Palestinians Betrayed: Why There Was No FIFA Vote To Kick
Israel Out Of World Football
Pro-Israel pressure and backroom deals puncture hope Israel would be held
accountable for systematic abuses of Palestinian footballers.
By Ali Abunimah
June 01, 2015 "Information
Clearing House" - "Stop
The War" - PALESTINIANS are expressing disappointment
at the abandonment and sabotage of efforts to have Israel suspended from world
football’s governing body over its
systematic abuses of Palestinian players.But
campaigners are vowing to continue to work to isolate Israel.
Despite repeated vows not to back down,
Jibril Rajoub,
head of the Palestinian Football Association, pulled a motion to suspend Israel
from FIFA in what The
Guardian termed “a
chaotic last minute climbdown.”
Bait and switch
Instead, the delegates from 209 member countries
overwhelmingly adopted a motion muscled onto the agenda by FIFA’s scandal-ridden
president Sepp Blatter
to create a committee to monitor Palestinian football and Israeli abuses – a
sporting version of the “peace process” that has gone nowhere for decades.
Blatter’s move, just hours before he was re-elected to FIFA’s
presidency, came over objections from the Palestinian officials, who thought
that delegates would be allowed to vote on a motion to refer the status of
Israeli clubs based in settlements in the occupied West Bank to the UN.
The Palestinians, according to The Guardian, were
“comprehensively outmanoeuvred by feverish Israeli lobbying and the opposition
of senior FIFA officials, including Blatter.”
Powerhouse Germany’s football association joined forces with
Israel to defeat the Palestinian effort,
according to
Israeli media.
Two women briefly disrupted proceedings on the congress floor,
holding up red cards and a Palestinian flag and calling out slogans in support
of Palestinian rights. They were hustled away by security.
“Disappointed”
Responding to today’s events, Zaid Shuaibi, a spokesperson for
the Palestinian
Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions National Committee (BNC), the broad
coalition of Palestinian civil society organizations that works to support the
boycott, divestment and sanctions
(BDS) movement, said:
“The Palestinian BDS National Committee is disappointed that
the entire FIFA congress, including the Palestinian Football Association, have
not lived up to their obligations and stated principles.”
“FIFA and its membership have delayed the suspension of
Israel, but they cannot delay the growth of the international boycott of Israel
or prevent the continued isolation of Israel because of its human rights abuses
and war crimes against the Palestinian people,” Shuaibi added.
“We warmly thank the many activists and supporters of the
Palestinian struggle who mobilized in support of the suspension of Israel from
FIFA.”
Red Card Israeli Racism, a UK-based
group that campaigns for a boycott of Israeli football bodies, has been
protesting outside the FIFA congress meeting in Zurich.
“We’ve been writing letters to FIFA members, pointing out the
arguments for Israel’s suspension,” Geoff Lee, a member of the campaign,
told Patrick Strickland earlier this week.
Nicolas Shahshahani, an activist with EuroPalestine, told The
Electronic Intifada that dozens of supporters traveled from France to join the
rallies outside the FIFA congress in Zurich, the culmination of
months of organizing
efforts.
“Israel may punish me”
In a
New York Times op-ed yesterday, Palestinian footballer Iyad Abu
Gharqoud urged that Israel should be given the “red card.”
“Players, coaches and referees are blocked from moving between
the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and frequently are barred from tournaments,” Abu
Gharqoud wrote. “Israel has also violated FIFA rules by allowing teams from
Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank to play in Israel’s leagues. In
addition, the Israeli fans of the
Beitar Jerusalem
club are notorious for chanting ‘Death to the Arabs’ at matches – racist abuse
that the Israel Football Association’s token disciplinary measures have failed
to deter.”
“Today, our players are frequently arrested and detained,” Abu
Gharqoud added. “Last year, two of our most talented young players were shot and
wounded by Israeli forces at a checkpoint.”
Abu Gharqoud laid out the case for sanctioning Israel in the
sports arena in the same manner as apartheid South Africa a generation ago:
“Until the day that Palestinians and Israelis are equal under
the law, FIFA has a moral duty to exclude Israel from the World Cup and European
Championships. Israeli officials may punish me for saying so, but it will be
only through their exclusion from international soccer that Israeli citizens
will realize that the subjugation of the Palestinian people comes at a growing
political and cultural cost.”
The sense of disappointment over today’s debacle matched the
excitement in recent days – expressed on social media – that FIFA would provide
a rare venue for Israel to be held accountable.
But once again pro-Israel pressure and backroom deals
punctured that hope.
Source:
Electronic Intifada