Tablet Magazine » Shahar Pe’er

Sundown: Huck in the Holy Land

Marc Tracy — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 22:29:01 +0000

• Your top weekend reading assignment is Ben Smith’s fabulous profile of former Gov. Mike Huckabee’s relationship with Israel. [Politico]

• Rabbi Balkany gets four years. He had requested two; the government wanted nine. [Bloomberg/Failed Messiah]

• “CASE OF THE JEWISH TALIBAN” is a somewhat misleading but nonetheless great headline. [The Daily]

• Aaron David Miller gives the Obama administration pretty positive marks for its handling of the events in Egypt and elsewhere in the region. [Politico]

• Helen Thomas apologizes for past remarks. And by apologizes for them, I mean completely stands by them. [CNN]

• Israeli tennis star Shahar Peer lost in the Dubai tournament’s quarterfinals to even bigger Danish star Caroline Wozniacki. [Kaplan’s Korner]

New Radiohead album!

Pe’er Back in Dubai For Tennis Tourney

Marc Tracy — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 18:04:10 +0000

Ron Kaplan reports that tennis player Shahar Pe’er (currently world-ranked number 11, the highest-ever for an Israeli), who became a cause célèbre when she was banned in 2009 from playing in the annual Dubai tournament, is back in the U.A.E. city—which got the message after Venus Williams threatened to boycott and allowed Pe’er to compete last year and this—and has won her first singles and doubles matches.

Last year in Dubai, Pe’er defeated Danish superstar Caroline Wozniacki—then the world’s top-ranked player, currently the world’s second-ranked, and once again competing in Dubai—prompting a, er, cheeky tweet (later deleted) from Israel’s British Embassy: “You heard it here first: Israeli tennis player carries out hit on #Dubai target.” Here’s hoping for similar success—on the court—this year.

Israeli Tennis Star Back in Dubai [Kaplan’s Korner]
Related: Israeli Embassy Deletes Joke About Dubai ‘Hit’ From Twitter [The Lede]
Earlier: Israeli Tennis Star Ready for Flushing Meadows

Israeli Tennis Star Ready for Flushing Meadows

Allison Hoffman — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:15:15 +0000

Israeli tennis star Shahar Pe’er is makes her opening appearance at this year’s U.S. Open tomorrow, facing off against Hungarian player Agnes Szavay. Pe’er told Tablet Magazine in an email that she’s hoping to regain her footing after a season interrupted by political distractions.

Earlier this year, Pe’er found herself turned into a cause célèbre when she was denied a visa to play at a Barclays-sponsored tournament in Dubai just a couple of weeks after a cease-fire was declared in Gaza, allegedly over concerns for Pe’er’s own security. Venus Williams, who won the women’s side, publicly—though gently—criticized the tournament organizers for allowing Pe’er to be excluded, earning herself plaudits from the Anti-Defamation League, and American star Andy Roddick declined to defend his 2008 men’s title. “The Dubai issue was an important point in my life and career,” wrote Pe’er, who arrived in New York last week after being knocked out of the Rogers Cup in Toronto. “This incident has hurt me both personally and professionally—I was in a good run before Dubai and I was really looking forward to that tournament.” She said she wants to make sure that no other athlete from any other country ever has to face similar exclusion, but her more immediate concern is working her way back up from her current 63rd rank. “In past years—not last year—I did very well here, so good memories are something I love coming back to,” Pe’er said.

Meantime, she’s working overtime, appearing in an American Express-sponsored “rally experience” video game that fans can play on their cellphones. And she’s counting on the New York fans. “I always get a lot of support here from the crowd,” she said, “which I really love.”

Shahar Peer [U.S. Open Official Web Site]