Soccer - Arab team breaks new ground in Israel .
Ori Lewis
TAIBE , Israel 1996-08-23
For the first time in Israeli history , an Arab team will take the field when the National League soccer season starts on Saturday .
Hapoel Taibe fields four Jewish players and two foreign imports -- a Pole and a Romanian .
The rest of the side is made up mainly of Moslem Arabs .
The club , founded in 1961 , has a loyal following in Taibe , an Arab town of 28,000 in the heart of Israel .
But away from their home ground , they face unfriendly crowds who taunt the players with racist abuse .
" The very first thing we thought about after we knew we would be promoted was the game against Betar Jerusalem , " said Taibe supporter Karem Haj Yihye .
Two weeks ago Taibe , coached by Pole Wojtek Lazarek , met Betar , a club closely associated with the right-wing Likud party , for the first time in a Cup match in Jerusalem .
Chants from the crowd of " Death to the Arabs " , and bottle-throwing during the game marred the match which ended in a goalless draw .
One Taibe supporter required hospital treatment for cuts and bruises after a stone struck his head as he was driving from the stadium .
" We 're used to hearing the taunts of " Death to the Arabs ' , " said Sameh Haj Yihye , a Taibe resident who studies at Jerusalem 's Hebrew University . "
But we know that these are only words , nobody has died from hearing them and it only makes us support our team more vehemently . "
The dusty town of Taibe lacks the amenities of Jewish communities and many Israeli Arabs have long complained of state discrimination .
" There are no parks or empty areas of land around here , so when we want to play a friendly game of soccer we all load up in the car and travel to Tel Aviv , " 60 km ( 36 miles ) away , Sameh Haj Yihye said .
The town 's ramshackle 2,500-seat ground is accessible only by two dirt tracks .
" We plan to build a 10,000-seat stadium , but it may well be situated elsewhere , " said club chairman Abdul Rahman Haj Yihye . "
We will discuss this with the mayor and hopefully a new or refurbished ground will be completed by the start of the new year . "
In the meantime , Taibe will play all their heavily policed home matches at the Jewish coastal town of Netanya .
" We are Israelis , there is no question about that , " said Karem Haj Yihye , a hotel waiter .
" We do n't have any connection with the Palestinians , they live over there , " he said , pointing to the West Bank seven km ( four miles ) to the east .
" We do n't feel our club represents Palestinian Arabs , " said club chairman Abdul Rahman . "
We are trying to do all we can to run a professional outfit , we are pleased at any support we get , but do not go out looking to represent the whole Arab world . "