Wednesday, May 14, 2008

What colour is your soccer ball ?

I found this April 26th 2008 article in AFP interesting. It was reported that 21 groups in Malaysia threatened to hold mass protest if the Malaysian government allow Chelsea's Israeli coach, Avram Grant, and defender, Tal Ben Haim, playing tour match in Malaysia. According to one of the protester, “The reason for the travel ban to Malaysia is to isolate Israel which is a rogue state. If the Israeli footballers are allowed in, the government will be considered as being insensitive to the Palestinian people,.....” Read HERE for further report.

Now, I ask myself : “Is Israel a rouge state ?” I do find it irrationally unfair for certain biased groups to impose their biased opinions on others. Israel is a member country of the United Nations, so is Malaysia. Honestly, I think we should have the self respect of not calling other nations with degrading names. If we Malaysians start calling another member nation of the United Nations a rogue state because of our racist biases, aren't we also one by default ?

I understand there are never ending violent conflicts between Israel and Palestine in the Middle East. I honestly do not believe these conflicts can disappeared during the next 100 years as long as both sides continued to resort to violences, and stupid idiots from all over the world taking sides to cheer them on. As much as I empathized with the plights of the Palestinians, I also empathized with the sufferings of the Israelis. All of us should just stay neutral, let some of the war cravings Palestinians and Israelis to settle the score themselves. What makes some of these noisy people think that they own the moral rights to impose their noisy and misguided biases to force the rest of the Malaysians to take side ? Come on, as much as they want their sensitivity to be respected, I do sincerely hope that they can have some basic decency to respect the sensitivity of the rest of the Malaysians who do not wish to take side in the conflicts between Israel and Palestine.

Further more, we are talking about sports here. Everyone should have the basic decency to leave politics and religious preferences in friendship building sports activities. If you do not like to watch a particular nation playing the game, please stay at home and keep your religious and racist intolerances to yourself. The act of hijacking the sacredness of religion and racial ignorances to instigate hatreds against others is the most despicable deeds we should all avoid.

For those of you who love soccer, the Chelsea team is scheduled to play the Malaysian team on July 29th 2008. So book your tickets early to avoid disappointment. However, if those misguided people carry out their threat by holding mass protests at the stadium, I do sincerely hope the Police can play fair to round them up and send them to Hotel Kamunting. Afterall, the authority have no problem arresting the organizers of the Hindraf's mass protest, It is only fair in the name of maintaining peace and order that these misguided trouble makers be rounded up also to enjoy their curried rice in the Kamunting resort.

Keep Malaysia out of the Middle East conflicts. Majority of Malaysians love peace and do not wish to instigate the perpetuation of violences in the middle east. Please leave religious intolerances out from our favorite sports. If you still insist on supporting and taking sides in the Middle East conflicts, please buy a air ticket to fly to either Israel and Palestine to stage your protest there.

We are all educated and civilized people. Why are we still allowed ourselves to be irrationally emotional in spreading hatreds against other nations and races ? We want to champion the rights and plights of other people in other countries ? How about we start championing the rights and plights of all Malaysians in Malaysia ? Look around you. Have you been sensitive to the plights and rights of your fellow Malaysians in Malaysia ? The right things for all of us to do is, to refrain from acting like forked tongue specialists farting smelly noises. Indeed, sometimes, we are shamelessly exactly what we said of others.

Am I being insensitive by refusing to take side ? If wanting to stay neutral is offensive to some, then LET IT BE. May all the narrow minded and misguided racists be forever condemned to hell.

I pray for the healing of wounds between Palestinians and Israelis begin, let there be PEACE and LOVE.

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