The role of hate songs among Israeli Maccabi Tel Aviv football fans the entrapping loop of hatred

Chants add color and atmosphere to football (aka US soccer) games and constitute an integral part of the spectator experience. However, chanting cheers for a favorite football team and fans or hate songs against opposing teams and fans may play a more significant role in the football scene than providing mere entertainment. The current phenomenological study focuses on the perception, meaning, and mechanisms of hate songs in football games as seen through the eyes of nine Israeli football fans. Analysis of semi-structured interviews shows that, while in the stadium, participants identified with the atmosphere of hegemonic masculinity that emphasized chauvinism and patrilineal transmission ("father-to-son") of racist views and dehumanization of rival fans and players. Participants rationalized the collective values expressed in the hate songs by applying techniques to neutralize their feelings of guilt. The findings point to intergenerational transmission of actual hatred through hate songs, whereby fathers serve as role models for continuing this legacy. Finally, the chapter's original conception, the entrapping loop of hatred, reflects the mechanisms involved in creating hatred that is passed down from one generation to the next.