Hi,

Myself and several other fans from Glasgow, UK, are coming over in February for the Hapoel v Rangers UEFA Cup game. We would be very grateful for any information on where to go (bars/clubs etc) and where to avoid.

Also any miscellaneous information on Hapoel itself would be great as we dont really get to hear much about Israeli football in the UK.

Thanks for your time.

Unfortunately, the official club site (www.hapoelta.com)is in Hebrew only. However, you should get some unofficial English site hits by Googling.

Try the ThornTree forum, Middle East branch. Or send a pm to 'Avish'. He knows everything there is to know about soccer in Israel :) http://thorntree.lonelyplanet.com/

If you check the Glasgow Rangers fans, you will see that they are prone to Nazi Salutes and bigotted behaviour. There is actually pictures of the Nazi flag flying over their stadium. They are animals -- be afraid -- be very afraid.

Send them to Molly Bloom's Irish pub in Tel Aviv -- home of the Tel Aviv CSC.

I hope that every sensible person on here ignores that last statement from a neanderthal based in NY.
Rangers fans dont do Nazi Salutes (there have been idiots in the past who were into that crap, no excuse for that) but the salute that you see many fans doing (a dying thing in itself) is a salute to the monarchy. I personally dont like it because many people do associate it with Nazis. With regards to the Nazi flag over our ground, this was in the 1930's and the flag was the official flag of Germany at the time and we were playing a German Team so the flag had to be flown (as much as it was a disgusting thing)
As for Rangers fans themselves, we are one of the most pro-israeli teams in the world. You will see that when we come to Israel with the amount of Israel flags in the Rangers supporters section. Celtic fans on the other hand wave palestinian flags and in the past supported the PLO whom had links to the IRA who indeed bombed our country in much the same way as your country is blighted by terrorists. Indeed, our last match with Maccabi Haifa was disrupted by a Celtic fan who invaded the park to protest against the "occupation" by waving a Palestinian flag. He was promptly arrested and was lucky to get out alive from the stadium as several thousand Rangers fans were not impressed by him (or by his provacative t-shirt of the Pope specifically designed to annoy fans)
Many thanks for all your help and I look forward to visiting your country and meeting your people. I do apologise for this rant but I wouldn't want you getting the wrong impression of our fans.

I also forgot to point out that when I said we (with regards to the Game against Germany at Ibrox where the nazi flag was flown), I meant Scotland, as this was an International match. (the other flag flown was the Union Flag).

Well, there are many many places so its hard to say. How long are you going to be here?
I would reccomend going to a club one night and to a bar the other.
There are different areas in the city with clubs and bars. For bars I would say you should go to LILEBNLUM St - it's packed with them, and for clubs you need to check which ones have parties when you're here..

There is one site that has all this info in english, I use the hebrew version of it-
http://www.telavivcity.com/eng

Enjoy and if you have any more questions then ask

Remind me, when did the IRA place bombs in Scotland? I fear the answer is -- never. But if you are a servant of the colonial masters -- England -- then you might consider your self British -- I certainly do not.

Having just read this, I am absolutely disgusted by your attitude.

Whether you consider yourself to be be British or not, and I most certainly am proud to be both British and Scottish, you seem to be implying that by blowing up Ulster and England then that is ok as long as they didn't touch Scotland??

What about the many Scottish soldiers who were murdered by the cowardly IRA?? Abducted and killed for the fact they were serving THEIR country. Yes Britain is our country. Check your passport if you dont believe me. Or maybe you have a US passport now?? Your welcome to it if you have.

You also seem to forget that Scotland put much more into our Colonies than the other Home nations per head of population. Look at Indian history for example. This is a fact that we should be proud of, not slating. Not the fact the we serve our "colonial master" - That "master" is as much Scotland as it is England.

Sure. Please tell why in all of Scotland it is only
Rangers fans that pursue this relationship with England. I am no fan of terrorists, no matter their allegiance. Many working class Scots were duped into joining the army -- I have no issues with them just with the colonial masters who gave the orders. If you know your history, the people of India did not exactly welcome the British. Check out the Stern Gang, who blew up the King David hotel in Jerusalem -- killing many of the British High Command during the occupation of what was then called Palestine. Terrorists - yes - and they killed Brits -- but that is different as they were not Irish Kaffliks.
Having a British passport makes me no less Scottish -- as an Israeli passpoert held by an Arab does not not diminish his status as a Plestinian. Enjoy your stay in Israel -- I hope you get stuffed.

And furthermore, why is an image of the Pope on a T-shirt offensive?

I know about the hotel bombing in Israel and if you read your history it was minority group who inflicted this atrocity. Not all Jews were for this, although most wanted us out. (in pretty much the same way that not all Irish support the cowardly IRA).

How about and answer with regards to your view that its alright for the IRA to blow up England and Ulster as long as they dont touch Scotland then??

As for India, i know that within the population, we weren't exactly "flavour of the month". However, that doesn't alter the fact that there were many Scots amongst these "Colonial Masters". As for being duped into joining the army, get a grip! that must still be happening today then???

And, with regards to Rangers fans "relationship with England" then the majority of the Scottish electorate must all be Rangers fans in your view as we have rejected independence from the rest of the UK at numerous elections, by-elections etc etc etc etc (oh just to add something: not all Rangers fans support England you know! But we are proud to be British and we are proud to be Scottish (or does that make me less Scottish in your view??)

You are just another Sean Connery type who lives outside of Scotland but wants to change it. Try living here mate and paying your taxes etc

And as for the Pope T-Shirt that the Celtic fan was wearing. Why did he wear it? To antagonise the Rangers support. No other reason. and for that, and that alone, I find it offensive. In pretty much the same way that I find apartheid schooling (RC Schools) offensive.

Now, setlle down in your apartment in Manhattan or wherever, switch on Friends or American Football, open a bag of "chips" and think of what Scotland should be like in your short-sighted, neanderthal brain.

Here's to a stuffing!!
God bless the Union(300 years young) and god bless The Rangers.

PS - You may find other football fans from other clubs who support the union, ask your fellow Celtic fans who actually go to the games about hearts and airdrie waving Ulster and Union Flags for example

If you ever come to NYC visit the NYCSC at the Parlour -- home of the New York Celtic Supporters Club.

Or visit NYCeltic.com

OK OK RELAX PEPOLE
WELCOME TO ISRAEL
ENJOY THE GAME AND BE SURE
HAPOEL TEL AVIV WILL WIN
ANY WAY YOU HAVE HERE SO MANY PUBS AND BARS AND GOOD BEACH AND MUSIC .
ENJOY THE CITY AND BE SURE THAT YOU WILL COME BACK

GO HAPOEL TEL AVIVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVVV

Look guys,

I apologise for this. I am looking forward to visting Israel and all off you guys. Sorry you have seen the bad side of British football.

Cheers

Stu

No worries, I actually think that the interesting part of football is the association of teams with some political\social point of view. That's what makes it the passionate sport it is, unlike American sports which are just sort of entertainment...
As for Hapoel, the team originally was created by the labor union in Israel, and though it was privatized during the 90' it is still affiliated with the left wing of the political map.
However the fans are coming from the southern suburbs as well as the northern suburbs, which means kind of a mix of right and left. The north of Tel Aviv is the rich part, meaning people are more right wing when it comes to the economy, but tending more to the left when it comes to the Palestinian issue, the south is exactly the opposite (with exceptions of course...)
Hapoel has a tradition of always having some Arab player playing for them, much to the delight of the fans and constant target for abuse by the more right wing fans of other teams.
Expect a lot of red and the occasional communist signs, the fans are fanatics, tongue in cheek type, not of the violent type, so it should be fun.