They refused to shake hands because one of the israeli players called them all antisemites in the pre game interviews.
Ireland has a long history of supporting the palestinian cause - consistently the highest in europe - which is what the player was intentionally mischaracterising as antisemitism.
Sorry, let me get the full quote and some more context:
In an interview published on Tuesday by the Israeli Basketball Association, Saar addressed the upcoming match with Ireland. “It’s known that they are quite antisemitic and it’s no secret, and maybe that’s why a strong game is expected,” she said. “We talk about it among ourselves. We know they don’t love us and we will leave everything on the field always and in this game especially.”
An official quote at a formal press interview that implicates the entire team.
If an official representative of the team slags off the other side without reason before the game, and says the entire team thinks this, with no apology or attempt to clarify that that person was wrong and only speaking for themselves, that’s shitty behavior from the entire team.
Sports boycotts are a useful way of alerting a country’s citizens that we are upset by the actions of the government they have chosen to represent them.
Sports players are in many ways political representatives of their nation to an extent that it can be warranted to treat them as such. It’s not likely they have anything against the individuals (at least not all of them) on the team, but refusing to extend sports etiquette to your opponents in a match like this shows that you don’t respect the nation or their current actions. In one sense, people are powerless against a mob of their peers. But in another, ‘Americans’ voted for Trump without obviously visible voter suppression (not saying it doesn’t exist, but you can’t expect someone from another country to understand the nuances of gerrymandering, voter ID laws, etc). While it would feel bad personally, its completely understandable to me why someone may be treated differently when the nation they currently represent is a fascist or genocidal one. If enough people cared, they could stop their nation, but at the cost to their own safety and comfort.
It might suck, but yeah we kinda deserved to be excluded from the world stage for allowing trump to be president. Anyone that is willing to represent Israel/Russia/Saudi Arabia right now is kinda a piece of shit.
Russia and Israel are the exact same as far as I’m concerned. They’re both state sponsors of terrorism, and their entire government should be replaced with their heads being executed for war crimes.
Saudi Arabia is not just a state sponsor of terrorism, but a full blown terrorist state.
You don’t go around calling people out for it though. You agree with them that Trump is a jerk and that you didn’t want him to become a president. This is different. The Israeli team called the Irish team antisemitic because they don’t like what Israel is doing. The truth though is that it has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with the genocide that Israel is inflicting on Palestine
It’s one way to push governments to change, especially in a representative democracy. It’s why businesses are pulling their operations from Russia (and to a much lesser extent Israel).
The hours everybody spends in supermarkets, picking out the things they don’t want to buy, so they’re only left with what they want… But the alternative is worse…
Ok, but that has never been the way the president has been selected? The popular vote for president isn’t how the American Election system works and never has. Do you get upset if in football the team with the most yards doesn’t win? Or the most base hits? Or the most gold in League of Legends?
We’re not talking about whether the US does things like it’s always done. We’re talking about whether it’s a democracy and whether the views of the government are the views of the people. It does pretty poorly on the first one and fails completely on the second.
They both approximate perfect representation close enough. If the difference between one government or the other comes down to variations that are basically explained by the weather being good or bad on voting day, you can’t really claim that the government isn’t representative.
Just because it didn’t represent YOUR opinion, it doesn’t make it less representative. A truly representative government will make decisions that align with 10% of the population 10% of the time. So if 10% of the population want to bomb Canada a perfectly representative government will make it happen every 40 years or so.
But with just some VERY MINOR tweaks to the system, the “views of the people” would be very different. In the US, the system is OPENLY engineered to preserve existing power structures, in ways that have accumulated over the decades (Jerrymandering, Electoral College and First Past The Post all add up…)
I’m all for protesting the government and their actions. But I am a bit torn on this.
It’s like being a US tourist while Trump is in office and being denied everything because you are associated with you government.
I hate it too. But I am not my government.
They refused to shake hands because one of the israeli players called them all antisemites in the pre game interviews.
Ireland has a long history of supporting the palestinian cause - consistently the highest in europe - which is what the player was intentionally mischaracterising as antisemitism.
That is still kind of the same thing, they blame the whole team for the comments of one player.
Sorry, let me get the full quote and some more context:
An official quote at a formal press interview that implicates the entire team.
Have the been antisemetic? If I was on a team, I would not be expected to be blamed for what my teammates had to say.
See my comment you originally replied to.
If an official representative of the team slags off the other side without reason before the game, and says the entire team thinks this, with no apology or attempt to clarify that that person was wrong and only speaking for themselves, that’s shitty behavior from the entire team.
The Israeli player was culture washing. The Palestinian people are a semitic people.
National sports teams represent their countries.
Sports boycotts are a useful way of alerting a country’s citizens that we are upset by the actions of the government they have chosen to represent them.
The Israel players spent time taking photos with IOF soldiers.
Maybe it is wrong to assume complicity of individuals in their governments actions, maybe it isn’t, but you don’t need to make any assumptions here.
Sports players are in many ways political representatives of their nation to an extent that it can be warranted to treat them as such. It’s not likely they have anything against the individuals (at least not all of them) on the team, but refusing to extend sports etiquette to your opponents in a match like this shows that you don’t respect the nation or their current actions. In one sense, people are powerless against a mob of their peers. But in another, ‘Americans’ voted for Trump without obviously visible voter suppression (not saying it doesn’t exist, but you can’t expect someone from another country to understand the nuances of gerrymandering, voter ID laws, etc). While it would feel bad personally, its completely understandable to me why someone may be treated differently when the nation they currently represent is a fascist or genocidal one. If enough people cared, they could stop their nation, but at the cost to their own safety and comfort.
These people are choosing to represent their country, not just going about their private business.
It might suck, but yeah we kinda deserved to be excluded from the world stage for allowing trump to be president. Anyone that is willing to represent Israel/Russia/Saudi Arabia right now is kinda a piece of shit.
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I have no clue what you’re talking about.
Russia and Israel are the exact same as far as I’m concerned. They’re both state sponsors of terrorism, and their entire government should be replaced with their heads being executed for war crimes.
Saudi Arabia is not just a state sponsor of terrorism, but a full blown terrorist state.
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You don’t go around calling people out for it though. You agree with them that Trump is a jerk and that you didn’t want him to become a president. This is different. The Israeli team called the Irish team antisemitic because they don’t like what Israel is doing. The truth though is that it has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with the genocide that Israel is inflicting on Palestine
It’s one way to push governments to change, especially in a representative democracy. It’s why businesses are pulling their operations from Russia (and to a much lesser extent Israel).
Edit: Typo.
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Both Israel and the US have representative democracies. Views of the government are the views of the people.
That would be true if we didn’t have an electoral college. Hillary Clinton won the popular vote.
Yikes why would defend someone who sung the praises of noted War Criminal Henry Kissinger?
The alternative was worse. Most Presidential elections aren’t about picking the candidate you want - they boil down to who you dislike less.
Besides, I wasn’t “defending” anyone; I was simply pointing out a fact.
The hours everybody spends in supermarkets, picking out the things they don’t want to buy, so they’re only left with what they want… But the alternative is worse…
Let’s rephrase:
Despite being appointed president for four years, Donald Trump has never been elected by the popular will of the people.
Ok, but that has never been the way the president has been selected? The popular vote for president isn’t how the American Election system works and never has. Do you get upset if in football the team with the most yards doesn’t win? Or the most base hits? Or the most gold in League of Legends?
We’re not talking about whether the US does things like it’s always done. We’re talking about whether it’s a democracy and whether the views of the government are the views of the people. It does pretty poorly on the first one and fails completely on the second.
They both approximate perfect representation close enough. If the difference between one government or the other comes down to variations that are basically explained by the weather being good or bad on voting day, you can’t really claim that the government isn’t representative.
Just because it didn’t represent YOUR opinion, it doesn’t make it less representative. A truly representative government will make decisions that align with 10% of the population 10% of the time. So if 10% of the population want to bomb Canada a perfectly representative government will make it happen every 40 years or so.
Jfc what an out of touch and wilfully ignorant comment… 🤦♀️
https://web.archive.org/web/20230803021951/https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/22/american-democracy-was-never-designed-to-be-democratic
Never mind that Netanyahu has spent the past decade or so actively and successfully eroding whatever pretence of democracy existed in Israel before…
But with just some VERY MINOR tweaks to the system, the “views of the people” would be very different. In the US, the system is OPENLY engineered to preserve existing power structures, in ways that have accumulated over the decades (Jerrymandering, Electoral College and First Past The Post all add up…)
And everybody over there is beginning to work together and rise up against it…
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So you have fully supported the actions of both the Biden and Trump administrations?
That would make me american…
Gotcha, extrapolate out to the country you wish.
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So in this developed country are you unable to extrapolate out ideas?
Seriously though dude, no one cares if you are from canada or Denmark or Spain, I know you are 100% aware of american politics