By Paul Nicholson
April 3 – Video footage of the Israeli attack on the Faisal Al Husseini international stadium on March 30 has been released (see below) as well as more detail of the attack itself and the use of rubber bullets fired into the VIP area.
The rubber bullets were fired into an area where the Turkish ambassador to Palestine was being hosted by Palestinian FA president Major General Jbril Rajoub. There were no injuries and the VIP guests were escorted to safety.
About 10pm on Thursday March 30, two Israeli armoured vehicles broke into the stadium. Soldiers exited the vehicles and began firing tear gas from behind a wall and directly in to the stadium.
The match – being played between two of the West Bank Premier League’s leading teams, Jabal Al Mukkabber and Balata FC – was stopped to treat the injured which included women and children.
The videos show fans spilling on to the pitch and climbing terrace fencing to escape the tear gas and find safety.
The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has issued a statement condemning “the unjustified and horrific attack by Israeli forces on players and fans during the Abu Ammar Cup final”.
“During this attack, the Israeli forces used tear gas and rubber bullets, which led to stopping the match, as a result of many players and fans, including children and women, suffering from shortness of breath, as a result of tear gas inhalation, and they had to be treated on the field or transferred to the hospital,” said the statement.
“The AFC calls for an end to all forms of violence carried out by the Israeli forces against the Palestinian people, and affirms its solidarity with the Palestinian Football Association and the entire football community in Palestine.”
Israeli forces fire tear gas and rubber bullets. Click here to see video.
Israeli border police have acknowledged the attack in a statement, saying: “There was a disturbance near the stadium. We had an activity to prevent the infiltration of illegal residents at a very close point. The forces used means to disperse demonstrations towards the rioters. It spilled onto the field but was not aimed at the field.”
However, the footage clearly shows tear gas being fired into the stadium and the statement does not explain why rubber bullets were indiscriminately fired into the stands.
Last week FIFA removed the hosting of the U20 World Cup that is due to kick off in in May from Indonesia.
A predominantly Muslim country, the ruling Indonesian Democratic Party of Struggle (PDI-P) had been critical of Israel’s participation in the tournament, while Bali’s governor Wayan Koster had written to the Ministry of Youth and Sports imploring them to “adopt a policy forbidding the Israeli team from competing in Bali” due to the conflict with Palestine.
With the Israelis unable to compete, FIFA made the only decision it could and withdrew the tournament from Indonesia.
Following the decision to remove the hosting rights, the Palestinian issued their own statement saying: “The Palestine Higher Council of Youth and Sports and the Palestinian sport family regret the world’s football governing body (FIFA)’s decision to strip Indonesia of the hosting rights of his year’s under-20 World Cup in response to nationwide protests against Apartheid Israel and stand with Indonesia and the Indonesian sport family.
“Though we believe sports and politics need to be separated, it is hard to turn a blind eye to national demands because this negates democracy. The Palestinian people are suffering death and destruction at the hands of an occupation empowered by the most extremist, racist, right-wing government in Israel’s short modern history; an occupation that is giving free reign to the vandalism of a blood thirsty settlers intent on emptying populated Palestinian villages of their people by lethal force. Indonesian people practiced their democratic right to ask racism be banned and the country got punished for that expression.”
The statement went on to criticise FIFA, comparing the Palestine situation to that of Ukraine and arguing that FIFA “must employ equal standards in the affairs of international football. Indonesia would not have been in this situation had FIFA enforced its rules in the case of Israel as it did in Russia.”
“It is both perplexing and sad to see the double standards employed by the civilized world in response to similar scenarios when performed by different actors; for while taking a split-second decision to bar Russia from international competitions over its invasion of the Ukraine, both the IOS and FIFA have refrained for decades from taking any small measure against Israeli for its illegal occupation of Palestine, it’s ongoing violations against human rights, its racism, segregation and systematic destruction of Palestinian infrastructure. Instead, FIFA decides to punish those who stand with the victims, rather than punish the perpetrators,” said the statement.
Three hours after this statement was released the Israelis attacked the Faisal Al Husseini stadium.
Contact the writer of this story at moc.l1681806396labto1681806396ofdlr1681806396owedi1681806396sni@n1681806396osloh1681806396cin.l1681806396uap1681806396. Additional reporting by Samindra Kunti.
