Until just a few weeks ago, Dia Saba (30) was adored by the fans.
The midfielder was brought to Israel’s top football team Maccabi Haifa last year, signing a five-year contract that guarantees him more money than any other player on the team.
– He scores a lot of goals and came to us when we were struggling, says Roey Telni to NRK.
The 51-year-old has been with Maccabi Haifa ever since his father took him to matches as an 8-year-old, and now attends almost all the matches the team plays.
FOOTBALL FAN: Roey Telni (50) at a previous match with Maccabi Haifa.
Photo: Private
He credits Dia Saba for winning the Israeli championship.
Maccabi Haifa is also second behind Belgian Gent in its group in the European Serie A.
Distrust of Arabs
Maccabi Haifa stands out in Israel by being a mixed team where Arabs, Jews, Druze and Christians play together.
“An unlikely symbol of coexistence” wrote the Israeli newspaper Haaretz about it late in August.
– Unlike many other football teams, we believe that Jews and Arabs can live together. But we are Israel, and you don’t pee in a well you drink from, emphasizes Telni.
It started with a post on social media a few days after the war started. There, Dia Saba’s wife expressed a concern for Palestinian children.
“There are children in Gaza too,” she wrote on Instagram.
The terrorist attack on 7 October prompted Israel to go to war against Hamas in the Gaza Strip. During the past seven weeks, the attacks have claimed the lives of several thousand Palestinian children, according to Hamas’s health authorities.
That the first comment was not about the Hamas massacre, but about Gaza, made the fan club question the couple’s loyalty.
– I thought he would express that he supported us after women were raped and children taken hostage, says Roey Telni.
By “us” he means Israel.
NO STARS: Maccabi Haifa played a match in the European Serie A earlier in November, and then star player Saba was not involved.
Photo: Reuters
Dia Saba and his wife are among around 20 percent of Arabs who are Israeli citizens.
They are descendants of Palestinians who did not leave when the majority were expelled in 1948 when Israel was established.
Every time Israel is in a war or conflict, the Arab population is asked to answer which side they really stand on, says journalist Daniel Macdowell on the TV channel Sport 5 in Israel.
– There is suspicion underneath. It is very unfair, but Arabs are required to stand up and show that they are on Israel’s side, he says.
Celebrities quickly on the field
Macdowell explains that the time window is very short before it is “too late”.
Both footballers, actors and other celebrities were quick to show their disgust with Hamas after the terrorist attack.
But Saba remained silent until a few days later his wife showed concern for Gaza’s children.
Although the message was deleted and Dia Saba attempted to explain, the criticism continued.
– The chances of him staying on the team are very slim, says Daniel Macdowell.
The club has so far not wanted to comment on the matter.
FULL STAND: Maccabi Haifa fans before a match against Panathinaikos in Haifa two days before the terrorist attack.
Photo: AP
He believes the reason is that at that time Israel needed everyone to stand together behind the nation.
– What she did was interpreted as that she had no empathy for the 1,200 people who were brutally killed in Israel, but instead for the other side, which had proven that they were both against Jews and Israel. Even if she didn’t mean it, that’s how it was perceived, he says.
First match since the attack
Around 50 members of the Maccabi Haifa fan club were killed in the terrorist attack. Roey Telni says he cannot forgive.
– Families who came every week to see him play have been abducted or killed. Usually I’m willing to forgive, but not this time.
On Saturday, Maccabi Haifa played its first match after the terrorist attack on 7 October – without a crowd in the stands or Dia Saba on the pitch.
Macdowell believes the club must also take its share of responsibility for the star player’s disappearance, and says it will be a loss for the team.
He doesn’t think other Arab-Israeli players will have similar problems, because they were quick to do what was expected of them in Israel.
– The others have proven to be on the right side, says Macdowell.
2023-11-26 11:35:08
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