November 6 – While most of the footballing narrative surrounding the Middle East conflict has been widespread condemnation of Israel, two prominent Israeli research institutes have hit back by lodging an official complaint with FIFA against the head of the Palestinian Football Association for allegedly using sports to promote terrorism and violence.
The complaint against Palestinian FA boss Jabril Rajoub has been made jointly by the Jerusalem Center for Security and Foreign Affairs and by Palestinian Media Watch.
Rajoub and his supporters, who include a plethora of respected human rights groups, have repeatedly called for Israel to be kicked out of international football over the war in Gaza.
But in Israel of course, not everyone sees it that way.
“In breach of FIFA’s Statue, Disciplinary Codes and Code of Ethics, Rajoub is using football and FIFA to promote purely political goals, espouses racist views against Jews, Israelis and Israel, promotes terror and violence and erases Israel’s very existence,” reads a 27-page letter sent to FIFA by both the afore-mentioned institutes.
The complaint alleges Rajoub publicly backed the October 7 Hamas massacre and that he had told a Lebanese tv station back in August that former Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar – since assassinated by Israel – was a “pragmatic, patriotic, and realistic man.”
PMW director Itamar Marcus was quoted as saying by the Jewish News Syndicate, a New York-based news agency and wire service that primarily covers Jewish and Israel-related topics: “If FIFA does not remove him (Rajoub) it is sending a message to every Palestinian that murdering Israelis is seen as legitimate. On the other hand, FIFA has an opportunity to send a message to all Palestinians that terror and sports don’t mix.”
The move by two Israeli institutes seems bound to enflame an already volatile situation and flies in the face of demands to ban Israeli teams in the wake of the ongoing atrocities in Gaza.
To add to the tensions, Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz has reportedly threatened to ban Rajoub from travelling abroad, allegedly describing him in a tweet as “a terrorist in a suit who openly supported Hamas’s crimes (who is) working around the clock to get Israel removed.”
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