Rights and Accountability 24 September 2019
Khadamat Rafah (in green) competes against Markaz Balata for the Palestine Cup on 30 June. The match ended in a 1-1 draw.
APA imagesWhile posing as a humanitarian body on Twitter, the bureaucratic arm of Israel’s military occupation is waging war on Palestinian football.
COGAT – as that arm of the occupation is called – has denied a football team in Gaza permission to travel to the West Bank for a Palestine Cup rematch. The FIFA-recognized competition determines which team will represent Palestine in the Asian Champions League.
An Israeli court rejected a petition challenging the ban on the players’ travel.
The team has been prevented from traveling to the West Bank due to unspecified “security concerns,” according to Gisha, a human rights group that petitioned the court.
A Palestine Cup match between Khadamat Rafah club and Markaz Balata was held in Gaza on 30 June, ending in a draw.
Permits rejected
Khadamat Rafah, based in Gaza, was informed three days before the 3 July rematch that 31 of its 35 permit applications had been rejected.
Last week COGAT approved permits for the rematch, postponed to 25 September, to fewer than half the members of the club. Israel approved permits for only five players, according to Gisha.
Gisha’s court petition notes that “any further delay of the rematch would jeopardize the winning club’s entry into the Asian Champions League.”
The group adds that “sporting events are listed in Israel’s narrow criteria for eligibility for travel permits.”
Israel’s severe restrictions on travel between the West Bank and Gaza “undermines the functioning of Palestinian society as a whole,” according to Gisha.Green card for rights violations
While Palestinian football is held hostage by Israel, the world football governing body FIFA has refused to take action against Israeli football clubs located in West Bank settlements.
Human Rights Watch has stated that settlement football clubs contribute to human rights violations, as “settlements are built on land seized from Palestinians.”
FIFA suspended South Africa in the 1960s when it was run by an apartheid government. The organization has taken a more lenient approach to apartheid as practiced by Israel.
Palestinian campaigners are demanding that sportswear company Puma drops its sponsorship of football teams based in Israeli settlements.
All Israeli settlements in occupied territory are illegal under international law.
Comments
ban Israel from international tournaments
Permalink tom hall replied on
Zionists have plenty of nerve complaining about the boycott movement against military occupation, when Israel has been boycotting Palestinian society on a daily basis for decades. Imagine if an Israeli team were somehow blocked from taking part in an international tournament- on "security" grounds. The outcry around the world would be deafening. Yet here we have just one example from an endless list of basic violations of Palestinian rights, and where is FIFA's voice?
Even leaving aside this latest indignity, Israel should be barred from any soccer tournament until it stops shooting players and their families from Palestine.
Sadistic Pleasure
Permalink Allan Howard replied on
I was just reminded a bit earlier in a Skwawkbox article about Boris Johnson, how one of the ways the Bullingdon Club members used to get their sadistic kicks was to burn a £50 note in front of homeless street beggars, and the same thing is at work here, as with everything they do to their captive targets. The whole situation is a sadist's dream, with endless possibilities to amuse themselves, creating and manufacturing hate and devastation, and in THIS case, frustration and anger at the very least amongst the Palestinian people. And no doubt an additional high for the Israeli sadists is reminding the Palestinians how totally in control of their lives they are, and how THEY have no control whatsoever. It really IS a sadists wet dream!