Teaming up with Gaza.

• Author: Zirin, Dave
• Position: Edge of Sports - Viewpoint essay

In January 2008, Egyptian soccer star Mohamed Aboutreika followed a goal by raising his shirt to reveal the slogan "Sympathize with Gaza." He was trying to spotlight the economic embargo that Israel had imposed on Palestinians in Gaza after the election of the Hamas government.

Days before a tenuous ceasefire halted the carnage in Gaza this January, history repeated itself as Sevilla (Spain) striker Fredi Kanouté raised his shirt after scoring a goal to reveal a shirt that said "Palestine" in multiple languages. Kanouté is not an obscure player. In 2007, he was named African player of the year, even though he was born in France (his family is from Mali).

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After Kanouté earned a 3,000 [pounds sterling] fine for his political gesture, famed Barcelona coach Jose Guardiola stood up for him, saying: "The tine is absolutely excessive.... Every war is absurd, and too many innocent people have died for us to be fining people for things like this."

Welcome to 2009, when Israel's offensive on Gaza, ceasefire or no, is getting a reaction in the sports world, It's a development that should give supporters of Israel's offensive in Gaza a great deal of pause.

Kanouté's actions come on the heels of an event in Ankara, Turkey, where the Israeli basketball team, Bnei Hasharon, had to flee the court from what the Associated Press described as "hundreds of fist-pumping, chanting Turkish fans."

Before the game could begin, angry chants of "Killer Israel!" and worse came down from the crowd, as Palestinian flags appeared in their hands. Then, in a scene that would look familiar to George Bush, off came the shoes, and footwear rained down from the stands. (The shoes didn't hit any players.)

A melee then began between 1,500 police officers and Turkish fans. Both Hasharon and the home team Turk Telekom were hurried off to the locker rooms where they remained for two hours before Bnei Hasharon forfeited the contest.

A sporting event hasn't been actually stopped in such a manner--with fans turning the stands into a site of protest--since July 25, 1981, when South Africa's Springbok rugby team had to cancela...