The Most Die-Hard Alabama Football Fan Is a Palestinian in Jerusalem
Sometimes you find a small slice of home where you least expect it. (All Photos: Jo Piazza)
Hani Imam proudly showed me his phone. On the screen was an alert for the upcoming Tennessee Volunteers versus Alabama Crimson Tide college football match that afternoon. Imam’s phone marked the kick-off in Hebron time, seven time zones and 6,500 miles from Bryant-Denny Stadium in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
A piece of Americana in the middle of Old Jerusalem at the corner of David and Muristan streets.
Most shops in the labrynthian alleys of Old Jerusalem don’t have proper names. Stalls no bigger than closets, filled with precious stones from the Red Sea, frankincense, stars of David, wooden rosaries, rip-off Hard Rock Cafe t-shirts, Jewish prayer shawls and Holy Water, trip over one another down the dim and dank alleys of the musty old market.
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And so Imam’s shop is that much more of a surprise amid the monotony with its bright red sign declaring—Alabama the Heart of Dixie.
Imam’s shop is a one-stop shop for all kinds of Holy Land souvenirs.
Imam, an Arab-Israeli, might just be the most die-hard Crimson Tide football fan you will ever meet. “Roll Tide,” he chanted, pumping his fist into the air the first time I walked past him and did a double take at the word Alabama.
“Excuse me?” I said.
“Roll Tide!” he chanted event louder. “Come in. We have very many things you will like.”
Hani Imam was born here in the West Bank in 1965. His family, Palestinian Muslims, have lived in the area for more than 600 years. Imam landed at the University of Alabama on scholarship in the mid-eighties. While there he studied business administration and developed a very genuine and intense love of Alabama football.
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“I am the biggest Alabama fan there is,” Imam said with a furrowed brow that underscored the intensity of his passion. “I love my school. The locals ask me questions about what the words ‘Roll Tide’ means and I explain ‘this is a great university with one of the best football teams ever.’”
Imam will also cut you an excellent deal on a menorah.
Alabama won the national championship while Imam was living there and he fondly remembers legendary head coach Gene Stallings and the days when his team consistently trounced arch rival, Auburn.
When Imam returned to Jerusalem in 1994 he took over his dad’s business, this shop. Homesick for the American South, he renamed his new enterprise.
I had to ask if Imam ever receives any negative feedback from anyone else in the market.
He nodded solemnly.
Imam keeps several jerseys behind the counter for good luck.
“We get a lot of comments,” he said. “Especially from Auburn fans. They say they won’t shop here.” His smile then emerges. “But then they do. We’ve had visitors like Hall of Famer John Hannah and other former Alabama football players and the owner of the New England Patriots.”
The local merchants are amused by Imam’s devotion. They greet him not with a nod or a wave, but with a chant, “Roll Tide!”
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