Orlando Pirates – Don’t Play with Maccabi Tel Aviv - There’s Nothing Friendly About Apartheid Israel

7 July 2023

As South Africans, football fans and solidarity activists against Israeli apartheid, we are calling on Orlando Pirates not to play a friendly match with Maccabi Tel Aviv scheduled for 13th July in Spain. There is nothing ‘friendly’ about playing a team representing apartheid Israel.

This week the world witnessed devastating Israeli military airstrikes and a ground invasion of Jenin, a densely populated refugee camp, home to around 14,000 Palestinians. In two days, Israeli occupation forces killed 12 Palestinians - including two children – wounding a further 90 people; fired tear gas into the hospital and at people escaping shelling of their homes; tore up roads with army bulldozers and destroyed water and electricity infrastructure. Despite Israeli soldiers targeting journalists, Apartheid Israel could not hide their largest attack for decades on Palestinians in the West Bank.

What we don’t always see is the ongoing daily brutality meted out by apartheid Israeli occupation forces against Palestinians. Last month an Israeli soldier shot dead yet another Palestinian footballer, Omar Qatin.

Omar was 24 years old, a father of two, trying to help his neighbours in Turmus Ayya in the occupied West Bank as gangs of illegal Israeli settlers rampaged through their town setting fire to cars and homes, destroying crops, terrorising the residents.

Israel’s settlements constitute a war crime under international law. The Israel Football Association (IFA) works with the Israeli government to maintain soccer teams in these illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land. Increasing numbers of violent pogroms are being waged by inhabitants of these illegal settlements against Palestinians, supported by the Israeli state. Israeli ‘Security’ Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir called on his government to kill “not one or two, but tens and hundreds, and if necessary even thousands” of Palestinians.

On 22nd June the Israeli state occupation forces fired on Palestinians trying to defend themselves from the settler-mob in Turmus Ayya - and murdered the soccer player Omar Qatin.

Omar was one of many Palestinians that love the beautiful game. However life for Palestinian players is reminiscent of apartheid South Africa when sports were racially segregated and participation in international events was used by the regime to ‘sportswash’ apartheid.

While the IFA and Israeli government support soccer in illegal settlements, Palestinians have to endure Israeli soldiers regularly raiding Palestinian football matches, even children’s matches, firing tear gas, sound bombs, and rubber-coated steel bullets onto the pitch. It is therefore no surprise that football replicates the institutionalized racism promoted by the Israeli government. Tel Aviv Maccabi fans, for example, are known for racist anti-Palestinian slurs and graffiti and anti-refugee banners. “They just hate Arabs,” said a veteran player for Maccabi Tel Aviv.

We call on Orlando Pirates to heed the call of Palestinian sportspeople and all Palestinians not to play against apartheid Israeli teams. Just as we mobilized the world for a sports boycott of apartheid South Africa, we must now refuse to play with Israeli apartheid. We call on the Department of Sports, Arts and Culture to implement policy for a cultural and sporting boycott.

Pirates: stand against Israeli racism and crimes against humanity – don’t normalize apartheid - cancel your game against Maccabi Tel Aviv!

Issued by Allan Zinn on behalf of SA BDS, 7 July 2023