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Two U.S. Jewish leaders help Dubai mitigate tennis controversy

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Message: If you are having trouble reading this email, you may view this article online at: http://www.jweekly.com/37318/full/37318/two-u.s.-jewish-leaders-help-dubai-mitigate-tennis-controversy/ Two U.S. Jewish leaders help Dubai mitigate tennis controversy Thursday, February 26, 2009 | by ron kampeas washington | Two U.S. Jewish leaders reached out to officials in the United Arab Emirates after the Persian Gulf nation banned an Israeli tennis player from its tournament and were successful in convincing it to grant a visa to 11th-ranked doubles player Andy Ram. “If you engage in a dialogue with the right leadership, you can have a positive result,” said Jack Rosen, the chairman of the American Jewish Congress who travels frequently to Muslim countries to promote closer ties to U.S. Jews and to Israe Rosen and Rep. Anthony Weiner (D-N.Y.) each described their separate roles in getting the UAE to grant the visa permitting Ram to play in the Barclay Dubai Tennis Championships Feb. 25 to March 9, days after Israel’s Shahar Peer, the world’s 45th-ranked women’s singles player, was denied entry into the women’s portion of the same tournament. Insiders say the White House had a role in pressing the UAE to relent and admit Ram. Upon learning of the Peer rebuff, Weiner said he called the oil-rich nation’s envoy to Washington, Yousef Al Otaiba. Weiner says he wanted al-Otaiba to explain what so clearly was, to the congressman’s understanding, “a mistake.” “We went back and forth about Dubai having commendably created a moderate image for itself,” Weiner said Feb. 19. “Eventually the ambassador called me [Feb. 17] and said ‘We’re going to admit Ram.’ “I told him it wasn’t perfect. But at the end of the day, I said Dubai did the right thing.” <div class="capDivLeft" style="width: 360px;"><img alt="USjta dubai" class="left" height="286" src="/images/uploads/z_photos_2009/zp02_27_09/USjta dubai.jpg" title="Israel tennis star Shahar Peer returns a volley. photo/jta/brian hendler" width="360" /> <div class="caption">Israel tennis star Shahar Peer returns a volley. photo/jta/brian hendler</div> </div> In a statement, Weiner said, “Even in times of conflict, sports should be a vehicle for celebrating our common ideals and not another device to divide us. Hopefully this is the last time that this lesson has to be taught. I commend the ambassador for his understanding and desire to do the right thing. Now, let’s watch the players play.” Rosen separately called his old friend Sheik Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, who is the prime minister of the UAE and emir of Dubai, according to sources. Just months ago, Rosen attended the wedding of one of the sheik’s eight sons, the sources said. Rosen, a wireless and real estate magnate, said only that he had reached out to “someone from the diplomatic corps” in the UAE. “I expressed my concern and suggested to them they ought to change their mind, and I thought that this was an opportunity for them to take a leadership role and change the public discourse,” Rosen said. As for Ram, who was urged by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert to boycott the tournament, his stay in Dubai was brief. He and Kevin Ullyett of Zimbabwe, the No. 4–seeded doubles team, were beaten in their first-round match Feb. 25 by Russia’s Marat Safin and Spain’s David Ferrer, 6-3, 2-6, 10-8. The match was played under tight security, with spectators having to leave their belongings outside and walk through metal detectors upon entering the seating area. Meanwhile, Andy Roddick, the men’s defending champion and No. 6–ranked player in the world, did skip the tournament, citing the Peer situation. “I just don’t feel like there’s a need for that in a sporting event,” Roddick said. And Venus Williams, who won the women’s tournament, used her remarks in the winner’s circle Feb. 21 to express regret over Peer’s absence. It was “a shame that one of our players couldn’t be here,” Williams said. In explaining the decision to deny Peer a visa, UAE officials had cited concerns for her safety, saying her presence would enrage fans upset over Israeli actions in Gaza. The Tennis Channel canceled its broadcast of the women’s tournament in protest. The Women’s Tennis Association fined tournament organizers a record $300,000. A portion of the money reportedly will go to Peer and doubles partner Anna-Lena Groenefeld of Germany, according to the French news agency AFP. The WTA is still considering the removal of the Dubai tournament from its calendar next year. Meanwhile, a men’s Davis Cup match between Sweden and Israel scheduled for next week in Malmo, Sweden, will go ahead without spectators after an attempt to move the venue to Stockholm fell through. Tournament organizers cited security concerns for the closed-door policy because anti-Israeli demonstrations are expected during the best-of-five series March 6 through 8. Malmo, Sweden’s third largest city, has a left-leaning local government and a large Muslim minority. Its leaders have strongly criticized Israel over the Gaza invasion, and some have called for the Davis Cup match to be dropped altogether. The capital city of Stockholm, which has a center-right majority that is more pro-Israeli, offered to step in as a safer, alternative venue, but the idea was dropped when Stockholm officials realized they couldn’t get organized in time for the Israeli team’s arrival on Sunday, March 1. “If local authorities decide to prevent spectators from attending, what can I say?” Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said. “We leave it to local security authorities to do what they think is best.”

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