Why are we asking to suspend the Israel Football Association? Presentation.

1. IS THE ISRAEL FA INNOCENT FROM THE
ACTIONS OF THE STATE IT REPRESENTS?
Why are we asking to
suspend the Israel FA?

2. Human rights’
violations
Restrictions on
Movement
Restrictions on
building/maintaining
football
Infrastructure
Restrictions on the
import and export of
Sport goods
Political intervention
in the organization
of friendly matches
abroad
Let us see how the Israeli occupation hinders the
development of Palestinian Football:

3. The list of human rights’
violations committed by
the Israeli occupation is
endless. It includes killing
players and officials,
arresting the same
without charges, maiming
footballers on intent, and
simply standing between
footballers and their basic
right to play.
1- Human Rights’ violations

4. Player Mahmoud Kamel
Mohammad Sarsak:
imprisoned by Israeli
authorities for more than 3
years without trial ever since
the 22nd of July 2009. He was
arrested by the Israeli forces
as he was on his way from
Gaza to the West bank to play
with his new club, “Markaz
Balata”. He was released in
2012 after 90 days of being on
a hunger strike, and was only
released after the much
appreciated intervention from
the President of FIFA and
other sport governing bodies.
Examples:

5. In February 2013, Israeli troops
arrested 16 children who were playing
football in the pitch of their school
located in the village of “Tel”, near the
city of Nablus. The boys learned that
the Israeli occupation forces had
kidnapped two of their group near the
pitch, and had gone outside to see what
happened when the whole group was
kidnapped and taken to a military
detention camp in Huwwarah. They
were only released late at night, after
lengthy talks between the Palestinian
civil office and the Israeli military.

6. On Thursday 31/1/2013, Abu Dis club player
Johar Nasser Aldeen Halabiyeh, born
14/9/1994, and his cousin Adam (18-years old)
,were brutally attacked and shot by Israeli Army
soldiers at around 11:15 p.m. They were shot by
live bullets mainly in the knees and lower body.
And as if shooting was not enough, they were
both savagely beaten by the soldiers, while their
assault dogs participated in the attack and
nearly took a chunk of Johar's arm
After the assault, they were arrested. The Israeli
soldiers refused to let Palestinian medical teams
treat them, and took them instead to Hadas Ein
Karem Israeli hospital.
On 29/4/2014, Israeli authorities
arrested players Johar and Adam
Halbiyeh, as they were heading back to
Palestine, after being treated for their
injuries in Jordan.

7. On 10/3/2014 a young player
from Bittin, Saji Darweesh, 18
years old, who plays for his
village's local team, was shot
dead by an Israeli army sniper.
Saji had finished herding his
flock of sheep, and was taking
a short cut to his home,
according to witnesses, when
he was shot by the sniper
hiding in the bushes close by.
According to the Israeli report,
Saji posed no threat to the
soldier, yet the latter shot him,
and the boy was left there
gasping for his life while a
Palestinian Ambulance coming
to help him was being hindered
by the Israeli forces.

8. On 24/11/2013, an Israeli Special Police
Force arrested and physically assaulted
Mr. Basel Mahmud, the Coach of Al-
Isawiyah Club’s Women’s team. Mr.
Mahmud was departing the club after
concluding a training of his team,
headed for his sister’s house, when he
was assaulted and beat up.

9. 2- Restrictions on movement
• Israeli checkpoints prevent players from
moving freely between Palestinian cities
• Players living abroad are often denied
permits to enter the Palestinian territories.
• Players from Gaza Strip are denied access to
the West Bank.
• The occupation authorities delay players for
long periods at the borders leading to Jordan.
This is exhausting and negatively affects their
performance.
• Difficulty in bringing together all the national
team players for training obliges PFA to set
up training camps outside Palestine.
It’s well worth noting that, between the years
2002 and 2004, Israeli Authorities had banned
every Palestinian under 35 years of age from
travelling out of Palestine.

10. 2-1: Restrictions on movement:
Movement within Palestine (between Gaza and
the West Bank)
• It is not permitted for Palestinians to freely
move between Gaza and the West Bank. A
permit from the District Coordination
Office (DCO), is needed for that. To obtain
the permit, a Palestinian is obliged to state
the reasons for the visit, and present an
invitation, and then wait for God-knows-how-
much; It can be 3 days, a month, or an
eternity. Once the permit is obtained, there’s
an expiry date to observe, and a new
procedure to go through for renewal.
One thing to be noted about the permit that a
Gazan gets to visit the west bank, is that the
permit is city-specific, so if you were a Gazan
who got a permit valid for Ramallah, you would
risk being deported back to Gaza if an Israeli
check point caught you in the wrong city.

11. Until this moment, no Board meeting (that
includes all board members from the west bank
and Gaza) has been held in full in Palestine
since 2008 due to these Israeli restrictions
The only full meeting of the
PFA Board was held abroad
in Lebanon in 8/2/2012.

12. A footballer is faced with one or many
of these scenarios:
• If from Gaza, he or she may not get
a permit from the Israeli side to get
out from Gaza, and join the team in
the west bank, so Gazan players
have to travel separately and join
their teams abroad.
• checkpoints may prevent players
from travelling by restricting
movement between cities, not to
mention that security checks at
Israeli checkpoints can be
humiliating.
• Facing obstruction and delay at the
borders may result in players
missing their flights.
2-2: Restrictions on movement in and out of
Palestine:

13. • In the past years, FIFA
and confederation officials
have been stopped for no
reason at borders and
checkpoints. Even the
FIFA President in 1999
and 2008 and the UEFA
President faced this
experience.
• In the 2012 edition of Al-
Nakba tournament, the
Pakistani team had to play
without its Head Coach,
and the Jordanian team
without a few of its key
players.
2-3: Restrictions on movement:
Visiting teams and officials

14. Even FIFA, AFC officials, and journalists were
denied entry to Palestine:
In May 2012, Mr. David Borja, a high-ranking FIFA
official was denied boarding to his EL AL flight in
Zurich by the Israeli security. They said they did
not have enough time to check his security
background, and he had to book another flight.
In February 2013, AFC Instructor Mr. Windsor
John, currently the AFC Acting General Secretary,
who was supposed to conduct an MO course in
Ramallah, was denied an entry permit by the
Israeli authorities without reason.
On 16/6/2013, the PFA applied for permits for 95
sport journalists, who wanted to cover the FIFA
President’s visit of 7-8 July 2013. Only 64 received
approval, while 31 were rejected.
Examples:

15. • Banning the building –or hindering the
completion of – stadiums and other
infrastructure by reverting to the
limitations of the restrictive “zoning”
regime implemented by the Israeli
occupation, which uses references to
British Mandatory Regulation plans
dating back to the 1940s
• This “zoning” divides Palestinian lands
into areas “A”, “B” & “C” choking the
growth of the Palestinian population,
and its ability to build any
infrastructure outside the densely
populated major cities.
3- Obstructions to infrastructure:

16. A closer look at this colonial tool tells us
the following:
• Palestinians can build on only 17.9% of
the West Bank. This small portion is
already occupied by the main cities & their
immediate surroundings
• Areas “B” (including 3% of non-buildable
green areas) form 22.9% of the west bank,
while areas “C” take up the remaining
59.2%
• Israeli occupation has freely used the
“zoning” tool to deem FIFA projects in “C”-
and even “B” areas- virtually impossible

17. Example: FIFA Natural Grass GP in “Beit
Liqya” deemed impossible:
The village itself is in area “A”,
while the filed is located in
Areas “B” and “C”
The Palestine FA’s request to obtain a
building permit were denied by the
Israeli occupation due to "security
considerations", and the project was
thus forfeited.

18. The long list of the sport facilities
destroyed in Gaza includes:
• The Palestine Olympic Committee,
• Palestine Stadium
• Ittihad Al-Shja’iyah Club,
• Football Union Club,
• Al-Shams Club,
• Al-Shuhadaa Club,
• Ahali Al-Nuseirat Club ,
• Khadamat Deir Al-Balah Club, Shabab
Jabalia Club,
• Shabab rafah Club,
• The Sports city,
• Gaza Al-Riyadi Club,
• Al-Hilal Al-Riyadi Club
The situation in not better in Gaza. The
Israeli war machine has destroyed
almost every existing sport
infrastructure there.

19. Alyarmuk Stadium
Gaza

20. Palestine Stadium

21. Paralympics
Palestine Stadium
Rafah Stadium

22. Al-Shams Club
Gaza Sport Club
PFA - Gaza

23. Jabalia youth
club
Rafah youth sport club
Nuseirat ahli youth club

24. Palestine Olympic
Committee
Rafah youth sport club
shijaeiya club

25. Israeli special forces storm a
football field:
• Date: 4th of March, 2013
• Location: Jabal Al-Zaitun pitch,
Al-Tur village, near Jerusalem.
• Reason: The organization of an
official U14 league match
between Jabal AI-Zaitun and
Nadi al-Moathafin clubs.
• Details: The joint force of Israeli
special troops and intelligence
officers (fully armed) threatens
the two children teams, their
parents, the staff and spectators
that they will revert to the use of
force if they did not clear the
premises at once.
• Result: The Israeli force closes
the pitch and issues a warning
that prohibits anyone from
returning to the place in the
future
But it doesn’t stop
here:

27. On the morning of 30/4/2014, Israeli
military forces handed the
Administration of the Islami Qalqiliya
club a military order informing them that
the club is closed until 13/12/2014. The
same force sealed the entrance and
warned the administration not to enter
the place until the date specified in the
military order.
On 31/1/2014, Israeli forces
shot tear gas grenades around
Faisal al-Husseini stadium, just
as a Pro league match was
being played. The referee had
to cancel the match, since both
players and spectators could
not breathe, not to mention the
referees.

28. Shipments enter supposedly through either Jordan or
Israel via Israeli ports or Ben Gurion Airport.
To obtain the release of this donated equipment, the
Palestinian customs authority must provide the Israeli
customs authority with a number of documents so the
latter can decide whether the equipment is released:
In the past years, on several opportunities, donated
equipment sent by FIFA and UEFA has not been
received or was released only after the payment of
exorbitant fees.
Hindering Sports Shipment:
Red tape customs procedures

29. The PFA submitted
a proposal for the
agenda of the 63rd
FIFA Congress held
in Mauritius in 2013
to ask for help in
solving these issues
Efforts developed by the FIFA
President, in cooperation with
the Asian and European
confederations (AFC and
UEFA), have resulted in three
meetings held in the FIFA
headquarters in Zurich, visits
in the region in July 2013 and
May 2014, and a mechanism
based on the appointment of
“liaison officers” in FIFA, the
PFA and the Israel Football
Association (IFA) to help solve
the issues of movement,
shipments, and infrastructure;
by the FIFA 64th Congress,
the mechanism had not
produced any real progress,
which necessitated the
appointment of a FIFA
neutral monitor to report on
the mechanism to the FIFA
EXCO meeting of
December 2014
The neutral monitor
submitted both his report
and his resignation to the
FIFA EXCO.The Israeli
occupation forces had
raided the PFA
Headquarters just as he
was conducting a meeting
in their command
headquarters, and the
message was clear..
Faced with these issue, the Palestine FA
came with a complaint to FIFA

30. The Israel Football Association
justifies the actions of the Israeli
occupation and is in breach of more
than one article of the FIFA statutes:
1- The IFA has demanded, in a letter sent to
FIFA on 25 August 2013 that “the Palestine
Football Association MUST operate through
the formal channels of the state of Israel”
which is a serious violation of Article 17-1 of
the FIFA statutes that clearly states that
“Each Member shall manage its affairs
independently and with no influence from
third parties.”
Now you might ask: What does the Israel Football
Association have to do with this?

31. 2- The absence of a stance by the
IFA, against discrimination and
racism, in the areas under its
jurisdiction constitutes direct
violation of article 3 of the FIFA
statutes
Only in Israeli soccer can a club
block Arabs from joining its ranks,
and harsh violence is treated
solely as a disciplinary infraction,
to be handled by the Israel
Football Association’s internal
court.
What does the Israel Football Association
have to do with this?!

32. Name: Betar Eroni
Ma’aly Adomim
Address:
Yahloum Sqware 1, Ma’aly
Adomin P.O. Box: 62
League: B League , South B
3- The IFA continues to organize
football official activities in areas
under the jurisdiction of another
association, including allowing
clubs in illegal Israeli colonies
located in internationally
recognized Palestinian territories
(as per UN Security Council
resolutions (S/RES/242) and
(S/RES/338), and UN General
Assembly resolution (A/RES/67/19)
to play, and be registered, in the
Israel FA league, which constitutes
a violation of articles 10-1, 13-1/i
and 17-1 of the FIFA statutes.
What does the Israel Football Association
have to do with this?!

33. The Israel Football
Association, or
Israeli authorities,
submit written
guarantees to
FIFA that :It will
respect the FIFA
statutes by
recognizing that the
Palestine Football
Association is the
sole governing body
responsible for
organizing and
supervising football
in all of its forms in
the territory of
Palestine (Article 10-
1 of the FIFA
Statutes).
The Israel FA shall
fully recognize that
the Palestine FA is
entitled to enjoy
the following rights
without any
restriction or
intervention from
the Israeli
occupation or any
other third party:
The right of
movement of
football people and
goods into, out of,
and within Palestine
including East
Jerusalem.
The right of the PFA
to develop football
infrastructure and
facilities in the
territory of Palestine
including East
Jerusalem.
The right to import
and export sport
goods in and out of
Palestine.
The settlement
clubs are banned
from playing
football in
competitions
organized by the
IFA because they
are located in the
internationally-
recognized
territory of
Palestine and
because they
participate in these
competitions
without the FIFA
authorization
defined as per
Article 84 of the
same FIFA statutes
The Israel FA shall
uphold its
obligation to FIFA
in taking a stance
against
discrimination and
racism (Article 3 of
the FIFA statutes)
by taking serious
measures against
racism and human
rights violations
within its area of
jurisdiction.
It is so easy for the IFA to avoid any
suspension proposals if:

34. PALESTINE FOOTBALL
ASSOCIATION
Thank you for your attention