BDS victory: Puma will not renew its sponsorship of Israel’s national football team.

Members of the Palestinian national team never just played to win. They played to bring Palestine to the world, and the world into Palestine.

But the new generation of aspiring footballers want to bring the World Cup home. If Morocco’s historic victories this year have taught us anything, it is that nothing is impossible.

If Israel is ever chosen to host the World Cup, the world must must know: Israel has as much respect for football as it does for Palestinian lives

We can rejoice that Morocco has catapulted Africa and the Arab World into World Cup history, but if we support Palestine, we must also support the Sahrawi people’s struggle for liberation.

As the World Cup enters its final 10 days, many can only guess at who might take home the whole thing. What can be said for certain, however, is that Palestine has won people’s hearts, and captivated the world’s attention like no other — and their team isn’t even playing.

Al Khader Sports Club is calling on the Uruguay national soccer team to decline Israel’s offer for it to train in the occupied Palestinian territory. 

FIFA says it wants to make football “accessible and inclusive.” But Israel is criminally denying Palestine access to the sport. FIFA should follow the anti-Israel-apartheid petition launched by the Canadian group Just Peace Advocates and affirm: Countries that systemically violate human rights are not allowed to play in FIFA matches. Respecting that means honoring Palestinians’ right to live, play and enjoy soccer free from Israeli oppression.

What took the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa decades to achieve was carried out against Russia in a matter of hours and days– including FIFA adopting measures to punish Russian teams and athletes. Palestinians are baffled, since they have been informed by FIFA, time and again, that “sports and politics don’t mix”. Not only are Israeli athletes welcomed in all international sports events, the mere attempt by individual athletes to register a moral stance in support of Palestinians, by refusing to compete against Israelis, can be very costly.

Palestinians activists are protesting this weekend at storefronts and offices for the German athletic wear manufacturer Puma. The reason? Puma sponsors the Israel Football Association (IFA), which includes six teams in settlements in the West Bank.

Three years ago Palestinian soccer players Adam Jamous and Jawahar Halbiyeh were attacked by Israeli forces on their way home from practice in occupied Jerusalem. Both players were shot in their legs, Jawahar 10 times and Adam three times, ending their playing careers. Today, as FIFA considers the future of Israeli teams based in illegal West Bank settlements, the ex-players say the future of Israeli teams is less important than the rights of Palestinians: “Let them keep the settlement teams, but stop Israel from holding our players for hours at checkpoints, imprisoning and shooting us. By the time we were 17, which is when a player is really preparing to go professional, at least 50 percent of our team had been arrested by Israeli forces.”