Previous chapters focused on the contest over different potential interpretations of Arab success in Israeli soccer. This contest is based on a consensus which legitimizes the participation itself: since the dismantling of the independent Arab soccer teams in the 1960s the integration of Arab teams and players in the Israeli soccer institutions has not been seriously challenged. The exception to this rule is the separate and autonomous Islamic League, established by the Islamic Movement in Israel, which offers a unique strategy for dealing with soccer. This uniqueness is valid both in reference to the treatment of soccer by other Arab political forces in Israel and in reference to the treatment of other “Western” cultural formations by the Islamic Movement. This exceptionality stems from the tension between the suspicion of soccer as a secularizing sphere and recognition of its overwhelming popularity. This tension is solved by containing the game and placing it under the strict supervision of religious leaders.

Sports and religious fundamentalism

The Islamic Movement in Israel is part of a wider regional and global phenomenon which is referred to in the academic literature as “Islamism,” “political Islam,” “reformist movements,” “Islamic revivalism,” “integrisme” or “Islamic fundamentalism.” The long and tedious terminological debate cannot be discussed here. It is noteworthy, however, that whenever a comparative argument is required in this chapter I will use the term “fundamentalism,” since, although it is imperfect and problematic (Benin and Stork 1996), most of the comparative studies of Islamist movements and similar movements in other religions have used this term.