JERUSALEM -- An apparent arson attack Friday on the offices of leading Israeli soccer club Beitar Jerusalem has put a spotlight on longstanding concerns over growing anti-Arab racism among the nation's soccer fans.
The fire, which destroyed historic trophies and mementos, comes after the team broke with its unofficial tradition and signed two Muslim players from Chechnya, enraging its most xenophobic fan-base that has a history of chanting anti-Islam slurs at games.
The incident drew immediate rebukes and promises of a crackdown by authorities ahead of a charged home game against an Arab team that will likely be the debut match for one of the new Muslim players.
Beitar has long tried to contain a tightly knit fan group called "La Familia" whose behavior has had the team docked points and forced it to play before empty stadiums. The group is routinely abusive toward opposing players, taunting them with racist and anti-Arab chants.
Arabs, who make up about 20 percent of Israel's population, now star on the Israeli national team and on every first division team besides Beitar. Some of the league's top goal scorers are Arabs and one team, Bnei Sakhnin, is entirely Arab [...] "Such behavior is shameful. We cannot accept such racist behavior. The Jewish people, who suffered from boycotts and ostracism, must be a light unto the nations," he said in a statement.
