O Globo ESPORTES (sports’ section) ran a story about the Chilean soccer team Palestino, explaining among other things the team’s efforts to get closer to the “country” (Palestine):
“Another step was the recent hiring of Shadi Shaban, a 24 year old midfielder who was born in Acre, a city that belonged to Palestine and came under the control of Israel in 1948.”
When O Globo says the city of Acre (or Akko) “belonged to Palestine” and, in 1948, “came under the control of Israel”, it implies that Palestine was a country – as they still consider it – belonging to the Palestinian people (a concept created in the 60s), and taken by Israel in 1948. In short, Acre would belong to the Palestinians but was taken and occupied by Israel.
HonestReporting Brazil contacted O Globo calling for a correction of the historical data, since before 1948, Palestine (and all the cities that were part of the area, including Acre) belonged to the British Mandate. Palestine was never a state/country/government, only a region in which Arabs, Jews and Christians lived together (and still do, in Israel). Therefore, until 1948, there were Arabs of Palestine, Jews of Palestine and Christians of Palestine. Acre was under control of the British Mandate until Israel’s War of Independence.
After HonestReporting Brazil’s intervention, the paper made some changes in its online version:
“Another step was the recent hiring of Shadi Shaban, a 24 year old midfielder who was born in Acre, a city that was part of the Palestine region and today is part of Israel.”
P.S. Shadi Shaban was born in Acre in 1992, he is part of the Israeli-Arab population of Israel and he competed for Maccabi Haifa, Hapoel Nir Ramat HaSharon, Hapoel Bnei Lod and Hapoel Acre (all Israeli teams) before signing for Palestino in Chile. But you won’t find this information in the article.
