Paris, 30 August 2024
Over the last 15 years, Dr Shimon Samuels, former Director for International Relations of the Wiesenthal Centre, has followed the attempts by the Palestine Football Association (PFA) to expel the Israel Football Association (IFA) from FIFA, the Federation International of Football Associations.
Time and again, he has alerted on spurious politicized claims to this effect, and asked FIFA delegates to limit Palestinian incitement to hatred in the stadiums, with supporters/hooligans shouting racist and antisemitic slogans such as “Hamas, Hamas, Jews to the Gas!”
Many countries with ongoing ethnic, religious or political conflicts, found the Palestinian demands to suspend Israel to be a dangerous precedent for themselves.
One would imagine that the long-time PFA President, Jibril Rajoub, who is also President of the Palestinian Olympic Committee, might have had some experience as a sportsman or a club administrator. Instead, before his current tenure, his expertise was limited to supporting terror operations, advising on how to carry out Intifada, and heading Arafat’s “Preventive Security Force”, known for quashing dissent and harassing political opponents, even with the use of torture.
Unsportsmanly, some years ago in Lausanne, during yet another debate on politics and football, he shook his fist in the face of Dr Samuels... who warned him, “Look up, we are on television”. Rajoub walked away cursing “filthy Zionist!”
This time round, the PFA President claims Israel had murdered up to 20 players in Gaza, with no proof whatsoever. Would football players be a credible and intentional objective in a war shaped by rocket barrages, ambushes and urban warfare? Were any of the Hamas terrorists also members of football clubs?
On the other hand, a rocket launched by Hezbollah in Northern Israel, close to the far tip of the Golan Heights, did kill 12 Druze children playing football. Hezbollah, the Houthis and Hamas are pretending to support the Palestinians, though at least 20% of their random rocket fire falls short on local civilians, kids and potential sport stars...
Israel’s national football team, which has also Arab-Muslim, Palestinian and Druze players, is part of the overly competitive UEFA, Union of European Football Associations.
We call on UEFA, its member-federations and the European national and local clubs to oppose Rajoub’s new attempt to sully “The Beautiful Game”. FIFA must not become the acronym of “Federation International for Football Antisemitism”.
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