Thursday, October 2, 2025

Expelling Israel from UEFA and FIFA isn't Anti-Semitic

   


    In the last hundred years, the Palestinian people have endured a number of catastrophes caused by Zionism and its offspring, Israel, which can be difficult to describe in words. Today, Israel uses anti-Semitism as an excuse to rationalize the world's outrage over its crimes against the Palestinian people. In fact, there is no hostility toward Jews, but rather anger and resentment toward Israel due to its genocide in Gaza. It’s a matter of fact that Israel's criminal behavior generates hatred against Zionism rather than anti-Semitism.

 

    Israel claims that every protest (including the call for the expulsion from UEFA and FIFA) against its crimes strengthens Hamas. There is a clear correlation between Israel's role as a victim and accusing others of anti-Semitism. By blaming others for anti-Semitism, Israel portrays itself as a victim, a mission that is a part of its policy.  Anti-Semitism is used to silence and repress anyone in support of Palestine. In Israel's perspective, the law is irrelevant to it, it is always above the law, and its ability to enjoy impunity is one of its most important advantages. And if the world criticizes it for its behavior, it will be viewed as anti-Semitism.

 

“A clear and simple way to define anti-Semitism is bigotry or discrimination against Jews just for being Jews. Palestinians have always clearly spoken out against anti-Jewish bigotry. It overtly conflates criticism of Israel and Zionism, on the one hand, with anti-Jewish bigotry, on the other,” wrote Nora Barrows-Friedman.

 

  According to Maura Finkelstein, anti-Semitism is used by Israel to divert focus from its genocide in Gaza, the real material violence that we should be condemning. Resistance to the Jewish supremacist project of Zionism, which is an inherently settler colonial project of genocide, is not anti-Semitic. It is instead an anti-colonial form of resistance.

 

  Israeli media criticized the Italian coach Gennaro Gattuso for breaking his silence in a courageous moment that upholds the ideals of sports and the spirit of the Olympics. During his speech, he described with great emotion his deep shame and anguish at facing the team of Israeli footballers.

 

     Israel is the one who is responsible for the humiliation. There is growing outrage and hatred worldwide due to its genocide in Gaza. Furthermore, it is difficult to exonerate these Israeli athletes, since most of them are supporting the war of ethnic cleansing and genocide against in Gaza. The majority of the younger generation in Israel has been affected by 'Nazification', a process that a large part of the younger generation has been subjected to as a result of Zionist ideology. Historically, Zionism has been viewed as a manifestation of racism and racial discrimination.

 

   Most of the protesters who protest the genocide in Gaza today are the same ones who condemned the Holocaust that was perpetrated on the Jews by Nazi Germany during the Second World War. The Jewish survivors of the Holocaust have condemned Israel's genocide and have declared that it was not committed in their name. We are also seeing large numbers of anti-Zionist Jews participating in the protests against the genocide in Gaza, doing their utmost to expose and discredit Zionism, demanding that the US administration stop sending weapons to Israel and halt the genocide in the Gaza Strip. The fact that many Jews (including intellectuals, artists, and clerics) condemn Israel, horrified by horrific scenes of murder and starvation, is not a surprise either. As a matter of fact, many observers and human rights workers have pointed out that Israel has outdone Nazism and fascism in terms of its crimes and arrogance.

 

The world is now aware, however, that criticizing Israel and speaking out about its occupation and genocide does not equate to anti-Semitism in any way. It is to be noted, however, that if Israel fails to accuse its opponents of anti-Semitism, it will have to come up with other methods filled with deception and falsity in order to justify its crimes and genocide in Palestine and create a bright image of itself around the world.

 

   In 1928, Arthur Ruppin, described by an Israeli writer as the “godfather” of Zionist colonization in Palestine, wrote:

 

It became clear to me how hard it is to realize Zionism in a way compatible with the demands of universal ethics. I was quite depressed.

 

This was not uttered by someone who was anti-Semitic, a Jew hater, but by someone who was a strong proponent of Zionism.

 

Moshe Sharett, Israel’s first Foreign Minister and later a Prime Minister once said:

 

I have learned that the state of Israel cannot be ruled in our generation without deceit and adventurism.

 

   In addition to being powerful tools for inclusion, sports are also essential instruments for the development of peace and development. In spite of the boundaries and differences between societal groups, they serve as a means of uniting people from all over the world in order to work together towards confronting global challenges. Sport, as a platform for social change, challenges biases and empowers marginalized communities, as well as their connections, through the platform of social change. Sport is a universal language that promotes the values of respect, dignity, equality, toleration, and fairness, and can be used to raise awareness, enhance understanding, and promote the application of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by promoting the values of respect, dignity, equality, and fairness.

 

    In recent years, it has become increasingly evident that the link between sport and human rights is unreliable due to a number of factors. One of sport missions is to bring about change in society and help those suffering injustice and inequality. It is unfortunate that sport governing institutions, such as the International Olympic Committee (IOC), FIFA, and others, have applied double standards to Israel. They do not consolidate the foundations of justice and equality. These institutions do not adhere to the statutes, constitutions, and principles upon which they were founded. Unfortunately, these principles are only used as rhetoric for the media and personal interests.

 

   On the one hand, we have heard a lot from these institutions about their fight against racial discrimination and anti-Semitism by speaking out against it. The reality we are witnessing now on the ground, especially the genocidal war being waged by Israel, is completely incompatible with the "humanitarian" principles on which these institutions were founded and continue to exist today. Silence and neutrality of the IOC, FIFA, UEFA, and others is a form of complicity in Zionist crimes in itself. It is a form of cooperation with the crimes.

 

 

 

 

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