On the Border: The Rise and Decline of the Most Political Club in the World

Adar, Shaul

ISBN 10: 1801500959 / ISBN 13: 9781801500951

Published by Pitch Publishing, 2022

About this Item

Seller Inventory # 389388320

Bibliographic Details

• Title: On the Border: The Rise and Decline of the Most Political Club in the World
• Publisher: Pitch Publishing
• Publication Date: 2022
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1801500959
• ISBN 13: 9781801500951
• Binding: Hardcover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

In December 2020, an Israeli football club made worldwide headlines. The news that a UAE royal had bought 50 per cent of Beitar's shares shook Israel and the football world. Beitar, proclaimed by some of its own fans as 'the most racist club in the country', is a club like no other in Israel. While Israeli football as a whole is a space where Israelis of all ethnicities and foreigners can co-exist, Beitar won't even sign a Muslim player for fear of its own far-right supporters' group, La Familia. On the Border is the fascinating tale of a club that began as a sports movement of a liberal national Zionism party and became an overt symbol of right-wing views, Mizrahi identity and eventually hardcore racism and nationalism. The book explores the radicalisation of Beitar and the fight for the soul of the club between the racists and open-minded fans. It is also a story of Jerusalem, the most volatile place on Earth, and how the holy city and the influence of religion have shaped Beitar.