Kick Apartheid Out of Football
Press Release, The Big Campaign, 21 March 2007
On Saturday 24th March England are playing Israel in a Euro 2008 qualifier match in Israel. The Boycott Israeli Goods campaign will hold a vigil in protest at the match and to call for a sporting boycott of apartheid Israel.
The vigil will commemorate those Palestinian children killed while playing football. From September 2000 to December 2006, 869 Palestinian children have been killed, a quarter of those were under twelve. Every month an average of fourteen will die. Many have been killed just kicking a ball around.
The Boycott Israeli Goods campaign is responding to calls from Palestinian and Israeli campaigners for a boycott of apartheid Israel. Israel has been engaged in the illegal military occupation of Palestinian land since 1967 and operates an entrenched system of racial discrimination against it non-Jewish citizens.
During the campaign against apartheid South Africa supporters of justice boycotted South African sport. It is necessary to boycott Israeli sport until it complies with international humanitarian law.
The vigil will be attended by Jews for Boycotting Israeli Goods (J-BIG). J-BIG were formed earlier this year to belie the myth that the boycott campaign is anti-Jewish.
The vigil signals the start of a larger campaign in protest against Israel’s inclusion in Euro 2008. England are scheduled to play Israel in London this September.
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