A public committee has been organized here aimed at inculcating a sense of fair play towards Arab soccer players on Israeli teams. The move followed recent incidents involving the two Arab players on National League teams.
One Rafat Tork, of the Tel Aviv Hapoel team, was the subject of ethnic abuse by members of the opposing Ramat Amidar Maccabi team when he scored a goal three weeks ago. Tork told an interviewer afterwards that he was prepared for such abuse from people in the crowd but not from fellow players. The other Arab player, Ali Hussein Otman of the Jerusalem Hapoel team, accused a referee of being ethnically abusive last Saturday when he objected to a ruling.
A founding member of the public committee, Yehuda Leish, said its object was to launch an information campaign aimed at fans and players with the object of removing the explosive element of ethnic differences from the already heated atmosphere of the soccer match. Other members of the committee include the former director general of the Finance Ministry Yaacov Arnon and the writer Haim Guri.
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