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Sunday, March 03, 2013

Palestinians Say 'No Way' To Joint Peace Soccer Match With Israel

A Spanish soccer club suggested a peace match whereby Israeli and Palestinian players would play together against Barcelona in a July soccer game in Tel Aviv.  The Palestinians said no way.

“I totally refuse a joint Israeli-Palestinian soccer game, because this means that we are normalizing with our enemies in Israel, and it is not just me who refuses this, all the Palestinian people do,” said Muhammad Siksik, a Palestinian resident in Gaza. “The reason for our [rejection] is because the Palestinian cause cannot be politicised through a sport game with Barcelona. I, as a Barcelona fan, refuse this proposal,” added another Gaza resident, Jawdat Ashour.

[snip]

The head of the Palestinian Football Association in Ramallah, Jibril Rajoub, said there were many obstacles standing in the way of the proposed game.

“For us sport is a tool for spreading love, stability and co-operation with all the world. But the possibility of playing a soccer game with Israeli participants in the absence of Israeli recognition of a national Palestinian sporting body, in accordance with the Olympic charter, and in the absence of recognizing the right of the Palestinian sporting body to practice sport, I think without achieving all this, playing this game will not be possible,” Rajoub told Reuters Television.

Full article here.

If they can't even entertain the idea of a 'peace' match, there's no way in hell there ever will be peace between Israel and Palestine.

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