There’s one football team in Israel that gets all the attention — and none of it is positive. Beitar Jerusalem fans proudly say theirs is “the most racist club on earth.” They’re probably right.

Beitar predates the state of Israel. It was founded by Jerusalem Jews in 1936, when the land was still under British rule. Since that time, and despite Palestinians making up 40 percent of Jerusalem’s population, not a single Arab player has worn their black-and-yellow kit. In On the Border, his terrific 2022 book on the history of the club, journalist Shaul Adar writes that Beitar “was forged as a right-wing club during the tumultuous years of the Jewish-Arab conflict,” charting the history of the strife in Jerusalem.

Beitar fans — especially ones associated with the group La Familia — have been involved in terrorist violence against Palestinians as well as against their own team’s players and owners. In the 2012–13 season, when Beitar fans protested the addition of two Muslim Chechen players to its squad, La Familia sent death threats to the captain. They later burned down the club’s training ground.