Draw doesn't stop green party
Sunday March 27 2005
AN ISRAELI airport is not really the best place to be launching a career in comedy. But as a gaggle of Irish football fans stood in line last week at Ben Gurion airport, one of the foolish souls gave it a shot.
"What is the purpose of their visit to Israel?" asked an unsmiling immigration officer. The answer was cheeky but simple: "An international peace conference."
A reply like that normally guarantees a swift visit to jail. But Israeli immigration staff, who are certainly not renowned for their sense of humour, were given orders last week to cut the red tape, turn on the charm and make an extra effort to welcome the supporters.
So instead the Donegal man and his giggling friends got a stamp in their passports and a friendly word of warning from the officials: "Enjoy Israel but please, no more jokes like this."
Operation Green Invasion, launched with military precision by Tel Aviv city council, reached a climax last night as more than 4,000 Irish fans poured into the Ramat Gan national stadium to see Ireland draw 1-1 with Israel. There was an air of inevitability about Abas Suan's injury-time equaliser, but it did not matter Irish fans launched a late night assault on the Tel Aviv bars.
In a city with virtually no international tourism, officials have used the game as a golden marketing opportunity to sell Israel as a destination.
"This is the biggest group of visitors from any country to visit Israel in more than 30 years. We've never had anything like this in the history of Israeli football and we saw this as an opportunity to target a new market," said Kobby Barda, of the Tel Aviv Tourist Association.
And the warmth of the Israeli welcome has been truly remarkable with Irish fans receiving almost constant attention from curious locals, newspapers and TV stations as they swarm all over Tel Aviv, a city the size of Cork.
Irish flags fluttered in the breeze all along Tel Aviv's sparkling seafront yesterday as fans mingled with locals celebrating the Jewish festival of Purim - a feast day when Israelis dress up in costume and have, as one local put it, two drinks instead of the usual one.
Everywhere one looked yesterday there were throngs of green shirts enjoying the spring sunshine and a first trip to the Middle East.
More than 10,000 fans and locals filled the Hayarkon Park for an Israeli/Irish party, which organisers moved from the original venue of Tel Aviv port on Friday because so many people wanted to come.
At the refurbished Mike's Place it was business as usual - just a month after a suicide bomber killed five people in the bar. Last night it reverberated to the sounds of the Fields of Athenry sung by an Israeli folk band. "Truly bizarre but truly fantastic," was the verdict of one fan from Dublin.
If there was any nervousness, it came from the highly visible sight of armed guards standing outside bars wherever there was a green shirt. "It's sad to see but at least we're being protected," said Larry Sheridan, who had flown in from Bahrain.
The leading Israeli newspaper Haaretz reserved the front page on Friday for an editorial calling Irish fans "soldiers in the best army of fans in the world and a record to prove it".
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in Tel Aviv
