In recent days, a growing global campaign is calling for soccer clubs based at Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories to be banned from participation in the Israeli Soccer League. Should the Israeli Soccer Association fail to comply, Israeli soccer in general might find itself expelled from FIFA, the International Soccer Association.

As might be recalled, on May last year Jibril Rajoub of the Palestinian Soccer Association demanded that Israel be ousted from FIFA. In the end Rajoub consented not to bring the matter up for a vote at the FIFA Congress, in return for FIFA establishing a Commission of Inquiry to look into Israel's conduct in soccer-related matters, including possible violations of International Law and of FIFA regulations. Among the issues brought up were arrests and detentions of Palestinian soccer players and restrictions on their freedom of movement, manifestations of anti-Arab racism in the Betar Jerusalem Club and especially the fact that there are six clubs playing in the Israeli Soccer League which are located in Occupied Palestinian Territory.

It should be noted that the State of Palestine is a full member of FIFA, and the Palestinian Soccer Association has the same standing in FIFA as the Israeli one. Further, all the land occupied by Israel since 1967 is considered by the International Community to be sovereign Palestinian territory.

According to FIFA regulations, soccer clubs located in the sovereign territory of a particular country must play in the national league of that country. Therefore, clubs located in settlements on land belonging to the State of Palestine should be playing in the Palestinian League. The very fact that they play in the Israeli League is a violation of FIFA regulations. To play in Israel, these clubs – six in number - would have needed to obtain a special dispensation from the Palestinian Soccer Association. In fact, no such dispensation was ever sought, never mind granted.

Source : http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1464389870

SIGN THE PETITION

To Tokyo Sexwale, the Chairman of FIFA’s Investigation Committee : As concerned citizens from across the Middle East, North Africa, South Africa, and the world, we ask you to uphold FIFA’s own rules and provide fair recommendations demanding the Israeli Football Association either removes the settlement football clubs from its membership or relocates them outside the illegal settlements. If the Israeli Football Association doesn't comply it must lose its membership with FIFA, as has been the case with other federations that have refused to accept FIFA's fair play rules. There should be zero tolerance for the six teams that flagrantly ignore international law and operate in occupied territory. Settlement football teams legitimise the illegal occupation and condone the suffering the Palestinians face as a result.

To sign: https://secure.avaaz.org/en/red_card_occupation_full/

Source : http://zope.gush-shalom.org/home/en/events/1464389870

....dozens of times for no reason whatsoever other than racism.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/113458740#post35

A thread where the participants here wholeheartedly defended a fake story from a Jew hating source they support due to its Jew hatred.

The racist Jew hating, terror advocating Mondoweiss was also 100% in on the hoax, falsely claiming knees were broken and wondering if those athletes would ever walk again...
http://mondoweiss.net/2014/03/vicious-palestinian-athletes/

Typical clownish attempt straight from the the BDS playbook. No matter how silly one appears attacking Israel, the point is that Israel is attacked. That's BDS.

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Gee, I wonder why Israel would have a problem here, given the history of fielding terrorists on their soccer teams.