Palestine football describes planned Barcelona game in Jerusalem as violation of rights
Occupied Palestine (QNN)- The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) criticized a planned exhibition match in occupied Jerusalem involving Spanish side Barcelona. The association said the game is a violation of rights.
In a letter to the world governing body FIFA, PFA chairman Jibril Rajoub said Jerusalem has been declared a divided city in a United Nations resolution and that Barcelona’s planned opponents Beitar Jerusalem are a racist club.
“Although we do not have the right to tell any club how to organize its friendly matches, we have the right to object to the choice of Jerusalem as the venue for the proposed match,” Rajoub said in the letter, which was also addressed to football’s European and Asian governing bodies, UEFA and AFC.
“According to international law, Jerusalem is a divided city and its eastern part is considered occupied Palestinian land, which gives the Palestinian Football Association jurisdiction over any football activities that take place in this part,” he continued.
The friendly match on August 4 is planned in the Malha district, the site of a Palestinian village that was ethnically cleansed by Zionist paramilitaries in the run-up to the establishment of ‘Israel’ in 1948.
The match is supposed to be held between Barcelona and Beitar Jerusalem. The latter is well-known for having the most racist fans, who chant “death to Arabs” slogans during games.
