More than half of the thirteen American pro football players who were supposed to tour Israel mid February 2017 pulled out on principle.  They rejected the attempt by the Israeli government to use their visit to score public relations points.  Soccer players need to heed this example and follow suit.  The Israeli government’s use of sport …

FIFA has missed its latest target on 10 February 2017 on solving the problem of illegal Settlement Clubs.  The campaign has written to Tokyo Sewale, Chairman of the Israeli Palestine Monitoring Committee, and Gianni Infantino, FIFA President, urging quick and proper resolution of the impasse on Settlement Clubs. 1. Letter to Tokyo Sexwale Dear Mr Sexwale, We note …

FIFA President Gianni Infantino’s speech at the media briefing after the FIFA Council meeting 9-10 January 2107 included a fifty second comment on the Sexwale Committee report on settlement clubs.  That topic was agenda item 13.1 of 13 – so much for the importance given to the topic by FIFA.  Infantino’s comments start at minute 27.34 in:  …

Further final submissions have been made to the FIFA Council before its meeting to discuss settlement clubs.  They are: Martyn Konecny of the European Middle East Project saying that “FIFA must strike now”.  http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/will-fifa-follow-un-israeli-settlements-1813733343 Aubrey Bloomfield of new York City saying that “FIFA can no longer postpone action”. http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/01/fifa-action-israeli-settlement-clubs-170106135455991.html. Sari Bashi of Human Rights Watch …

The following letter was sent by the European Jews for a Just Peace campaign to FIFA.  As well as repeating the basic arguments it references FIFA’s statute 3 which commits FIFA to respecting human rights.  The text of the letter is as follows: 6 January 2017                                                            To Gianni Infantino, President, FIFA                             Fatma Samoura, General Secretary, …

Vice magazine has described the origins and ethos of the Beitar Nordia football club.  “We aim to provide a voice to the silent majority who oppose La Familia, and football is a very powerful tool for this.”. The article is at https://sports.vice.com/en_uk/article/breakaway-club-beitar-nordia-are-rejecting-the-racism-of-la-familias-far-right-ultras The full text is as follows: “It is the weekend of Hannukah in …

The following letter has been sent to all members of the FIFA Council – prior to the 9-10 January 2107 meeting.  We are concerned that Israeli obfuscation will mislead Council members on what is a simple and straightforward legal and regulatory position devoid of any political content.   Red Card Israeli Racism Campaign PO Box …

Palestinians from the West Bank are barred from Gaza. So are Palestinian guests from Chile.  The Deportino Palestino football team comprising Palestinians from the longest standing community of expatriates was stopped from entering Gaza just before Christmas.  Otherwise, the team had a very successful one week visit to Palestine.  They played the national team and a Hebron “all stars” team and …