Brothers+ Perhaps Colin Powell should take up soccer. An Arab coach of an Israeli team says, "All the politicians talk of peace, but I have beaten them all, Sharon and Arafat, I have beaten them all. "Look at all the love shown here: Christians, Muslims, Druze, Jews, hugging and kissing, this is the way it should be in our country." Have a look at the http://www.haaretz.com/ article in regard to soccer. Charles+ ------------------------------------- http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/pages/ShArt.jhtml?itemNo=296473&contrassID=2&subContrassID=6&sbSubContrassID=0&listSrc=Y Nazareth reaches the promised land with one game to spare By Ori Lewis Maccabi Ahi Nazareth gained promotion to the Premier League on Friday with one game to spare, becoming the second club from the Arab sector ever to make it to the top flight. Nazareth broke into rapturous celebrations after the team's 1-0 win over Maccabi Kafr Kana. Nazareth's coach Azmi Nassar ripped off his shirt and was speechless for several minutes after the match ended at the team's small stadium in the nearby lower Galilee village of Ilut. After regaining his breath he said: "All the politicians talk of peace, but I have beaten them all, Sharon and Arafat, I have beaten them all. "Look at all the love shown here: Christians, Muslims, Druze, Jews, hugging and kissing, this is the way it should be in our country." Nassar then clambered onto the roof of his team's dugout together with other players, before climbing onto the perimeter fence to join in the chanting of Nazareth's 4,000 ecstatic supporters. After the game the Nazareth fans descended on the city as thousands more Nazareth residents went out on to the streets to celebrate the local team's promotion. Saba Leon, a Christian priest caught outside among the fans, joined in the celebrations. "Nazareth is more united than it has ever been, Muslims and Christians together," Leon said as onlooker showered the revelers with sweets and rice from their balconies. Nassar also registered a bit of personal history by becoming the first Arab coach to lead a team to Israel's top division. Nazareth's promotion follows that of Hapoel Taibeh, which played for one season in the Israeli top division in the 1996-97 season. Taibeh's promotion proved disastrous, however, and the high cost of maintaining their team has seen it go into free fall. They have just been relegated from the fourth division where they finished bottom. Ahi Nazareth chairman Askandar Hadad promised Friday that the club would do everything possible to stay in the Premier League. Nazareth has a three-point lead at the top of the standings with 59, ahead of Hapoel Jerusalem (56), and Maccabi Herzliya and Bnei Sakhnin (55), all of which are vying for the second promotion spot that will be decided on Friday. ____________________________________________________________ Get advanced SPAM filtering on Webmail or POP Mail ... Get Lycos Mail! http://login.mail.lycos.com/r/referral?aid=27005