British soccer fans: Israel’s all right

A bunch of British soccer fans went to Israel and found that it wasn’t the haven of demons and monsters that the BBC’s been telling them about for decades:

English soccer fans in Tel Aviv said they felt more welcome in Israel than in any country they have travelled to so far when following their national team.

One group of fans sitting and drinking into the late hours on the Tel Aviv beachfront said that in their short time in the country, they have developed a very positive view of Israel.

“I came over yesterday, and I can’t get over how relaxed it feels,” said Tony from Swindon. “The Israeli people I met were all really friendly and welcoming. This is a lovely, lovely country. It’s got great beaches too,” he added.

“If you go to France, everyone pretends they don’t speak in English, but here in Israel, everyone speaks English to you,” Tim from Derby said. “I’m astonished by how quickly we go through the airport,” he added.

“I would never think to come to Israel, but now that I’ve experienced it, I am thinking differently. I would like to return here with my family,” Tim said. “I’ve told my wife on the phone that we should come back here together.”

Another fan drinking one of many beers at the Mike’s Place bar, said: “I’ve only met people here with good intentions. This is a fantastic country.”

Of course, this was a group of fans imbibing many beers the night before the game. There’s no telling what they’ll say if their team loses. But it’s nice to see a bunch of drunken soccer fans who aren’t chanting “Jews to the gas” or trying to kill them.

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4 Responses to British soccer fans: Israel’s all right

  1. Now, why does Mike’s Place sound so familiar?

    Oh. Right. A Pali would have mauled or killed those fans in a suicide bomb explosion if they’d have shown up a few years ago, then other Palis would have danced around and passed out candy in celebration of their crippling and/or demise.

  2. Cynic says:

    Now, why does Mike’s Place sound so familiar?

    Don’t forget that it was a British Muslim who blew himself up at Mike’s place.
    Read Melanie Phillips’ latest post
    The war within the west (12)
    Jews in the UK are not normal people, they are Anglo-Jewish, and their loyalty to the UK is in question.

    But Wheatcroft thinks this is ‘absurd’ and even ‘terrifying’. He yearns, apparently, for the dear departed days of Enoch Powell and Alan Clark (who happened to be rather a fan of Hitler) when the Tory party was composed of anti-Zionists and antisemites who supported the Arabs and who felt uneasy at dinner parties where where ‘Hebrews were in an actual majority’. Now those were real Tories and real patriots

  3. *Micol* says:

    Ahhhh well you see I just love the country I happen to live in, Belgium. At soccer games we regularly get cries of “Hamas! Hamas! Alle Joden an het gas” (Hamas Hamas, all Jews to the gas). Yet those are the same people who will condemn Israel for not dealing with a Hamas government. I love it when people make sense.

  4. Ed Hausman says:

    Amazing how friendly the British can be,
    once they are out from under the BBC.

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