With the
backing of the Israeli Football Association (IFA), Comtec, an Israeli
production company, has announced that it will send a delegation to
FIFA headquarters Switzerland and push for the Argentinian football
team to be removed from the upcoming World Cup in retaliation for the
recent decision of Argentina’s Football Association to cancel a
“friendly” match against the Israeli national team that had been
scheduled for this Saturday. According to reports, Comtec – which
was involved in planning the match – and the IFA are set to claim
that Argentina should be expelled from the World Cup in Russia due to
“religious discrimination” against the Jewish people after
choosing to stand in solidarity with Palestine.
On
Wednesday, the national football team of Argentina shocked the world
as it announced it would not participate in a “friendly” match
after pressure from Palestinian rights groups, including Boycott
Divest Sanctions (BDS). It was only the latest victory for Palestine
solidarity activists as several other Latin Americans of note, such
as musicians Shakira and Gilberto Gil, have also canceled public
appearances in Israel in the wake of Israel’s massacres of unarmed
protesters in Gaza.
While
the announcement was understandably welcomed by Palestinians and the
BDS movement, the decision likewise provoked a firestorm of criticism
from Israel. Israeli defense minister Avigdor Lieberman, who recently
claimed that there are “no innocent people” in Gaza, accused
Argentina’s team of falling prey to “anti-Semites who support
terror” while Israel’s minister of Culture and Sport, Miri Regev,
similarly claimed that “the decision for cancellation is down to
one reason, terrorism.”
Israeli
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu – while he has yet to make a
public statement on the matter – desperately tried to intervene and
salvage the match in a phone call Argentinian President Mauricio
Macri on Tuesday night. However, his efforts were ultimately
unsuccessful.
Accusations
of “terrorism” from Israeli officials have their origins in
efforts by Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestinian Football
Association (PFA), to protest the match were it to have taken place.
Those efforts involved Rajoub calling last Sunday for “everyone to
burn their Messi shirts and pictures and renounce him” if the game
continued as planned.
More:
Comments
Post a Comment