Israel's emphatic 5-2 victory against Austria in their World Cup qualifying campaign at the Sammy Ofer Stadium in Haifa on Saturday night was marred by boos directed at Arab-Israeli footballer Munas Dabbur.
Dabbur, 29-years-old, scored the second of five goals as the Israeli national football team celebrated one of their most significant victories in recent years, as they look to qualify for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
On May 8, as tensions rose between Arabs and Jews in mixed cities and Operation Guardian of the Walls was starting to take shape, Dabbur took to Instagram to voice his opinion, posting an image of Al-Aqsa Mosque with a caption reading "God will deal with the perpetrators of injustice."
Following the controversial Instagram post, the forward, who plays for German top division side Hoffenheim, decided to take a break from international football.
In July, Munas' brother Anas, who is also a footballer, defended his brother by stating he "didn't do anything wrong," criticized the lack of respect given to Dabbur as one of the senior national team players and said he might not play for Israel again.
However, Dabbur was called up to play in the World Cup qualifying campaign by manager Willi Ruttensteiner, who gave him his full backing. "We have some players who have made mistakes and that infected the dressing room," the Austrian manager said. "All over the world, people make mistakes."
Dabbur also sent out an apology to fans and teammates, at the request of the Israel Football Association (IFA) ahead of the 4-0 win against the Faroe Islands on Wednesday. Despite Ruttensteiner's support and the apology issued, it wasn't enough to stop fans in Sammy Ofer from booing Dabbur every time he touched the ball, including when he scored, from the start of the match to his substitution in the 71st minute.
"When I arrived, I didn't differentiate between Jewish and Muslim players," manager Willy Ruttensteiner said in the post-match interview. "There won't be any boos next time. He handled this professionally, didn't react to it and was very disciplined," he said of Dabbur.
"It was unpleasant, but he expected it. We understood it would happen but I think we as a team and Munas in particular handled it incredibly," said talisman and all-time Israeli top scorer Eran Zahavi, who added two goals to his tally last night. "It is a conflicted country, we will never be able to fully understand each other."
Zahavi then urged fans to unite around the national team.
Joint List head Ayman Odeh also commented on the abuse thrown Dabbur's way, claiming it's the IFA that deserves to be booed for demanding Dabbur apologizes. "Tonight wasn't about Israel or Austria, it was about choosing racism or democracy," Odeh wrote on Twitter.
מי שראוי לקריאות בוז הוא לא מואנס דאבור, אלא התאחדות הכדורגל שדרשה ממנו להתנצל על שהביע מחאה נגד עוול.ההכרעה החשובה הערב היא לא בין ישראל לאוסטריה אלא בין גזענות לדמוקרטיה. מאחל למואנס ולכולנו בהצלחה.
— Ayman Odeh (@AyOdeh) September 4, 2021
Following the two back-to-back wins over the Faroe Islands and Austria and halfway through the campaign, Israel sits in second place in Group F ahead of Tuesday's match in Denmark.