CODEPINK - Communications

Demand that soccer federations boycott the Israeli soccer team!

Dear John,

“One thing that really frightens a lot of Israelis is if Israel would be thrown out of UEFA.”

—Illan Pappe, Israeli historian and political scientist

Do you know what unites people from all over the world? Sports! No matter where you're from, you probably know plenty of people who love sports and who rally for their favorite teams. Palestinians, for instance, are huge soccer fans. Amidst the genocide, we’ve seen Gazans play with soccer balls in the rubble and dust of what is left of their land. Even in the darkest times, sports can connect people and provide them with brief moments of happiness.

Sports boycotts have the power to further isolate Israel as a pariah on the world stage, which is one of Benjamin Netanyahu’s biggest fears. The Israeli Prime Minister is feeling pressure from every avenue, demonstrated by the massive walkout at the UN, or his own acknowledgment of TikTok’s power in the global movement for Palestine – he is facing repercussions of the genocide socially and politically. Imagine the added pressure of having the Israeli soccer team boycotted by international sports bodies like International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). That’s exactly what Game Over Israel! is attempting to do.

Tell the heads of your local soccer federations to boycott the Israeli soccer team and players indefinitely.

In a world where organizing for Palestine is shaped by a variety of creative actions and campaigns, cultural boycotts are impactful because of their accessibility. We can look back in time to when apartheid South Africa was completely cut off by the world culturally and academically. South African artists, academics, and sports were all isolated with the demand of dismantling the apartheid system; these boycotts helped pave the way for the fall of apartheid.

Sign this pledge to support a boycott of Israeli soccer teams from international sports.

Ordinary people have been taking action for Palestine every day as the governments of the world fail to stop Israel’s genocide. Donald Trump and Netanyahu recently presented their bogus “20-point plan” for Gaza. So what does it mean? That the Israel and U.S. are losing their own war, resorting to phony "peace-plans" that mean nothing but escalated violence. No amount of PR spin can mask Israel and the U.S.’s crimes. And the world knows it.

A cultural action for Palestine can have compounding social and political impact. If the apartheid state of Israel — which is actively committing genocide — is successfully cut off from the international sports arena where millions of people are watching, Netanyahu will have confirmation that he has lost his own game.

UEFA has recently paused its vote on suspending the Israeli soccer team because of Trump’s sham proposal. Senior UEFA officials have said, “this week’s developments… have changed the landscape.” The landscape has never changed, nor will it change while Israel is still committing genocide and occupation. We must put insurmountable pressure on bodies like UEFA to not give into fake “peace-plans” that negate the fact that Israel is a settler colonial apartheid state.

Gaza has been cut off from the rest of the world, its people starved and slaughtered. Now, it is being picked apart in a 20-point plan that openly calls for Israel to re-occupy Gaza and turn it into a technocratic state. Have the people of Gaza not experienced enough devastation? Now, Israel and the U.S. are scheming to seize control of Gaza in the name of real estate development. The mothers, fathers, and children of Gaza didn’t lose everything for their land to become a real estate project for the West.

While we still have the privilege of playing and watching our sports in a land untouched by bombs and rubble, the least we can do as sports lovers is to hold Israel accountable for its crimes against humanity.

👉 Here are more ways to engage:

Until Liberation,
Jenin and the entire CODEPINK team

Read the latest update on the pressure FIFA and UEFA are facing internationally.

Read The Hind Rajab Foundation’s report, “How Israeli Football Culture Became a Weapon of Genocide.”

Read archives of sports boycotts in apartheid South Africa that paved the way to liberation.

Make a one-time donation or choose monthly giving.

This email was sent to [email protected]. To unsubscribe, click here.

To update your email subscription, contact [email protected].