World governing body for football, FIFA has been slammed for its inaction over Israel’s continuing bombardment in Gaza.
Following Russia’s attacks on Ukraine, FIFA was quick to ban the Russian team from World Cup 2022 qualifiers while the European body kicked out Russian clubs from all of its competitions.
However, FIFA and UEFA have yet to take action against Israel despite its attacks resulting in the killing of more than 13,000 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7.
As such, experts accused FIFA of having double standards.
“There are players, teams and families who are suffering as a consequence of what’s happening [in Palestine]. FIFA has said nothing,” Simon Chadwick, professor of sport and geopolitical economy at Skema Business School, told a news agency.
“Maybe if Palestine was a bigger country, more influential to FIFA, then it would have absolutely made some kind of statement on what is happening,” he added.
Palestine will face Australia in a World Cup 2026 qualifier on Tuesday, November 21, 2023.
While the match was scheduled as a home game for Palestine, it was moved to Kuwait following Israel’s attacks on Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Nonetheless, it is expected that a sizeable crowd will show up for the game. About 70,000 Palestinians live in Kuwait.
Local fan groups and activists are also planning to show support to Palestine and the team during the match.
According to the plan that is being shared on social media, fans will raise Palestinian flags and wave keffiyehs at seven minutes into the match to mark the start of the war on October 7, 2023.
Keffiyehs are the black and white checked scarves associated with Palestine.
Thirteen minutes into the match, fans will stand and turn their backs on the pitch to protest the killing of more than 13,000 people since the start of the attacks.
On 75 minutes, fans will raise their arms and join hands in protest against 75 years of occupation.
It is also expected that the Palestinian team will wear keffiyehs before the national anthems and hold a minute’s silence for those who have been killed during the war.
Jabalia Surrounded By Israeli Army
The Israeli military disclosed that it has completed the encirclement of Jabalia in Gaza and is ready for the next phase.
In a statement, the military said that it carried out attacks on 250 Hamas targets in the past day, including three tunnel shafts in the Jabalia area and killed dozens of Palestinian fighters.
It was reported that Israeli forces have targeted a school sheltering displaced people in the al-Falouja area in northern Gaza.
New air strikes also targeted a residential building in the Nuseirat refugee camp.
Israel also intensified its bombardment in the vicinity of the Indonesian Hospital and Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern part of the Gaza Strip.
Also on Tuesday, Israeli forces arrested at least 40 Palestinians, including former prisoners, in the latest wave of overnight and early morning raids across the occupied West Bank.
According to the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs and the Palestinian Prisoner’s Society, the arrests took place in Jenin, Hebron, Bethlehem, Nablus, Ramallah, Jerusalem and Jericho.
Israeli forces also stormed the town of Barqa in Ramallah, raiding homes and carrying out arrests, as well as Qabatiya in northern West Bank.
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