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Solidarity to Indonesia, from Palestine
Palestinian soccer teams have sent a message expressing gratitude to Indonesia for standing with Palestine regarding the U-20 World Cup, against "apartheid Israel" and "FIFA's hypocrisy".
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A floral greeting board bearing the message, “Commiseration for Indonesia’s failure to be the U-20 World Cup host. Signed, Indonesian soccer fans,” stands outside the headquarters of the Soccer Association of Indonesia (PSSI) in Central Jakarta after arriving on March 31, 2023, the day after FIFA stripped Indonesia of its right to host this year’s Under-20 World Cup. (Antara/M Risyal Hidayat)
W
e, the undersigned Palestinian soccer teams, salute the Indonesian people who stood against apartheid Israel’s participation in the FIFA U-20 World Cup.
We commend them for their principled solidarity. We also salute the governors of Bali and Central Java for their position that denied apartheid Israel the chance to sportswash its crimes using our beloved sport, soccer. Your voices inspire us to keep playing and struggling for freedom and justice.
We condemn FIFA’s decision to strip Indonesia of the right to host this youth tournament, denying your athletes this important opportunity. But more importantly, we acknowledge the heavy price that you had to pay, a price that many Arab and international athletes and teams have had to pay, and still do for their principled positions.
We call on all other soccer associations around the globe to reject FIFA’s hypocrisy and to stand with Indonesia on the right side of history.
FIFA, only days after Russia’s war on Ukraine, rushed to sanction Russian sports associations and athletes, yet it refuses to hold Israel accountable and silences those who dare to speak out against its decades-old and ongoing crimes. FIFA will not even act against Israel’s clear violations of its own statutes, going so far as to shield Israel from accountability.
Under Western hegemony, FIFA and other international sporting bodies – the self-declared guardians of sports and morals – will continue to apply their double standards unless we stand up to them together. If they succeed in silencing us today, their repression will spread to silence all of our struggles for a more just, fair, egalitarian and peaceful world.
Our players are paying the heaviest price of all, with their careers, blood and lives. Last year, Israeli soldiers shot and killed in Thaqafi Tulkarm our beloved star player, Ahmad Daraghmeh, 23, who dreamed of representing Palestine internationally. Ahmad was passionate and dedicated, and had great dreams that were shattered by an Israeli sniper’s bullet.
