The Dubai Apartheid Tennis Tournament

February 19, 2009 - 4:00 PM by David

peerYou don’t have to be a tennis fan to be outraged at how Dubai is treating Israel and her favorite tennis daughter Shahar Pe’er.

Pe’er, Israel’s top female tennis star, and 45th ranked on the international circuit, has become a cause celebre since The United Arab Emirates (UAE) earlier this week denied her an entry visa to participate in the Dubai Tennis Championships – one of the most lucrative tournaments on the WTA Tour. Why? Only because she’s Israeli.

According to Reuters, WTA chief Larry Scott has said the $2 million Dubai tournament could be scratched from next year’s calendar if UAE officials persist with their stance of barring Israeli competitors.

Said Scott:

“There certainly will be (sanctions) imposed on the tournament but we’ll make those decisions following this year’s tournament. They were awarded this tournament with a very clear understanding and their agreement that if an Israeli ever wanted to play, they would be allowed to play. But (the agreement) had never been tested until now. Whatever we decide here will send a very clear signal.”

The Association of Tennis Professionals is waiting to hear whether Israeli doubles player Andy Ram will be issued a visa to the UAE, enabling him to play in the Dubai men’s tournament.

In an interview with the BBC, Ram suggested what should be done if he’s refused a visa.
“Maybe cancel the tournament or sanction them with money or something else,” he said. “But something should be done to make sure this situation does not develop again next year.”

Tournament officials defended their stance, with the extremely lame excuses that fans would have boycotted the event if an Israeli was allowed to compete and that Peer’s safety could also have been compromised.

Alan Solow, chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, called on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) to impose sanctions against the UAE. “We find the United Arab Emirates’s decision to deny a visa to Ms. Pe’er because of her nationality offensive, discriminatory and unacceptable,” the statement said.

The Conference of Presidents also called for sanctions against the Dubai tournament.
It urged its sponsors, Barclays and Sony Ericsson, to withdraw their support, and that the tennis championships be cancelled in 2010 “unless and until appropriate corrective measures are taken.”

“If they’re going to bar Israelis, why not just rename it the `Dubai Apartheid Tournament’?” said Rabbi Marvin Hier, founder of the Wiesenthal Center.

But it’s not just Jewish organizations who are lining up on Israel’s side of the court. The Tennis Channel and the European edition of the Wall Street Journal are both boycott the tournament. In an interview with The New York Times, Ken Solomon, chairman and chief executive of the Tennis Channel, called the network’s move “an easy decision to come by.”

“Sports are about merit, absent of background, class, race, creed, color or religion,” Solomon said. “They are simply about talent. This is a classic case, not about what country did what to another country. If Israel were barring a citizen of an Arab nation, we would have made the same decision.”

And tennis mega-star Serena Williams, who won a third round victory in Dubai and moved closer to a semifinal matchup, gave a backhanded compliment to Pe’er, saying in essence that Pe’er was a good egg even if she was from evil Israel.

“I know she’s previously played in the Middle East, in Doha, so it was my understanding she would have the opportunity to play here also, despite legislative issues,” she said, according to AP. “Obviously I am disappointed she hasn’t had a chance to do this because she’s a good person and works just as hard as anyone else on the tour, and should have the opportunity to play. She shouldn’t be denied, it’s not right, she’s just a person. We are all people, no matter where we are from.”

And despite defending Pe’er, Williams made it clear who she was looking out for in defending her decision not to boycott the tournament – number one.

“I have to look at the bigger picture. The big picture is that Shahar Pe’er didn’t get a chance to play but, making an immediate decision, we also have to look at sponsors, fans and everyone who has invested a lot in the tournament. We are all going to consider what are the options for next year, but [this year] we didn’t even know till Saturday that Pe’er had been denied a visa. I think there are rules and protocols as to how you can proceed.”

Don’t worry about Serena, when they start banning blacks as well, we’ll be right behind you.

Tags: , , , , • Category: A New Reality, General, Politics, Sports 

Comments

4 Comments on The Dubai Apartheid Tennis Tournament

  1. Neil on Thu, Feb 19th 2009 8:38 PM

    2. Serena Williams refered to “evil” Israel. Another ebonics ranting imbecile!!!

  2. Nicky on Sun, Feb 22nd 2009 9:07 AM

    3. Shame the academics in America now talking about boycotting Israel institutions don’t take the same stance as the sports world has. Surely academia is also “about merit, absent of background, class, race, creed, color or religion”.

  3. Elana on Mon, Feb 23rd 2009 5:15 AM

    4. A day late and a dollar short…the WTA should not be participating in Dubai. Period.

    As for Serena’s nasty comments, I am not a bit surprised. The only surprise here is that her ‘mouth’ was not covered by all the sports networks.

  4. Rocky Zulu on Tue, Feb 24th 2009 4:33 AM

    5. UAE’s immigration laws clearly state that any “person holding a Israeli passport will not be allowed to enter Dubai”.
    Forty-seven other Islamic countries also follow this law.
    Every country has a right to deny entry to any person.Eu and US have a long history of denying entry to travellers from Arab countries even TV,sports and journalistic personalities are frequently refused visas,but not much hoopla is created about it.

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