Political rivalries took a backseat to soccer when Israeli-Arab players scored key goals against Ireland and then France in recent World Cup qualifying action. Now Abas Suan (pictured) and Walid Badir have become unlikely Israeli heroes, and the centerpieces of new media interest in Israeli-Arabs in general. Shortly after Badir’s game-tying goal, AFP wrote:
Israeli by nationality, Palestinians at heart, Israel’s 1.2 million Arabs, descendants of those who remained on their land after the Jewish state was created in 1948, are treated as second class citizens.
Aside from the fact that Israeli-Arabs have full citizenship and more freedom than Arabs in the rest of the Mideast, many Israeli-Arabs just don’t identify with the Palestinians—at least not as much as AFP reporters do.
