Coming now into my fourth week of living in Madrid, I have already had the opportunity to watch several football matches in bars around the city, one of which included a Real Madrid game. One of the cultural shocks that I should have known to brace for is the passion Spaniards have for their football, a tradition that is amusing and even endearing...up to a certain point.
Recently, however, I was watching a match in a bar and behind me were to raging individuals against the Real Madrid who kept namecalling Portuguese football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo "gitano", which in English translates to "gypsy". The goal of this blog entry isn't to go into detail on the continued discrimination of the Roma community in Spain, or in Europe for that matter, but rather, the slurs brought my attention once again to the complacency of racist imagery and prejorative words during sports events in Spain.
You can hear it in the bars, like I did. You can see it in the hooliganists' antics on the bleachers as was the case in early 2008 when spectators donned in blackface at the Formula One Grand Prix in Barcelona and taunted British racer Lewis Hamilton with offensive banners and jeers or when they made monkey screeches for French football player Thierry Henry, along with other black players as they was on the field during a friendly game in Madrid in 2004.
You can, however, and most problematically at that, see racism at higher levels of authority-the exact positions who should be the first to dissuage these tense situations instigated by deep rifts of understanding about what constitutes even the thinnest veneer of political correctness.
For example, in 2004 Spanish national soccer coach Luis Aragones called French star Thierry Henry "that black shit" and was subsequently fined by his national federation, although Henry was left offended by the gravity of the retaliation, in the form of a 3,000 euro fine that the agrieved football player found "laughable".
A couple months back, I posted a torture video that got leaked clearly showing a member of the UAE ruling family, Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan (or SIN for short), committing heinous psychological and physical brutality to a poor Afghani merchant who he accused of stealing from him a measly 5,000 USD. These acts including firing bullets at his feet, RUNNING him over with a car, and beating him with a spiked stick. Now he claims he was drugged and thus he can't be held at fault for his actions, according to an article by the BBC. WTF!! Please tell me what drug causes people to become sadistic monsters? The UAE considers this a symbolic gesture, as his trial demonstrates that no one is above the law. All that this insult to justice proves is that courts are a mere farcical veneer of legality, justice and accountability and that if you are poor, you will get trampled on...literally. I wish the European Union would place a travel ban on him. In the words of Spiderman: with great power comes great responsibility. A member of the ruling family of the United Arab Emirates has been cleared of the torture of a business associate. Lawyers for Sheikh Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the president's brother, said the court ruled he had been drugged and so was "unaware of his actions". The incident came to light when a videotape was circulated showing the violent beating, said to have taken place in 2004. It was the first reported investigation of a UAE ruling family member. His lawyer, Habib al-Mulla, said the ruling had "clarified Sheikh Issa's position that he was a victim of conspiracy" over the torture of Mohammed Shah Poor. "At the same time, it's proven justice to Mohammed Shahpoor and it showed who were the actual people who were behind whole saga," Reuters quoted Mr al-Mulla as saying. He said the court had "accepted our defence that the sheikh was under the influence of drugs that left him unaware of his actions," the AFP news agency reported. The defence had previously claimed Sheikk Issa had been drugged by two men - American-Lebanese brothers Ghassan and Bassam Nabulsi - who recorded the beating in order to blackmail him. The Nabulsi brothers were sentenced in their absence to five years in prison for drugging Sheikh Hassan and fined 10,000 dirham ($2,723:£1,700). Three other men were sentenced to between one and three years for their role in the torture. 'Equality sign' The video, circulated last year, shows Sheikh Issa repeatedly beating Mr Poor, a grain merchant of Afghan origin, and running him over with a car. Several other men assist in the tape, including one in a uniform of the security forces. The incident came to light after US television network ABC broadcast clips of the tape, which was smuggled out of the UAE by a former business associate of Issa bin Zayed al-Nahyan. Reports say the merchant had lost a consignment of grain belonging to Sheikh Issa worth $5,000 (£3,300). He survived the abuse, but needed extensive hospital treatment. Mr al-Mulla said the fact the trial had taken place was "a sign that the UAE is showing that everyone in this country can be put in front of law and judged". The BBC's Christian Fraser in the region says the verdict will do little to satisfy those who have long criticised the Emirates abject human rights record. They will argue it proves once again that the extended royal family and those Emiratis in positions of power are often above the rule of law, says our correspondent. The UAE is a federation of seven wealthy emirates with substantial oil reserves and a large expatriate population. Each emirate is run by a ruling family and citizens are granted few political rights.
The video showed a man shooting the ground near the sitting victim
Most of Europe's Muslims want to live in mixed communities, not segregated neighbourhoods, a new report says. The work by the Open Society Institute (OSI), an independent think-tank, looked at the social integration of Muslims in 11 West European cities. It calls for improved efforts to tackle discrimination. Europe's Muslim population is expected to double by 2025 and could reach 40 million. But data on them is very limited, OSI says. The report says religious discrimination remains a critical barrier to their participation in European society, and the situation has worsened in recent years. The OSI says its aim is to promote tolerance and fairness. (for full article, click here)
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