By Andrew Warshaw
November 25 – FIFA President Sepp Blatter has condemned an apparent Israeli raid on the headquarters of the Palestinian FA after a resurgence of unrest between the two sides, according to Palestinian reports.
On Monday, Israeli forces are said to have entered PFA headquarters located in the town of ar-Ram, north of Jerusalem to conduct a search of the premises.
Blatter, who has been trying to mediate between the two sides, is reported to have subsequently sent a letter to PFA’s President, Jibril Rajoub (pictured), describing the Israeli intervention as ‘terrible’ though there was no immediate confirmation of this from FIFA.
A statement from the PFA said three Israeli military jeeps raided the headquarters and that Israeli forces apprehended several employees and prevented journalists from taking pictures.
Having tried all manner of mediation to try and bring the two sides together and establish a mechanism to ease the movement of Palestinian players and officials in the West Bank and Gaza, Blatter announced at the FIFA congress last June that an independent monitor would be set up and report back to the FIFA executive committee in December.
The latest incident came 24 hours after a high-profile fixture between the Israeli premier league’s only Palestinian club Bnei Sakhnin and arch-rivals Beitar Jerusalem which was marred by a pitch brawl.
Beitar are the only leading team in Israel never to have signed an Arab player because of fan pressure. Agency reports said Israeli police originally banned the game from being held in the Palestinian town of Sakhnin in northern Israel due to safety concerns after a series of deadly attacks in East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank.
But last Friday they rescinded the ban, saying that security had been “significantly” improved at Bnei’s Doha Stadium, built with millions of dollars in donations from Qatar. Nevertheless 700 officers were deployed in and around the stadium for Sunday’s game.
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