Jibril Rajoub is aiming to ban Israel from FIFA, accusing it as being destructive to the development of Palestinian football.
FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, is predicted to oppose this bid, but this issue went down as a serious 'storm', both in Israel and in Palestine.
Before discussing Rajoub's claims, I would like to share a short story.
After the peace agreement between Israel and Jordan in 1994, the borders between the two countries were opened. At the end of the 1995/6 season, after climbing to the second division, Maccabi Kafr Kana, an Arab-Israeli football club, went on a tour to Jordan. The tour’s highlight was supposed to be a game against Al-Wihdat, which represents the Palestinian refugee camp near Amman and bears its name. In Jordan, Al-Wihdat is associated with Palestinian nationalism and the Palestinian struggle, and this particular sporting encounter was intended to emphasize the shared identity of Palestinians from both banks of the Jordan River. A few minutes before the scheduled start of the game, Al-Wihdat’s managers appealed to Kafr Kana’s manager and sponsor, Fayṣal Khatib, with a specific request: to exclude his three Jewish players from the match, or at least to ensure that no Hebrew would be spoken during the game.
Khatib firmly rejected this request, arguing that in his view, his team consists of only football players, and that he never distinguishes between Arabs and Jews. In addition, he pointed out that the Jewish players on the team do not speak Arabic, and could therefore only communicate with the coach in Hebrew. In the end, after a long debate and a delay of several days, the game took place behind closed doors in a sports hall. In that game, Maccabi Kafr Kana beat Al-Wihdat 3:2. Ironically, the three goalscorers for Kafr Kana, were those three Jewish players, who did not speak or understand any Arabic.
This story emphasizes the hostility between Israel and the Palestinians, but at the same time, contains a forgotten state of mind, in terms of coexistence between Jews and Arabs in the Middle East. A state of mind, that disappeared sometime after the nineties, with the events of the second Intifada.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has its expressions in football, and this is nothing new. There are more than just a few examples. Bnei Sakhnin and Beitar Jerusalem matches in the Israeli Premier League are usually a festival of national feelings of both clubs’ fans, and the Israeli media; The famous IDF ‘Raid’ on the Palestinian football headquarters last November; the Palestine National Team’s display at the Asian Cup in Australia was a strong nationalistic demonstration; The symbolic ‘Attef Abu Bilal Transfer Saga’, which punished an Arab player who was banned from Israeli football for 99 years, after playing in the Palestinian West Bank Premier League at the same time; and now, the sanctions Rajoub is asking to be applied to Israel, in response to its interruption of Palestinian football development.
Here are Rajoub’s demands to the FIFA Congress, which call for the suspension of Israel until:
1. Players, staff and officials can move freely into, out of and within Palestine (West Bank and Gaza Strip);
2. Football equipment can be imported without hindrance;
3. Football facilities can be developed in Palestine without hindrance;
4. Clubs established in the illegal settlements in the West Bank are banned from playing in Israel Football Association competitions.
5. The IFA takes firm action to eliminate racist and apartheid practices from its own leagues.
Rajoub’s demands are strict and direct, but they sound pretty straightforward in terms of football. After all, the Palestinians should have adequate football facilities and equipment, just like every other population in the world. Palestine, as a ‘Footbaholic’ entity, deserves a healthy local and international football scene. The Israeli Association needs to ‘clean’ its local football venues from any racist practices or acts in advance, in order to progress. But instead of creating a true ‘window’ for cooperation between the two sides, Rajoub is trying to seriously harm Israel, in order to achieve his demands.
There is no precedent in FIFA for a suspension of a country over charges of a political nature, only for non-compliance with the conditions of the sport or the organisation. In this case, there is no reason to make Israel the first one to suffer.
Israel easily meets the conditions of FIFAand abides by the organisation’s instructions and requirements. In 2013, a committee headed by Blatter designed to find a solution to the demands of the Palestinians to Israel, about the obstacles to the transfer of players and so on. Israel accepted the recommendations of Blatter’s report - the Palestinians did not.
In order to win a vote in the FIFA Congress, you need two-thirds of the vote. Many countries are tied to regional organisations. Not the AFC or UEFA, but for example, the African Associations group, or the Eastern European group. These are lobby groups that act as pressure groups in the organisation’s institutions. The votes of many countries are not received directly by them, but as part of a ‘Block’.
The FIFA Congress’ vote is usually electronic and anonymous. The results are displayed on the screen just as amounts of ‘For’ and ‘Against’votes, without any personal identification. This can make it difficult (or easier) for the Palestinians and the Israelis in political terms, depends on the country they are trying to convince. There´s a famous Palestinian saying: شو دخل رمضان بشعبان,"What Ramadan has to do with Shaaban". It means that the religious practices of Ramadan must not be observed during the rest of the year, implying that one should not mix two different subjects that have nothing to do with each other.
The majority of Rajoub’s claims are regarding the conduct of Israel as a state, and not as a football association. In addition, the issues are mainly related to security, and there are no decisions which involve or are within the control of the Israeli association, for example: limiting the movement of Palestinian players and staff.
Sports and politics are often mixed. This could be handled with the right level of awareness, but it shouldn't involve such a sensitive, bloody issue as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. The suspension of Israel from FIFA would be illegitimate because of the political and national issues involved. And beyond - Israel's suspension from FIFA would certainly not help the Palestinians’ situation. It would not remove barriers in the West Bank; it would not create a direct and free road from Gaza to Ramallah.
Football can be used here as a great tool of mediation between the countries, in order to normalise the relationship between the two peoples and to ease tensions. But sanctions over issues such as security and the daily life in the two countries should not be decided by presidents of football associations.
From this point in the relations between the two parties, there is only one positive solution: working together, in the ‘Old-fashioned-Nineties Way’, in order to find a solution. The Palestinian Association and its Israeli counterpart now have a unique opportunity to start and solve essential issues together, through football. Together, in cooperation. Together, in coexistence.
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Thumbnail photo by Kurt Schorrer