Letter sent to FIFA ahead of Executive Committee meeting where the first report of the Task Force Israel Palestine will be discussed
International Federation of Association Football
FIFA-Strasse 20
P.O. Box 8044
Zurich, Switzerland
Attention: Mr Sepp Blatter, President; Members of the Executive Committee
Re: Task Force Israel Palestine
Dear Mr Blatter and FIFA Executive Committee members,
We have been following with interest the new Task Force Israel Palestine and consider it a first step in confronting the grave difficulties Palestinian football endure due to severe limitations on movement. It demonstrates your awareness of the conditions that make a normal sporting life impossible for Palestinians. We appreciate your efforts, however, we feel certain that you are also aware of the fact that it is impossible to separate the problems faced by athletes due to restrictions on movements from those encountered in the daily lives of each and every person living in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza. Footballers struggle against the same conditions as all Palestinians and it would be wrong to consider them as special citizens, separated from their people. To do so would go against the sporting values of equality and anti-discrimination.
We ask you to call the attention of Task Force members to the injustices suffered by the entire Palestinian people and the necessity to work towards eradicating them, for everyone. Any measures that fall short of this goal will damage the credibility of FIFA and contribute to furthering the very conditions you aim to change.
Yours sincerely,
Cartellino Rosso all'Apartheid Israeliana
Red Card Israeli Apartheid – Italy