AA / Paris / Ümit Dönmez
Two days before the Football match between France and Israel, scheduled for November 14 at the Stade de France, Olivia Zemor, president of the EuroPalestine association and member of the “Stop Genocide” collective, publicly called on the players of the French team to boycott the meeting. She describes the event as “an attempt to whitewash genocide through sport” and asks French athletes not to support “the brutal oppression of Palestinians carried out by Israel”.
In an interview granted this Tuesday to Anadolu, Olivia Zemor strongly criticized the decision of the French Football Federation (FFF) and the government to maintain the Nations League match. The president of EuroPalestine considers this choice as a form of legitimization of the actions of the Israeli state. “The French Government is terribly guilty of asking the players of the French team to play a match against a team which represents a genocidal state,” she declared, insisting on the importance for French athletes to take a stand in a context of acute humanitarian crisis in Palestine.
– Alarming figures and a historical reminder
Zemor puts forward worrying figures on the repression of Palestinian athletes: “In one year, 450 Palestinian athletes were murdered by Israel, including more than 200 footballers,” she emphasizes. She specifies that this violence is far from being isolated or recent cases: “Palestinian athletes, particularly footballers, have been unable to train for decades, have been imprisoned, killed or injured, and their stadiums are regularly destroyed. “. She recalls emblematic cases, such as that of Mahmoud Sarsak, Palestinian football player, imprisoned without formal charges and having led a 91-day hunger strike to protest against his arbitrary detention. For Zemor, these persecutions are part of a policy of physical and symbolic elimination of Palestinians.
The president of EuroPalestine also criticizes the players of the Israeli team, saying that “many of them are army reservists” and that “some, when they are not in sports attire, appear in videos and photos in military uniform. Zemor points out that Israeli players have never protested against violence against Palestinians, despite their symbolic role as representatives of their country. She thus calls on French footballers to ask themselves “if they can agree to compete sportingly against a team which, indirectly or directly, participates in the oppression of a people”.
– Politicization of sport: double standards?
In her speech, Olivia Zemor denounces what she calls a “hypocrisy of French sports policy”, which advocates neutrality, but practices “double standards”. She emphasizes that “Russia and Belarus have been excluded from all sports competitions for political reasons, for the invasion of Ukraine”, while Israel, accused of violating international law in Palestine, continues to participate in international sporting events. “We cannot say ‘don’t politicize sport’ and let Israel participate without it being a problem,” she insists, referring to a recent statement by French President Emmanuel Macron. Zemor calls on the FFF to reconsider its ethical values and “not to turn a blind eye” to the humanitarian implications of the sporting event.
EuroPalestine and the “Stop Genocide” collective also met with the general director of the FFF last week to express their request for the match to be canceled. According to a press release from the collective, the FFF declared that it “understood the anger” aroused by the continuation of the meeting, while explaining that it was constrained by decisions taken at European level, in particular by UEFA.
– Call for players to position themselves
As part of this boycott campaign, videos and messages are circulating online, encouraging footballers from the French team to “seize the opportunity to denounce atrocities against Palestinian civilians” by refusing to play. “French footballers are ambassadors, they embody the values of fraternity and respect for millions of young people,” underlines a message from the campaign. Players are called to draw inspiration from committed athletes like Mohamed Ali or Arthur Ashe, who, according to EuroPalestine, “showed that sport can be a powerful vector of justice and human values”.
Zemor specifies that several French players would find themselves in a difficult situation, some having withdrawn for “medical reasons” on the eve of the match. According to her, this discreet withdrawal reveals “a moral hesitation” on the part of the athletes who, for her, cannot “agree to participate in an event which legitimizes the practices of a state accused of genocide”. She also evokes the fear of sanctions for players who refuse to go on the field, while encouraging them to show courage and solidarity towards the Palestinians.
– A context of tension 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.
The “Stop Genocide” collective accuses the French Government of “complicity in genocide”. “Instead of taking sanctions, they encourage the Israeli state with arms shipments and diplomatic support,” Zemor said when interviewed by Anadolu. The president of EuroPalestine also mentions the presence of more than 4,185 French people in the Israeli army. Finally, she criticizes the reception of Isaac Herzog, Israeli president, during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games, deploring “honors given to a State which persecutes civilians”.
On the eve of the France-Israel football match, the question that arises for French footballers is therefore that of ethical commitment. For Zemor and the activists of the boycott campaign, refusing to play would be a significant gesture of solidarity, showing that sport cannot be used to “whitewash a genocide”. While social networks amplify the debate, many supporters and citizens share EuroPalestine’s call, describing this match as a “moral test” for players and French sports authorities.
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