AA / Paris / Ümit Dönmez
An intense boycott campaign, relayed by the EuroPalestine website, calls on the players of the French team not to participate in the France-Israel match, scheduled for November 14 at the Stade de France. In an article published on November 11, EuroPalestine relayed this call, calling the event a “France-Genocide match,” and urging players to question the ethical implications of their participation in such a context.
The campaign videos are aimed directly at footballers, reminding them of their status as “ambassadors of France and role models for millions of young people”. In a strong message, a speaker underlines the influence of French players as world reference figures, “not only for their qualities as players, but also for the impact that their actions can have well beyond the playing fields “. The speaker draws the athletes’ attention to “the tragic and unjust situation of the Palestinian people”, urging them to take a stand against “the blockade, the bombings, the massacres, the famine, the torture, the rapes, the genocide” which The Palestinians would be victims.
The initiators of the campaign encourage players to act as spokespersons for the oppressed, comparing this position to that of great committed sporting figures such as Mohamed Ali, Arthur Ashe and Cathy Freeman, whose actions “have remained in history, not only for their talent, but above all for their commitment.” The players are called to seize this “privileged and historic opportunity” to refuse to participate in the match, thus denouncing the violence perceived as the “worst atrocities of a colonial and genocidal state”.
This gesture, say the promoters of the boycott, would reinforce admiration for French players and show that “sport can be a platform for noble and human values”. Football fans and online activists are joining the call, with hashtags and messages of support for the Palestinians.
As a reminder, the “Stop Genocide” collective indicated, in a press release, that it had requested last Tuesday the cancellation of the France-Israel match, during a meeting with the general director of the French Football Federation (FFF), the day after a mobilization at the FFF headquarters, where the collective’s activists had occupied the premises.
The FFF allegedly told the delegation that it “understood” the anger aroused by this event, according to comments reported by Stop Genocide. The officials of the institution even admitted having expressed their “concern” about this meeting to UEFA, the European football organization, as well as to the French authorities, from the start of the competition. Despite this, they believe that the decision is out of their hands and point to UEFA as the sole decision-maker, affirming that France “had orders” to maintain the match, despite the tensions aroused by the situation in Palestine.
Since a cross-border Hamas attack in October 2023, Israel has continued its aggression on the Gaza Strip, despite a United Nations Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire. Since then, more than 43,500 people have been killed, mainly children and women, and more than 100,000 others have been injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.
Israeli aggression has displaced almost the entire population of the territory under an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, drinking water and medicine. Israel is accused of perpetrating “genocide” in Palestine before the International Court of Justice.
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