‘I would like the (Irish) people to show their opinion as much as possible, and to be clear that what is happening in Palestine is not okay. It must be stopped.” – Imad Zatara, former captain of the Palestine Football team
“It’s baffling to me, how…it is controversial or contentious or objectionable that someone suggests…do you know what maybe let’s not play football against them”–Richie Sadlier, speaking on RTE in support of the protest against the Ireland V Israel match on Thursday, 28 May, in Lansdowne Road.
Two powerful statements supporting #StoptheGame. One from one of the Israeli regime’s victims and the other from someone in the sporting who has set an example to be followed.
Stopping the Ireland V Israel football match is about sending a powerful message of solidarity to the people of Palestine. We cannot allow this genocidal state to use sport to launder its reputation. The oppression of Palestine, apartheid and genocide cannot be normalised via football.
In the last three months, the Zionist State of Israel has:
– Mercilessly bombed Iran, alongside US imperialism. This has resulted in the massacre of over 3,000 people and widespread destruction of homes and infrastructure.
– Engaged in the ethnic cleansing of Shia Muslims in southern Lebanon and displaced over one million people. In one attack on Wednesday, 8 April, Israeli forces bombed Beirut, killing 254 people.
– Continued with the genocide in Gaza – bombings, shootings, and blockading vital aid and material for rebuilding. Yesterday, Netanyahu announced that the Israeli army will take over 70% of the Strip.
– Introduced the death penalty for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank who have been convicted in one of the apartheid state’s kangaroo courts.
Over 1,000 Palestinian athletes are being murdered by the Israeli army in this latest genocidal campaign in Gaza. On top of this, several Israeli teams are directly complicit in the ever-expanding settlement projects in the occupied West Bank, as they have football grounds on stolen Palestinian land.
An example to be followed
There is a proud history of working-class people in Ireland and internationally acting against sport-washing apartheid regimes. Case example:
– In 1970, the Springboks, the South African Rugby team, were met with protests outside the Shelbourne Hotel in St. Stephen’s Green in Dublin City Centre. Postal workers refused to deliver the mail to the hotel while the team was staying there. Likewise, Telecom workers refused to connect phone calls to it.
– Between 1984 and 1987, 11 young workers went on strike against Dunnes Stores, refusing to handle goods from South Africa. This resulted in the banning of produce from that racist state in Ireland.
Grassroots campaign needed
In the coming weeks and months, we need to build pressure from below to ensure that these matches do not go ahead. This is particularly true of the Israel vs Ireland match that will take place at the Aviva Stadium in October.
We need a grassroots campaign to ensure this match is called off. That means protests and lobbying targeting the FAI. We should make it known that there will be mass protests and civil disobedience on the day of the match if it goes ahead, including blockades of the Israeli team bus. We have seen the impact that the fuel protests had in bringing the country to a halt with militant action.
If the trade unions were serious about opposing apartheid Israel, they would organise their members in action along the lines of what took place in 1970, and the 1980s Dunnes Stores Strike. Workers in hotels and at Dublin Airport should be organised and ready to take action.
A rotten state, a rotten system
The Zionist State is a rotten capitalist regime built upon the dispossession, oppression and ongoing genocide of the Palestinian people. The recent war on Iran shows the role it plays in propping up imperialist domination in West Asia.
It’s rule, and the rule of this depraved system of capitalism and imperialism must be ended. We need to urgently build a socialist alternative to all its inequality, violence and oppression. Join Solidarity to be part of that fight.
