Kyrie Irving's keffiyeh, the media's indifference

After Saturday's game against the Milwaukee Bucks, Dallas Mavericks point guard Kyrie Irving wore a keffiyeh to the postgame interview. According to this Outkick article, "a 'keffiyeh' is an Arab symbol of resistance and solidarity, and is popular in Palestine." Outkick also reported that "the Mavericks superstar confirmed that he converted to Islam in 2021, so the keffiyeh simply could’ve been a way he chose to identify with his religion." Given all that's happening in Gaza, though, and the NBA's reputation for being attracted the world's worst despots, it's most likely that Irving wanted to make a point. The weird thing is that "no reporter asked him the motive behind his choice."

The Outkick article continues, saying "While wearing a keffiyeh doesn’t automatically make you anti-Semitic, it’s certainly suspicious given Irving’s past with this issue." That's obviously true but it's equally true that Irving isn't a stranger to stirring up this type of controversy:

Within the past year, Irving has created controversy by sharing content that was deemed anti-Semitic. In November of 2022, Irving retweeted a link to a documentary that spread "false (anti-Semitic) statements, narratives and language that were untrue and offensive to the Jewish Race/Religion."
Irving's keffiyeh
Despite this being a 4+ minute interview, nobody thought it was worthwhile to ask about the keffiyeh:

The NBA is definitely one of the world's worst actors. Despite that, the NBA has done whatever China has instructed them to do. Hamas definitely is one of the worst terrorist organizations in the world. They attacked Israel unprovoked on Oct. 7, 2023 in what I'm calling the October 7 Massacre. Shortly thereafter, the Palestinian community in the U.S. started blaming the attack on Israel's "56-year occupation of Palestine." The famous 6-Day War started in 1967. Further, Oct. 7, 2023 was the fiftieth anniversary of the start of the Yom Kippur war. That war ended in defeat for the Arabs, too. Apparently, liberal sports reporters aren't that schooled in history.

It's obvious that the NBA isn't worried that they're turning off fans by being political. I suspect that the NBA's thinking is that they'll gain worldwide what it loses in the U.S. It's a shame they haven't figured it out that the U.S. initially game them the platform for their activism. That's their decision, though. Perhaps that's why the NBA's ratings have dropped precipitously since the magic years of Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Tim Walz's Confederate Flag Fiasco

Image
After Minnesota's Democrats shoved the most controversial progressive legislation down Minnesotans' throats, gossip started popping up about Gov. Walz being interested in running for president . That's died off but Gov. Walz is still making headlines, this time for all the wrong reasons. First, Gov. Walz isn't the brightest bulb in the chandelier. Still, Gov. Walz is fighting against Minnesota's history. This Alpha News article quotes David Hann, the chairman of Minnesota's Republican Party, as saying " The flag the DFL has eliminated was a version of the historic flag our regiments fought under during the Civil War. Minnesota was the first state to offer troops to the Union cause in 1861 , beginning a long tradition of leading the nation in confronting injustice. The DFL quest to erase our history is repugnant and should be rejected." Gov. Walz, though, sees things differently. He's quoted as saying "Minnesota is a diverse state, it continue...
Read more

What is Kamala Harris afraid of?

Image
Apparently, Kamala Harris suddenly loves debating. Let me rephrase that. Harris loves debating as long as the moderators are partisan hacks. She wants nothing to do with a debate moderated by Fox's Bret Baier and Martha MacCallum. She's afraid of Bret and Martha because a) they'll either fact-check both her and Trump or they won't fact-check either of them and b) Bret and Martha aren't afraid of asking follow-up questions. To a candidate whose answers are scripted and who isn't quick on her feet, the last thing you want is a follow-up question. Kamala fears follow-up questions like vampires hate wooden stakes, sunlight and holy water. Why has Kamala Harris avoided Fox News like the plague? The moderators/propagandists fact-checked Donald Trump aggressively but didn't fact-check Harris . Why didn't David Muir and Linsey Davis fact-check both candidates equally? Is it because Harris doesn't like fair fights? Perhaps she's just afraid of getting exp...
Read more

Why is Joe Biden letting Hamas off the hook?

Image
It isn't disputable whether Joe Biden's administration is letting Hamas off the hook. That issue was settled months ago, when a spineless Joe Biden caved to activists interested in saving Hamas and thwarting the Israelis' attempt to defend themselves. Gerard Baker's op-ed highlights what's at stake for the U.S. if the terrorists are permitted to survive. In his op-ed, Baker wrote "If, under the pressure of internal Democratic politics and global public opinion, the Biden administration forces a 'cease-fire' that leaves our closest ally in the region short of victory over an enemy that seeks to destroy it, sooner or later we shall all pay the price." It's time to revisit George W. Bush's speech to a joint session of Congress on Sept. 20, 2001. It's required that we remind ourselves of one of its most important paragraphs. In talking about who committed the atrocities of 9/11, President Bush identified al-Qa'ida as "a collectio...
Read more