Own goals

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Scoring an own goal can be a most embarrassing result in a soccer game, but it also has another connotation.

Michael Kuttner

The term has become a metaphor for any action that backfires on the person or group undertaking it, sometimes even carrying a sense of “poetic justice“.

Apart from sportspeople those most prone to scoring own goals are politicians and political groups who usually lose no opportunity to demonstrate how easy it is to end up with “egg all over their face.”

Sportspeople usually are apologetic and highly embarrassed by their mistaken act on the playing field. Not so politicians who instead of confessing their mistakes, prefer to either fake it or more often than not blame the “ref” in the vain hope that this will divert the electorate’s attention. In the unlikely event that covering up doesn’t work, brazen diversions and bluster can always be counted on to confuse the masses.

Currently, the soccer world cup competition is taking place in Qatar. The awarding of this prestigious event was preceded by own goals galore, with alleged bribes and other dubious shenanigans being covered up and swept under the carpet. Additionally, Qatar’s far from stellar record on human rights and treatment of foreign workers should have rung warning bells.

However, as with the Olympic movement’s long and shoddy record, FIFA decided that ignoring these abuses was preferable.

In 1936, despite three years of cumulative anti-Jewish policies which deprived Germany’s Jews of their civil rights and laid the ground for subsequent disasters, the IOC decided to hold the Olympic Games in Berlin. Any and every protest at this travesty of the Olympic spirit was dismissed, belittled and indeed condemned, all in the name of the so-called purity of international sport and fraternal love.

The Nazi Government tried to put a positive spin on this festival by temporarily removing signs against Jews and pretending that everything was normal. The assembled athletes and officials co-operated with this farce, and in a perfect own goal, the media gave front-page prominence to the event as though nothing out of the ordinary was actually amiss.

This shameful farce was repeated post-war as the Olympics were hosted by other nations with dubious human rights records.

It is, therefore, not surprising that this current sporting spectacle in Qatar follows a familiar pattern. Unlike the Germans in 1936, the Qatari authorities do not feel that they need to use any subterfuge methods to cover up their prejudices because there is no blowback from either FIFA or officials from competing teams.

An attempt by players to wear armbands supporting gay rights was unceremoniously squashed after players were threatened with yellow cards. In a perfect display of British diplomatic hypocrisy the UK Foreign Minister prior to his trip to Qatar advised protesters to keep quiet. Spectators wearing rainbow clothing or headgear have been told to remove these items.

Israeli soccer fans faced a dilemma because Qatar does not recognise Israel as a legitimate country which one would have thought was reason enough not to award the competition to this Gulf nation. In what can only be described as a “drey”, Israelis are now allowed to attend, but they have to get there by circuitous means. A Cyprus-based airline flies from Tel Aviv to Cyprus waits on the ground for a specified time, and then flies on to Doha. This is supposed to prove that there is no direct air route from the “Zionist entity” and, therefore, all is kosher.

Talking about kosher highlights two more own goals which have been scored.

It transpires that cooked kosher meals are off the menu. With over ten thousand Israelis and Jewish fans from around the world, the authorities promised that kosher meals would be available. Lo and behold, for some inexplicable reason, it now seems that only cold bagels are being served up. As though this red card penalty is not bad enough, Qatari officials have deemed prayer sites for observant Jewish visitors as too much of a “security” risk. Despite previous assurances of religious freedom, this obviously does not apply to Jewish fans and as FIFA is highly unlikely to blow the whistle, the farce continues.

Own goals keep coming, and one of the best examples is the attempted hush-hush visit of the PA President for life, Mahmoud Abbas, to Doha. This particular episode is worthy of an Oscar for best deception of the millennium mainly because it illustrates the total hypocrisy of the international community.

Just days prior to the commencement of the world cup, an official of the US State Department (who else), on a visit to Israel and Ramallah, urged Israeli authorities to “strengthen the Palestinian Authority in order to prevent its collapse.” Stripped of the usual diplomatic double-speak, this really means that Israel needs to make more gestures and, together with the gullible members of the UN, throw more taxpayers’ millions into the bottomless corrupt coffers of the kleptocracy promoting a fake Palestine.

This message of imminent financial collapse and subsequent dire consequences is the same out-of-tune chorus that is heard on behalf of UNRWA. Nobody, of course, stops to challenge and ask where the billions of dollars thrown at these groups over the years have all disappeared to because to do so would reveal a cesspit of criminal financial corruption.

Bearing all this in mind, what has exploded in the media should have generated a tsunami of outrage and penalty cards. Abbas, the angel of peace, arrived in Doha unannounced with mishpocha (relatives) and close aids to attend the world cup festivities. Add up the cost of transport, accommodation, food and other such trivial expenses, and you would arrive at a rather hefty total. Now, if the PA was flush with funds, having built hospitals, clinics, schools and houses for its citizens, one could not really object to its President for life and hangers-on from enjoying themselves at the soccer competition.

 Instead, having spent all the international aid on paying stipends to murderers of Israelis and extorting ever more money from all and sundry, this internationally anointed apostle of peace tries to slip into Qatar unobtrusively under the radar in the hope that nobody will notice. Well, the media did notice, but true to past form, there has been no red card for this blatant own goal.

After all, when one is not accountable to any sort of democratic scrutiny and restraint, one can literally get away with murder and corruption. Thus, apart from brief reports, no other repercussions will ensue. Taking its cue from Washington, the rest of the world will admonish Israel while giving a pass to continued offside acts of deceit. In fact, it has just been announced that the Biden Administration is “upgrading” its relationships with the PA. Instead of sending the terror promoters off the field, the chief referee in Washington looks the other way and pretends that nothing is amiss.

No wonder Israeli voters keep moving to the right.

Another perfect example of an own goal in the making is Trump’s stated intention to wreck any chance the Republican Party may have to reclaim the White House in 2024. This is a developing move which no doubt will garner more attention in the near future.

Political own goals can be far more lethal than those scored on the soccer field.

Will those responsible ever be penalised? On past and current records, this seems highly unlikely.

Rolling out the red carpet instead of handing out red cards exemplifies the current pathetic situation.

Michael Kuttner is a Jewish New Zealander who for many years was actively involved with various communal organisations connected to Judaism and Israel. He now lives in Israel and is J-Wire’s correspondent in the region.