Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Kick Israeli Apartheid Out of Football –

Andrew J Silvera | 27.07.2007 09:38 | Palestine | Repression | Social Struggles | London | World

On September 8th 2007, England is due to play Israel in a return UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier at the new Wembley Stadium. The PSC, with the support of the BIG and J-BIG campaigns and Friends of Al Aqsa, will hold a vigil by Wembley stadium on the 8th of September. For more information please visit the PSC website: www.palestinecampaign.org

Fair Play for the Palestinians

In the meantime we would like to ask you to take the following actions:

Sign and circulate the petition calling on UEFA, the FA and FIFA to suspend Israel from international football until it abides by international law. The petition is at  http://www.palestinecampaign.org/petition.asp?PetitionID=4 You can also download a hard copy from the PSC website

Write letters to FIFA (  contact@fifa.org ), the FA (  info@thefa.com ) and UEFA (  media@uefa.ch and  info@euro2008.com) and to ‘Kick Racism out of Football’ (  hermanouseley@aol.com ) calling for the Israeli team, who represent a racist state to be suspended from international fixtures until it complies with international law. Please use the points below for you letters.

Write to the national and local media, about this and explain why we are asking for the Israeli team to be suspended. Please consider intervening on radio and online forums to promote this campaign, as well as all sports media.

Write to you local football clubs, fan clubs and club fanzines etc. to ask for support and to explain the issues below.


Here are some suggestions for letters from members to the FA, UEFA and FIFA:

Dear

On September 8th, England is due to play Israel in a return UEFA Euro 2008 qualifier at the new Wembley Stadium. But there are good reasons why this match should not be happening.

Israel’s military occupation of Palestine prevents Palestinian footballers training and playing for international fixtures.

In September 2005, Palestine was in a good position in its Asian zone group in the qualifying rounds for the 2006 World Cup, but the Israeli authorities stopped five key players travelling and Palestine failed to qualify.

In April last year, Israeli missiles destroyed the only stadium in Gaza , where 1.2 million Palestinians live.

Israeli forces regularly KILL young kids kicking a ball around with friends.
Israeli and Palestinian human rights organisations recorded these killings in one refugee camp near the Egyptian border:

Khalil al-Mughrabi (11) hit in the head by a burst of gunfire in July 2001. Two friends aged 10 and 12 were wounded.

Jihad Hassan Barhoum (16) shot in the abdomen in October 2004. A seven-year old was hit in the back.

Ashraf Samir Ahmad Mussa and Khaled Fuad Shaker Ghanam (both 15) and 16-year-old Hassan Ahmad Khalil Abu Zeid, shot dead in April 2005.

Israel has been illegally occupying Gaza, the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights since 1967.

Palestinians and Israeli Jews who care about human rights have called for an international boycott of Israel until it pulls out all its troops and settlers and gives the land back to its true owners. Until this happens there will be endless conflict and no chance for Palestinians to enjoy the beautiful game in peace. Israel should not be in UEFA and the FA should not be hosting the September fixture.

Kick Israeli Apartheid Out of Football - Fair Play for the Palestinians

Signed:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Open letter sent to UEFA, FA and FIFA

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PSC) urges the Football Association (FA), the Union of European Football Association (UEFA) and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to take appropriate measures to suspend the national Israeli football team from all international fixtures until the state of Israel entirely complies with International law and relevant United Nations resolutions to end Israeli occupation. This should include a suspension of the Israeli team from the current Euro 2008 qualifiers.

The Palestinian people are experiencing their fortieth year of military occupation.
Israel operates an entrenched system of racial Apartheid against its own non-Jewish inhabitants and has been illegally occupying Palestinian land in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, East Jerusalem and the Golan Heights since 1967. It has sought to further annex these lands and has systematically transferred its own civilian population into these occupied territories in contravention of international law. Israel continues to build the illegal Apartheid wall, annexing vast swathes of Palestinian land in the West Bank and creating Palestinian ghettos, despite the ruling of the International Court of Justice that it is illegal.

Palestinians are effectively barred from international football by the extreme restrictions placed on them by the Israeli occupation. In September 2005, Palestine was in a good position in its Asian zone group in the qualifying rounds for the 2006 World Cup, but the Israeli authorities stopped five key players travelling outside Gaza and Palestine failed to qualify.
In April last year, Israeli missiles destroyed the only stadium in Gaza , where 1.2 million Palestinians live. Israeli authorities admitted that the stadium was specifically targeted, this amounts to a war crime under the International Criminal Court Act.

A broad alliance of Palestinian civil society groups has called for an international movement of boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) against Israeli apartheid. This movement is partly based on the boycott movement against apartheid South Africa . It is important to remember that South Africa was barred from the Olympic Games as well as international cricket and rugby until 1992. This sporting boycott played an important part in the international boycott of South Africa which strengthened the successful movement to end the apartheid regime.

The Palestine Solidarity Campaign calls for UEFA, FIFA and the FA to take immediate action to end the Israeli national team’s participation in Euro 2008. To continue normal relations with Israeli national sports teams is tantamount to an acceptance of the Israeli state’s crimes against the Palestinian people. A ban on Israeli participation would send a clear message that Israeli apartheid and occupation, like all other forms of racism, are not welcome in international football.

Signed
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Boycott Israeli Goods Campaign
Jews for Boycott of Israeli Goods
Friends of Al Aqsa UK


***********************
Palestine Solidarity Campaign
Box BM PSA
London
WC1N 3XX
Email:  info@palestinecampaign.org
Tel: 020 7700 6192
Fax: 020 7609 7779
Web: www.palestinecampaign.org

Andrew J Silvera
- e-mail: ajsilvera@yahoo.co.uk

Comments

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech