Lavi, 2022 captain, left for Japanese team Gamba Osaka.

Not only the signings but also the departures show how skillfully Maccabi Haifa operates in the global players’ markets.

In a crucial UEFA qualifying match, Maccabi Haifa’s three goals were shared between a Haitian, an Israeli Jew, and an Israeli Arab.

Kroll summarizes: “While soccer won’t provide solutions for the day-to-day issues that plague Israel’s minorities, Maccabi Haifa will continue to be a beacon of coexistence for all Israelis, of all faiths and backgrounds – even if that beacon shines for only 90 minutes a week.”

I guess to find light in darkness, we will have to accept just an hour and a half of sunshine unity. ■

The writer heads the Zvi Griliches Research Data Center at S. Neaman Institute, Technion and blogs at www.timnovate.wordpress.com.