Palestinians Say 'No Way' To Joint Peace Soccer Match With Israel

A Spanish soccer club suggested a peace match whereby Israeli and Palestinian players would play together against Barcelona in a July soccer game in Tel Aviv.  The Palestinians said no way.

“I totally refuse a joint Israeli-Palestinian soccer game, because this means that we are normalizing with our enemies in Israel, and it is not just me who refuses this, all the Palestinian people do,” said Muhammad Siksik, a Palestinian resident in Gaza. “The reason for our [rejection] is because the Palestinian cause cannot be politicised through a sport game with Barcelona. I, as a Barcelona fan, refuse this proposal,” added another Gaza resident, Jawdat Ashour.

[snip]

The head of the Palestinian Football Association in Ramallah, Jibril Rajoub, said there were many obstacles standing in the way of the proposed game.

“For us sport is a tool for spreading love, stability and co-operation with all the world. But the possibility of playing a soccer game with Israeli participants in the absence of Israeli recognition of a national Palestinian sporting body, in accordance with the Olympic charter, and in the absence of recognizing the right of the Palestinian sporting body to practice sport, I think without achieving all this, playing this game will not be possible,” Rajoub told Reuters Television.

Full article here.

If they can't even entertain the idea of a 'peace' match, there's no way in hell there ever will be peace between Israel and Palestine.

"Occupy" The NFL, MLB and the NBA!

So, I admit, I don't care much about sports. I wouldn't know if the Seattle Mariners were football, baseball or basketball players. I do know, however, that most of those athletes are paid obscene amounts of money. 

Let's look at what the top 10 NFL players will get in 2011:

1.    Peyton Manning, Indianapolis Colts - $23 million.
2.    Sam Bradford, St. Louis Rams - $18.4 million
3.    Tom Brady, New England Patriots - $18 million
4.    Michael Vick, yes, that Michale Vick, Philadelphia Eagles - $15.9 million (bumped from $5.5 million in 2010, on a one year deal)
5.    Richard Seymour, Oakland Raiders - $15 million (with a 2 year $30 million extension)
6.    Elvis Dumervil, Denver Broncos - $14 million (with a 61 million extension from 2009, including an 8 million base plus a $6 million bonus this current season)
7.    Mark Sanchez, New York Jets - $13.5 million
8.    Gerald McCoy, Tampa Bay Buccaneers - $12.8 million (with a 5 year $63 million deal, including $12 million bonus this current season)
9.    Haloti Ngata, Baltimore Ravens - $12.5 million
10.  Paul Soliai, Miami Dolphins - $12.4 million

But they aren't the only ones making a killing. Other players in the NFL are profiting quite nicely, thank you very much.

Offensive linemen like Miami’s Jake Long ($11 million a year) and St. Louis’ Chris Long ($6 million) along with premium defensive backs like Denver’s Champ Bailey ($11.5 million), Philadelphia’s Nnamdi Asomucha ($12 million) and the Jets’ Darrelle Revis ($7 million following a holdout last season) certainly rake in their share of the riches.

But Peyton Manning's 23 million greenbacks per year can't compare to what MLB baseball player Albert Pujols just got to join the Los Angeles Angels: 254 million buck-a-roonies over 10 years. And Pujols' $25.4 million per annum pales in comparison to MLB's Alex Rodriquez of the New York Yankees and his whopping $32 million annual salary; followed closely by Vernon Wells of the L.A. Angels and his $26,642,857 million. But don't feel sorry for the others, plenty of Major League Baseball players are making well over $15 million per year for batting a ball with a bat.

With all those millions rolling in to their bank accounts, they definitely qualify as members of that  elite "1%"  club- you know, those nasty millionaires that the 99% Occupy Wall Street types love to vilify. So here's my proposition, why don't the Occupy Wall Street crowd (who obviously have nothing better to do), go 'occupy' the MLB, NFL, NBA, the owners, and all the players who deserve the disapproval. Go camp out at the stadiums and leave our parks alone.