Subscribe to Print Edition | Wed., November 07, 2007 Cheshvan 26, 5768 | | Israel Time: 18:03 (EST+7)
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Beitar Jerusalem fans cheering during a soccer match against Maccabi Haifa at Kiryat Eliezer stadium on Sunday. (Roni Schitzer / Jini)
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Last update - 11:31 05/11/2007
PM: I'm Beitar fan, but I detest violent brutes who booed Rabin
By Matan Krakow, Haaretz Correspondent and Haaretz Service
tags: Beitar Jerusalem, Ehud Olmert 

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert Monday condemned Beitar Jerusalerm soccer fans for booing during a pre-game moment of silence Sunday marking mark the 12th anniversary of the assassination of former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Fans also sang songs of praise to Rabin's assassin Yigal Amir, later telling an Army Radio audience that they strongly supported the murder and that it was "good for Israel."

Olmert, a diehard Beitar supporter since childhood, said Monday that he "detests these brutish and violent people who, I'm sorry to say, are a sizable sector of the fans."
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Speaking to a convention of business executives, Olmert said "I want to state in the clearest, angriest terms, that this behavior - not of a small group, as some would like to minimize it, but of a large, loud, influential and raging group - was wicked and unbearable."

The Peace Now movement has urged the Israel Football Association to open disciplinary proceedings against Beitar Jerusalem over the incident, the radio reported.

The story of Sunday night's game was not so much the scoreless draw but the drama beforehand. In the moment of silence commemorating the slain prime minister, Beitar fans were heard booing loudly when Rabin's name was mentioned.

Rabin was assassinated by an ultra-right wing activist who disagreed with the then prime minister's political moves toward peace with the Palestinians.

Beitar Jerusalem's management quickly issued a statement condemning the behavior: "We completely condemn the calls of some of the fans when Rabin's name was mentioned. We are ashamed and insulted that there are such fans among us. We are sure that the overwhelming majority of our fans will join us in condemning the calls."

IFA chairman Avi Luzon told Army Radio on Monday that something must be done to keep rowdy fans out of soccer stadiums. He said that the IFA's legal department has already started looking into opening disciplinary proceedings against Beitar Jerusalem.

The soccer match did not get off to an auspicious start as police turned away one of the five Beitar fans' buses and sent it back to Jerusalem from the Haifa stadium after drunk fans threw objects at Maccabi Haifa fans, injuring two of them lightly.

Once the game got going, opportunities for Beitar to score did not pop up that often in the first half, as Haifa showed better form. In the 9th minute, Haifa's Eyal Meshumar got a free kick from the penalty area but could not capitalize on it. Brazilian Gustavo Boccoli got another chance to put Haifa on the board just two minutes later, taking a good pass from Yaniv Katan, but his shot went wide of the goal.

Beitar's Gal Alberman got the first chance for his squad in the 25th minute, taking a hard shot that went amiss.

In the 41st minute, Giovanni Rosso took a corner kick that resulted in a foul, giving Boccoli a penalty kick. However, he took a sloppy shot that missed its mark.

Beitar became more aggressive in the second half, getting an early opportunity, but it was Haifa who came the closest. In the 55th minute Keinan headed the ball off a corner kick, but the goal was overturned on a foul call. Katan broke free in the 71st minute, but he also couldn't translate his shot into a score.

In the end, both sides were forced to part with a point each.

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      1.   Why was there a moment of silence? 01:21  |  Question 05/11/07
      2.   excellent question #1 01:35  |  henry 05/11/07
      3.   Booing Rabin 01:58  |  ralphsrant1 05/11/07
      4.   The fact is, that they booed 02:02  |  Mark Lincoln 05/11/07
      5.   Stop forcing idol worship of a man many disliked 02:02  |  Leopold 05/11/07
      6.   Beitar J`lem soccer fans boo Rabin before draw with Maccabi Haifa 02:06  |  eduardo novo 05/11/07
      7.   BARUCH AND YIGAL ARE BOTH TERRORISTS 02:33  |  Nephtaly 05/11/07
      8.   No. 4, Mark Rabin a traitor? 03:15  |  Mexi 05/11/07
      9.   What gets into a mob? Disgraceful! 03:31  |  PETER SM 05/11/07
      10.   deification of Rabin is not the answer... 03:47  |  Joseph B. 05/11/07
      11.   THEY VOICED THEIR OPINION BUT AT THE WRONG TIME 04:02  |  T.Urnkote 05/11/07
      12.   Nephtaly - Rabin 04:03  |  Mark Lincoln 05/11/07
      13.   Two nations... 04:41  |  Salomon Mizrahi 05/11/07
      14.   Are these the peaceloving Israelis I hear so much about? 05:26  |  peacelover 05/11/07
      15.   #14 PeaceLover 07:15  |  ralphsrant1 05/11/07
      16.   #4 Lincoln - you know very little about Rabin 07:22  |  * BEN JABO 05/11/07
      17.   #7 Nephtaly - Pardesiah 07:27  |  * BEN JABO 05/11/07
      18.   #8 Mexi - Tijuana 07:33  |  * BEN JABO 05/11/07
      19.   #14 peacelover 07:36  |  * BEN JABO 05/11/07
      20.   RABBIS DEFINED RABIN AS TRAITOR,BUT NEVER AUTHORIZED KILLING HIM, 07:47  |  VOICE)))))))) 05/11/07
      21.   THE LEFT ARE ALL TRAITORS AND THEY DONT 08:17  |  WARRIOR 05/11/07
      22.   Rabin`s contribution 08:41  |  JG 05/11/07
      23.   Hurts the Cause of Yesha 09:03  |  JewishHeart 05/11/07
      24.   The downfall of Yesha 09:05  |  JewishHeart 05/11/07
      25.   To henry 09:35  |  Fan 05/11/07
      26.   SOME PAL MUST PAY FOR THIS 09:35  |  Refugee 05/11/07
      27.   Ashamed but not surprized ... 09:43  |  NotBlind 05/11/07
      28.   Israel very much looks like Germany in 1936 09:44  |  German 05/11/07
      29.   GOOD! 09:46  |  Neil 05/11/07
      30.   Rabin was a muderer of Holocaust survivors 09:50  |  Rabbo 05/11/07
      31.   To Solomon Mizrahi 09:56  |  Challenger 05/11/07
      32.   What`s wrong with football....??? 10:02  |  Swiss (Dino) 05/11/07
      33.   How About A Moment of Silence For Victims Of Arab Terrorism? 10:25  |  Ben Israel 05/11/07
      34.   Thank you Jewish Heart 10:25  |  Dr Eric 05/11/07
      35.   Rabin deserves respect BUT: Peace Now is discredited !! 10:35  |  B.Heddem 05/11/07
      36.   Correction: Rabin did not bring PEACE, but WAR 10:41  |  Michael A. Shoemaker 05/11/07
      37.   Oh, only the left should be allowed to demonstrate ?! 10:46  |  redmike 05/11/07
      38.   No one likes Beitar fans anyway 10:48  |  Mike 05/11/07
      39.   Rabin a war hero? 10:59  |  Avi 05/11/07
      40.   Rabin,Rabin,Rabin and yes...more Rabin 11:05  |  Shmuel 05/11/07
      41.   1984 and Orwell 11:17  |  eddie 05/11/07
      42.   RABIN IS NOT G-D!! ONLY G-D IS G-D!!! 11:32  |  WARRIOR 05/11/07
      43.   RABIN AND PERES GAVE THEM WEAPONS!!! 11:34  |  WARRIOR 05/11/07
      44.   THE MINUTE THE LEFT MAKES IT ILLEGAL TO 11:36  |  WARRIOR 05/11/07
      45.   It`s mob behaviour 11:36  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 05/11/07
      46.   Keep Grovelling, Olmert 11:56  |  Ben Israel 05/11/07
      47.   Mark Lincoln #4 12:02  |  S 05/11/07
      48.   KGB against stupid drunks 12:03  |  Ilan 05/11/07
      49.   To Margie in Tel Aviv 12:12  |  dovale 05/11/07
      50.   DOVALE 12:20  |  Avi 05/11/07
      51.   Who IS "Brutish and Violent", Olmert? 12:40  |  Ben Israel 05/11/07
      52.   To Avi 13:25  |  dovale 05/11/07
      53.   What is to investigate? 13:31  |  Mark Lincoln 05/11/07
      54.   What was Olmert`s opinion? 13:49  |  Mark Lincoln 05/11/07
      55.   The True Colors of Israel HATE 13:54  |  POP 05/11/07
      56.   Where is the respect_ 13:58  |  Anne 05/11/07
      57.   The APPEASE NOW crowd!!! 13:58  |  Ben Uziel 05/11/07
      58.   Dovale 14:14  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 05/11/07
      59.   to POP 14:19  |  dovale 05/11/07
      60.   Dovale: 14:34  |  POP 05/11/07
      61.   To margie 14:41  |  dovale 05/11/07
      62.   POP can write sentences 14:41  |  MOM 05/11/07
      63.   # 1 Question Why was there a moment of silence? 14:43  |  Fed-Up 05/11/07
      64.   #38 - yes, and there is now pressure on `Jewish` clubs in the UK! 14:45  |  redmike 05/11/07
      65.   You can`t have your cake and eat it too.. 14:49  |  Buzaglow 05/11/07
      66.   MOM: 14:50  |  POP 05/11/07
      67.   salomon mizrahi is quite right 14:54  |  harzion. 05/11/07
      68.   Dovale 14:56  |  Margie in Tel Aviv 05/11/07
      69.   # 37 redmike Oh, only the left should be allowed to demonstrate 15:04  |  Fed-Up 05/11/07
      70.   To Mark Lincoln No. 54 15:15  |  Ben Israel 05/11/07
      71.   Very difficult to punish Beitar Jerusalem 15:19  |  Tosefta 05/11/07
      72.   Long live freedom of speech, unless I disagree... 15:25  |  Kobi 05/11/07
      73.   Mexi # 8 15:28  |  Kobi 05/11/07
      74.   to #14 15:29  |  Kobi 05/11/07
      75.   WHATS THE FUSS 15:30  |  GABE1 05/11/07
      76.   # 33 Ben IsraelHow About A Moment of Silence For Victims Of Arab 15:43  |  Fed-Up 05/11/07
      77.   It seems to me im going to support BEITAR from NOW 15:43  |  Dr Levy 05/11/07
      78.   # 36 Michael A. Shoemaker.Correction: Rabin did not bring PEACE,. 15:51  |  Fed-Up 05/11/07
      79.   I`m behind the fans I`m afraid 15:53  |  Reality Checks 05/11/07
      80.