ImageCredit... Maccabi Bnei ReinehIn 2018, Jamil Bsoul, Said’s uncle, was elected mayor of Reineh, and arranged some modest municipal funding to the club. “Football is about togetherness, ” Jamil Bsoul said. He encouraged local youths to establish an “ultras” club; it now counts about 350 people as members. “We have the best fans in the country, ” Said Bsoul said, claiming that “they are always positive and don’t even curse.
A Soccer Team’s Success Puts Its Small Arab Village on the MapEstablished in 2016, Maccabi Bnei Reineh is the talk of Israel’s top division after completing a quick rise. Its founders say its presence represents something far more important. Credit... Maccabi Bnei ReinehREINEH, Israel — Jamil Bsoul is smiling. The mayor has clearly delivered this line before. But after all that his community’s soccer club has achieved, and in such a short time, that is what makes it fun.