"The United Arab Emirates will issue an entry visa to Andy Ram of Israel for next week’s Barclays Dubai Tennis Championships, Representative Anthony D. Weiner said Wednesday.
“I’ve gotten the assurance from the ambassador,” Weiner, Democrat from New York, said by telephone, referring to Yousef Al Otaiba, the U.A.E.’s ambassador to the United States.
The decision to grant Ram a visa to enter Dubai, one of the Emirates, comes after the government’s denial of a visa to another Israeli, Shahar Peer, the 48th-ranked women’s player in the world. She was to play in this week’s tournament in Dubai. The WTA Tour did not cancel the women’s tournament, but the Tennis Channel dropped its weekend coverage."
more here
Posts
21 comments:
Oh Oh, Daddy USA has put his foot down, going by the article Dubai is going to be a good little boy and listen.
Proud Emirati its almost comical how stereotypical you are.
http://flowtv.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/02/arab.jpg
From the same article:
"//"Reuters reported that a Davis Cup first-round match from March 6-8 in Malmo, Sweden, between Israel and Sweden would be played in an empty 4,000-seat arena because of security concerns. "//"
Wow, how backwards those Swedes are. Anti-semitism must be rampant in the Nordic nation.
PE,
If you are reduced to finding random statements by an obscure congressman to hate the US, we must be making progress.
DJ,
Maybe you could do some checking before you sarcastically dismiss the possibility. A Google search for anti-semitism and Sweden returns 324,000 hits. Just a quick look at the first couple show that perhaps anti-semitism might exist there.
Since the first result is, I'm sure, blocked by the proxy (it is from the .il TLD), here is just the first two paragraphs:
"Daniel Schechner, a 21-year-old law student from Stockholm, makes sure to conceal even the slightest hint of his Jewishness when he goes out in public.
"When he says that he lives a double identity, he means that at work, school and in the street he would not voluntarily reveal his religion. He uses his non-Jewish last name, which he asks the reporter not to print. He does not dream of walking down the street while wearing a skullcap, Star of David or T-shirt with Hebrew on it, and when he went to Israel, he told people that he went to another country. "
How many Muslims would dismiss claims of Islamophobia in a country if they read something like:
"Adam, a 21-year-old law student from Stockholm, makes sure to conceal even the slightest hint of his Muslim identity when he goes out in public.
"When he says that he lives a double identity, he means that at work, school and in the street he would not voluntarily reveal his religion. He uses his non-Arab last name, which he asks the reporter not to print. He does not dream of walking down the street while wearing a keffiyeh, cresent or T-shirt with Arabic on it, and when he went to Saudi Arabia, he told people that he went to another country."
Brn,
Noted. I indeed can't access the link but will take your word for it (although I take all .il websites with pinch of salt). But my sarcasm still holds: why then international press is not blasting Sweden day and night for its complaisance toward anti-semitism? I don't see sponsorships getting pulled away because of this? why the double standards?
DJ,
I think that is a fair point, but maybe the muted response to the Swedish action is that it is perceived as being less heavy handed than denying the players entry to the country. I would guess that if the Dubai tourney had simply made the Israeli player play in an empty stadium, the response would have been different. Also, it should be noted that the story did go on to say that the WTA, condemned the Swedes for their action just like they did the UAE.
Oh, and I also meant to say that I think you should take all websites with a pinch of salt!
Brn,
The action itself is different of course (empty stadium vs. entry ban), but the reasons seem to be the same: 'Security Concerns'. And given the long term enmity and conflict between Arabs (to various degrees according to each and every state) and Israel, Dubai's concerns must be more genuine and bigger in magnitude, especially given the recent Gaza debacle. And I honestly don't see equal reprimand from the WTA, because while they said what happened in Sweden was regretful, they eventually 'deferred to local authority', they didn't show the same understanding in Dubai's case.
Now if this news is legit, I really wish this guy a trouble-free and safe stay while he's here in the UAE, the last thing anybody wants is for something bad to happen to him while he's here.
apparently his visa hasnt in fact been assured - at least according to his manager as quoted in haaretz.com in the last hour..
Here we go again.. How many times should we repeat that Arabs are Semites themselves, so how can we be anti-Semitic? Don’t be a parrot and repeat what you have been force feed, or maybe you are not a parrot but just an ignorant as any average American. Our educational system sucks, but it is a little better now that you have left.
Furthermore, how is banning an Israeli or anti-Semitic? Your beloved mutant state is praised for being democratic by the likes of you, but is it a democracy based on religious segregation? Just like Iran?
We don’t baby killers in our country, and especially if those babies are ours.
Go play tennis somewhere else..
Phaedrus,
Arabs can be antisemitic since "antisemitism" has never had anything to do with all Semites but has always meant anti-Jew. A quick look at any dictionary or Wikipedia will show you this.
That line of argument is pretty much the definition of Red Herring.
For few major laughs and lolz you may read this piece of propaganda:
The good thing about the current, sudden, selective outrage over Dubai's anti-Semitic visa policy--because it barred player Shahar Pe'er from playing in the Dubai Tennis Classic--is that we learn who stands for what.
Seriously?! now banning an israeli tennis player is considered anti-semitic? was the UK being anti-Dutch when they banned Geert Wilder citing security concerns?
And then it goes on to rail against the Williams sisters:
Then, there are the Williams sisters, Venus and Serena. Can you imagine if a country hosting a tennis tournment wouldn't grant visas to Black players? Can you imagine if the country would grant visas to a select few Black players for the purpose of a tennis tournament, but wouldn't allow any other Blacks into the country?
So let me get this straight; let's hypothesize that a nation at war with the United States (for whatever reason) was hosting a golf tournament and they banned Tiger Woods from participating; would that be considered racism? and let's say that that hypothetical country allowed Tiger Woods so it won't be perceived as racist to black people, would that not be perceived as racism against white golfers (who otherwise would have been banned if he was the representative of his country)?
Nuff said.
Andy Ram has been granted a visa because of fears of a sporting boycott (Reuters). Andy was born in Uruguay so that might have made it easier to issue a visa. The WTA boss is pleased "this policy was changed" but the UAE comment was that it was a "special case". And Shahar Peers is looking forward to "competing in Dubai next year"
andy ram is totally israeli and has been living in israel since the age of 5..
i dont think he would be travelling on the other passport.. and thats if he even still has it.. many south american born israelis dont keep their original passport..
bad
it's a disgusting piece of news. One month Dubai will spend millions on Palestine and beg all people to show their loyalty to their "brothers and sisters" in Gaza and the next month, well..who cares?
Why don't ask the people in GAZA what they think about it, I am sure that they would make a good point! Maybe while the player is here, he should also have some coffee with Lev Leviev at his shop in the Atlantis Hotel.
His name is Weiner... That says it all.
@Brn:
for more google stats:
here is the results for attack against pumpkins 5,650,000 results returned so it must be true.
I'm a Semite and I tell you that Abu Ghraib is anti-semitic, so is gitmo bay.
@Phaedrus 17,600,000 Give it a look
Post a Comment
NOTE: By making a post/comment on this blog you agree that you are solely responsible for its content and that you are up to date on the laws of the country you are posting from and that your post/comment abides by them.
To read the rules click here
If you would like to post content on this blog click here