Show Genocide The Red Card - Boycott Apartheid Israel!
The Football Association of Ireland MUST BOYCOTT any fixtures due to take place against the genocidal Apartheid state of Israel!
Yesterday, the Ireland men’s national football team was drawn into a UEFA Nations League Group with Austria, Kosovo, and, unfortunately, the Apartheid state of Israel. The fixtures against the latter are scheduled to take place in late September and early October.
Back in November, the FAI submitted a motion to UEFA (European footballs governing body) to ban Apartheid Israel from its European club and international competitions. The vote - proposed by Bohemian FC from Dublin - was put to the FAI's General Assembly at an EGM, with it citing two violations of UEFA statutes by the Apartheid Israel Football Association (AIFA), these being organising clubs in occupied Palestinian territories without the consent of the Palestinian FA; and the failure of the AIFA to enforce an effective anti-racism policy.
The motion required support from 50% of FAI delegates to pass. It passed by a significant majority, with 74 votes in favour, seven against and two abstentions. The FAI must now stand firm on this position and boycott these fixtures in a show of opposition to the Apartheid state of Israel and the unspeakable crimes they continue to perpetrate against the people of Palestine. The FAI must stand up to UEFA!
Palestinian civilians are arrested, stripped and humiliated by the IOF on the pitch of Gaza Stadium.
UEFA is the same body which was quick to expel Russia from participation in international competitions following the its illegal invasion of Ukraine, yet it still enthusiastically backs the membership and participation of the Apartheid state of Israel in its events! This is despite the Apartheid state of Israel being engaged in a vicious campaign of genocide against the people of Palestine - including nearly 450 Palestinian football players.
Regardless of UEFA’s threats to sanction the FAI for the non-fulfilment of these fixtures, the organisation has the opportunity to stand against apartheid and genocide, and in doing so expose the hypocrisy of UEFA. It is an opportunity the FAI must take!
The international BDS Movement calls for a sporting boycott, as part of a wider cultural, academic and consumer boycott, against Apartheid Israel and it’s sports teams as,
“Israel has deliberately and systematically destroyed Palestinian stadiums and sports infrastructures and detained Palestinian players and athletes. It has restricted their freedom of movement, banning Palestinian athletes in the occupied West Bank from training with their counterparts in the Gaza Strip, and subjecting them to interrogations at checkpoints when traveling across the West Bank or abroad to take part in international competitions. Israeli forces have in the past deliberately targeted the feet of teenage Palestinian footballers with live ammunition.”
Irish sporting organisations should abide by these calls to boycott sports teams from the Apartheid state of Israel, just as Irish sports teams in the past boycotted sports teams from Apartheid South Africa. But it is up to each and every one of us to encourage Irish sporting bodies to decline participation in Apartheid Israel’s campaign of sports-washing, and if they choose to disregard these calls, we must hold them to account.
We need to be ready to oppose these attempts to sports-wash Apartheid Israel and their campaign of genocide against the Palestinian people!