JTA: The Global News Service of the Jewish People

Zubari takes the wind out of China-Israel relations

By Alison Klayman · September 14, 2008

Israel’s biggest source of pride at the Beijing 2008 Olympics became its biggest blight this past week, after bronze medal-winning windsurfer Shahar Zubari called Chinese people “sh*ts” in an interview published September 5th in Israel’s Yediot Aharanot.

That was his answer when the reporter asked him to describe his hosts in one word.

Zubari also said he didn’t feel very comfortable during the month and a half he spent in China, and was happy he wouldn’t have to see any more Chinese people.

“They are difficult,” he said. “They don’t speak the language, their rituals are strange and even their pronunciation is weird.”

He added he didn’t like Chinese food and missed his usual food.  “I can live off hummus.”

His comments could be especially damaging considering China is about to send its first tour groups to Israel later this month.

As evidence of how quickly this kind of comment can spread online to an increasingly tech-savvy Chinese population, I first heard about Zubari’s comments from a Chinese friend here in Beijing.

When I said Israel was doing better in the Paralympic Gamess than its one bronze won during the Olympics, my friend immediately knew who Zubari was.  “That sailor who cursed us when he got home?”

This is also not the first incident concerning Israel’s media and the Beijing Olympics.  Read these comments from a Chinese citizen living in Israel who takes issue with comments by Israeli telecasters during the Games.

Since Zubari’s story broke in the Chinese online press, articles and posts on the web in Mandarin are numerous.  They range from outrage to observations that Zubari is just an ignorant youth.

The Shanghaiist in an English site frequented by Chinese webusers, as well as expats living in China, that can help you get an idea of the posted responses.  This ”Talkback” section on the Ha’aertz website also has international comments including some Chinese readers.

Zubari clearly offended beyond the online message boards, however, as the Chinese embassy in Tel Aviv canceled a reception for Israeli Olympians set to be held last Wednesday.

President Shimon Peres even apologized to the Chinese ambassador on Wednesday, and Ghaleb Majadle, Israeli Minister of Sport, Science and Culture made an official apology call as well.  Zubari published an apology in Yediot on Tuesday.

Jeremy Last of the Jerusalem Post wrote an op-ed suggesting that better PR training for athletes (especially young ones like 22-year-old Zubari) could have prevented the gaffe.

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How Israel wins

By Alison Klayman · August 20, 2008

Not surprisingly, Israel’s first medal of the Beijing Olympics was not won in Beijing, but rather in Qingdao, where the Sailing competition is being held.

In recent days, many Israelis in China have flocked to Qingdao in hopes of seeing better results than they had in Beijing.

Shahar Zubari was able to clinch the bronze after finishing second in the the RS:X (Windsurfer) medal race on Wednesday, August 20. China was so excited for Israel, the official Xinhua news service even wrote a story about Olmert calling to congratulate Zubari.

After Uriel Heilman posted a list about Top Ten excuses from Israeli Olympians for not winning, I thought it was appropriate to see the way that Israeli Olympians talk after they win.

Quotes from bronze medalist Shahar Zubari from the Olympic News Service:

“"I feel so happy. I’m only 20 and I feel like a superstar, with all the media paying attention to me. I even painted my nails especially for this event.”

(At least his parents are trying to keep his feet on the ground, according to this Haaretz profile, where his mother Vered says, “It has always been and continues to be important to us to not let success get to his head.")

As for his Wednesday night celebration plans:

“I’m going to get drunk.”

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How Israel loses

By Uriel Heilman · August 19, 2008

With Israel’s chances of taking home an Olympic medal dwindling rapidly – their best remaining chances are in various water sports – Israelis are thinking about what it means to lose.

A Top Ten list about losing by 10 Israeli Olympians, compiled in Ha’aretz by Nir Wolf, doesn’t exactly portray Israeli athletes as gracious in defeat.

Maybe Israelis just don’t know how to lose because the national ethos is that the Jewish state cannot afford defeat, writes former CNN correspondent Jerrold Kessel in Ha’aretz. He writes: “Rather than decrying ‘another failure’ and ‘medals down the drain,’ shouldn’t we be awfully proud when an Israeli shooter or swimmer places 12th in the world - the 12th best of more than six billion?”

The Jerusalem Post offers this tribute to Israeli sailors Nike Kornicki and Vered Buskila, who finished in fourth place in the 470 Class competition at Beijing.

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Israeli Olympians visit Beijing school

By Alison Klayman · August 18, 2008

Four Israeli Olympic swimmers (Itai Chammah, Guy Barnea, Tom Beera and Gal Nevo), the Israeli Ambassador to China, the President of Israel’s National Swimming Association and a slew of Chinese and Israeli reporters visited the Shi Jia Primary School on Monday, Aug. 18. This school was assigned Israel as part of a Beijing-wide program of partnerships between schools and Olympic countries. The Shi Jia school put on events over the last two years to teach the students about Israel, how to say “Shalom,” even had its students Skype with a school in Jerusalem.  Of course, the school was following the progress of Israeli athletes along with China’s.

Hidden inside a neighborhood maze of alleyways, this 2000-student school is anything but small.  The school was founded in 1939, but this site (which used to be a single-story temple style house) was newly constructed in 2004 and only serves the third through sixth grade.

And what service indeed. There was a room filled with rows of electric pianos, next to the hallway of individual music practice rooms that were nicer than the ones at my university. Of course, these were all on the bottom floor right next to the underground parking lot entrance, which reminded me of a United States mall.  We also saw a beautiful theater with a superior tech booth, a whole science area that looked more like a kid’s playtime museum exhibit, plus a row of small table-saws that looked rusty and dangerous in comparison, for over 20 students at a time to make wood carvings.

The highlight of the tour for the Israeli Olympians was clearly the visit to the school’s unbelievable sports facilities. An outdoor track was surrounded by green landscaping, windmills and a dormitory with solar panels on the roof. Descending into the gymnasium, which had more equipment than a Bally’s Fitness Club, the fencing lesson seemed to be teaching the well-outfitted youngsters as much about shouting as technique.

Finally, the Israeli men were in their element at the pool, which was pumping various Beijing Olympic theme songs over the loudspeaker. An assorted crowd of boys and girls shivered outside the pool for the athletes’ millionth photo-op of the day, underneath towering photos with the Speedo logo printed on them of swimmers like Michael Phelps.

The kids looked a little lackluster as they posed in their swimsuits, but two of them perked up when someone told them the Chinese names of the Israeli athletes that were standing by their side. The kids’ faces lit up- “We heard of them!” they cried.

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Beijing Bar Mitzvah

By Alison Klayman · August 17, 2008

His voice had the slightest rasp to it, but that was probably from cheering on Team USA during the athletics competition at the Bird’s Nest the previous night. Isaac Shapiro did a remarkable job with his maftir and haftarah portion during his “American bar mitzvah in Beijing” on Saturday, Aug. 16.  His family also sponsored the lunch afterwards at Dini’s Kosher Restaurant, complete with groups of five Olympic ring-colored cupcakes (arranged just so, three on top of two) and a Bird’s Nest miniature cake.

Saturday night, after conquering the bimah, Isaac went to what was for him the highlight sporting event of his trip: back-to-back basketball. First China beat Germany in a heart-poundingly close match led by Yao Ming, and then the United States trounced Spain in what was supposed to be a fairly close match.  Isaac even learned the ubiquitous Chinese cheer “Let’s Go!” “JIA YOU!”
[caption id="attachment_1377" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="From the bimah to the basketball game."][/caption]

His family says despite attending team and individual gymnastics competitions, tennis, handball and basketball events among others, this was surely the highlight of their trip to China.

“Everyone has their bar mitzvah photos taken by the Wall,” dad Sam said, referring to the Kotel in Jerusalem. “But instead we took photos by the Great Wall.” Isaac’s mom, Marjie, who arranged the whole trip, added that “Israel certainly has a big role in our life, and I go there at least once a year. But this trip can show our kids the rising superpower of the future, and show them that there is community everywhere.”

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Beijing blues skies to cheer up Israeli athletes

By Alison Klayman · August 15, 2008

With sailing competitions in Qingdao up and running today after being postponed due to insufficient wind, Israel’s Olympic delegation has something to be happy about again. Already at the time of this blogging, Israeli sailing duo Nike Kornecky and Vered Bouskila had moved up to third place in the rankings for the Women’s 470 event, and Shahar Zubari is still ranked first in the Men’s Windsurfer competition.

By comparison, Israeli athletes in Beijing (aside from Alex Shatilov who just barely qualified for the Men’s Floor event in Gymnastics) have been continually eliminated from their competitions, including medal hopefuls like Men’s Tennis Doubles pair Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich.

At least today in Beijing there are clear skies to pick up their spirits. Yes, that’s right. Look at this picture of my office taken Friday, August 15 around 1pm.
[caption id="attachment_1354" align="alignleft" width="225" caption="See, there are beautiful Beijing days."][/caption]

This is where I work for the official Beijing Olympic website (en.beijing2008.com). Not only are the skies blue and clouds distinguishable, but this is one of those rare days where you can see all the way to the hills that surround the city, hills that are normally veiled with smog.
[caption id="attachment_1355" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Most days I don\’t know these hills are there."][/caption]

The reason for this beautiful weather is three nights and one day of pouring rain in the Chinese capital. The older Chinese translator who sits at the computer next to mine, Mr. Bai, says this year saw an abnormal amount of rainfall for the normally dry city. I asked if it was because of the government’s cloud-seeding program, and he replied that it is sometimes, but the authorities also exaggerate their abilities. He thinks it’s a shame that that every time it rains, Beijingers now wonder whether it’s natural or manufactured.

Either way, the rain worked to clean the skies, and air, for tourists and competitors alike. How convenient that this improvement comes on the first day of the Athletics events…

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Israeli Shooting

By Alison Klayman · August 15, 2008

This post’s title might be alarmist considering I am blogging about Olympic competition, not an act of violence. Still, I find myself just a bit alarmed that Israeli shooters are not the sharpest in the world.

I think Jews, outside of Israel at least, like to mythologize the IDF and Israeli military prowess. Yet off the battlefield today, the Ukraine (gold), United States (silver) and Norway (bronze) showed they can wield a rifle better.

Then again, does the IDF even use rifles?

Israelis Guy Starik and Gil Simkovich both competed in the Men’s 50m Rifle Prone qualification round, but neither finished in the top eight to reach the final.

Starik came in 12th with a score of 594, while Simkovich came in 22nd at 592 (many competitors tied with the same scores). Starik improved upon his Athens finish of 16th, and is one of two Israelis to be competing in his fourth Olympics.

Simkovich will also participate in the Men’s 50m Rifle 50m 3 Positions event on August 17, joined by fellow Israeli Doron Egozi, who already competed in the Men’s 10m Air Rifle Qualification and finished 41st in the qualification round.

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Basketball’s Blatt

By Alison Klayman · August 14, 2008

During the first week of the Beijing Games, the media focused on the Iranian swimmer who skipped a race with an Israeli in the next lane, but not enough attention was paid to the historic handshakes that the entire men’s basketball team of Iran gave to a dual citizen American-Israeli Jew.

That Jew was David Blatt, the head coach of the Russian national men’s basketball team.

(And I bet you didn’t know the head coach of the Russian team was Jewish, either.)

The Boston-born Blatt played basketball at Princeton University from 1977-1981, and participated in the Maccabiah Games as part of the 1981 gold medal USA national team.

After his Maccabiah victory, Blatt began his Israeli hoops career, playing for teams including Maccabi Haifa and Hapoel Jerusalem.  Blatt made his coaching mark with Maccabi Tel Aviv.  Blatt was at times this team’s assistant and head coach, and took Maccabi to win European championships in 2003–04 and 2004–05.

In 2004 he moved to Russia and signed as head coach with Dynamo St. Petersburg. During this year he won the FIBA EuroCup with Dynamo and also the title of “Coach of the Year in Russia.” In the summer of 2006 he was also appointed head coach of the Russian National team, who he led to a European championship win in the 2007 Eurobasket.

“Can you imagine — an American Jewish Israeli?” Blatt said in an interview with a Princeton publication about being offered the national team coaching job

“I was amazed. The Russian team had had an unsuccessful European campaign. They were looking for somebody who could bring some new ideas, and I had had a really good season coaching in St. Petersburg. But I’m sure it was shocking for so many people on both sides of the old Iron Curtain…Forget about the basketball aspect — all I could think about was [Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev] ... saying, ‘We will bury you!’”

Blatt was the head coach of the Istanbul-based Turkish team Efes Pilsen, but parted ways with the team this April. Recently Blatt agreed to become the head coach of Dynamo Moscow, though ESPN talks about him eventually moving up to the NBA.

With dual-citizenship it is hard to tell if Blatt is American or Israeli, and some articles even refer to him as a European with all the coaching he has done in Italy, Turkey and Russia. For the 2008 Games, I found him listed in the Olympic News Service as Israeli.

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Lezak eyes a solo on podium

By Marc Brodsky · August 13, 2008

Jewish Olympian Jason Lezak surely has made his mark on U.S. Olympic swimming relay teams, notably with his unfathomable dash in the final 50 meters on Monday to lift the 4x100 men’s freestyle foursome to the gold medal in Beijing and a new world record.

Now Lezak, at 32 the oldest male swimmer ever to qualify for an Olympic team, may have his last shot to earn the individual honors he so craves. The American record holder in the 100 free finished sixth in Wednesday’s semifinals to qualify for the night’s finals.

In his three Olympic Games, Lezak has five medals, including three golds with the one he acquired in his remarkable anchor leg in the Water Cube, but none individually. And while he talked in an interview with JTA a week before the Games about being a “team-type player” and the “amazing feeling” of winning medals in the relays, the Californian savors the chance at redemption in the individual 100 free. He failed to qualify for the finals at the 2004 Games in Athens.

“I took the preliminaries too lightly,” he told me in a phone interview. “I was thinking about how many races I had to swim and I saved too much energy.” Lezak says he learned “a horrible lesson” from Athens, but that it sparked him to keep going for China and “that he had unfinished business.”

His improbable surge in the 4x100 – overtaking the favored French and their one-time world record holder Alain Bernard – helped Michael Phelps in his historic pursuit of eight golds in Beijing. And Lezak will have a tough road to the top of the medal podium against the likes of Bernard, who recaptured the world record in one semifinal, only to see it snatched in the other by the Australian Eamon Sullivan. (Another American Jewish swimmer, Garrett Weber-Gale, did not qualify for the finals.)

In our interview, Lezak said, “To do something on your own feels pretty good. I have a lot to prove to myself. I know I’m capable, I just haven’t done it yet.”

Can he do it tonight? Certainly his anchor leg in the relay shows that anything is possible.

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Bad bounces in Beijing

By Marc Brodsky · August 13, 2008

Shahar Peer in action on Jan. 21, 2008, when she was part of a doubles team that advanced to the Australian Open quarterfinals.

Israeli tennis stars Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich didn’t bring their Melbourne magic to Beijing. In fact, the Olympics have turned out to be a major disappointment on the courts for the entire Israeli tennis contingent, which had high expectations for China.

Ram and Erlich, strong contenders for a medal, had fired up Israel in January by winning the Australian Open men’s doubles in January – the Jewish state’s first Grand Slam title. No doubt the veteran French tandem they defeated that day in a tough two-setter recalled that loss this week, when they exacted revenge Tuesday in the first round of the Olympics. Unseeded Arnaud Clement and Llodra Michael knocked off the third-seeded Israelis, 6-4, 6-4.

On the women’s side, 24th-seeded Shahar Peer may have been thinking medal, too, especially with such highly ranked players as Maria Sharapova and Lindsay Davenport sidelined by injuries. Peer, 21, who gained much attention playing in the Qatar Open in February, won her first-round match Monday before falling in the second round the next day.

She did go down fighting: It took Russia’s Vera Zvonareva one hour, 11 minutes to win the second set, 7-6, after taking the opener, 6-3.

So, too, did Israel’s other women’s singles performer, Tzipora Obziler. She dropped a grueling three-hour affair to Mariya Koryttseva of Ukraine, 5-7, 7-5, 6-4, on Tuesday. The deciding set lasted one hour, 6 minutes. That same evening, Obziler and Peer fell in straight sets in their doubles match.

Peer, who last year became the first Israeli woman to reach the U.S. Open quarterfinals, should be back for another shot in 2012 in London. But Ram and Erlich may not return, as both will be in their 30s for the next Summer Games.

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