EDITORIAL: Football’s flag flap exposes the complexities of Jewish identities

The Jewish community is justifiably proud of young AFL recruit Harry Sheezel but are Israeli flags the best way to show it?

The Jewish people, the State of Israel, and the North Melbourne Football Club share team colours.

Blue and white has had a meaning for Jews since Biblical times, originating in the practice described in the shema, our holiest prayer, of attaching a thread of blue to the fringes of (typically white) garments as a reminder of the commandments.

Israel’s colours and symbols derive directly from Jewish tradition. The flag combines the Star of David and the tallit, the prayer shawl which developed from the Biblical fringed garments.

The choice of colours for North Melbourne is more obscure but it has been suggested that it, too, has a religious origin. The club had an early association with St Mary’s Anglican Church, and Mary is traditionally depicted with a blue veil and white robe – a colour scheme which may itself derive from the Jewish origins of Christianity.

The chromatic confluence must have made it seem natural for some supporters of young Jewish player Harry Sheezel to illustrate their loyalties with clearly home-made blue and white Israeli flags when he played his debut game for North Melbourne last weekend.

Aesthetically, the combination was certainly effective and the communal support for Sheezel was strongly articulated by the flag, as it was by a sign reading “Mazel tov Harry”.

But the appearance of the flag prompted at least one complaint and, in a kneejerk response, AFL security lead Alistair Meldrum wrote an email opining that the AFL should not have permitted the flag at the game.

The AFL promptly repudiated opposition to the flags, releasing a statement on Wednesday saying it had “no issue with the flag and signs supporting North Melbourne’s Harry Sheezel on the weekend”.