Palestinians criticize FC Barcelona over possible match with Israeli team
Spain's elite soccer club has not confirmed it will play the Israeli team Beitar Jerusalem.
A top European soccer team is under fire for reportedly planning to play an Israeli team, though the game is not confirmed.
On Friday, a group of Palestinian soccer teams published an open letter to FC Barcelona urging the club to cancel a soccer match against Beitar Jerusalem, according to the boycott, divestment and sanctions (BDS) movement. The purported international friendly is set to take place Aug. 4 in Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium. The Palestinian teams said the event is an effort to distract from Israeli human rights abuses against Palestinians.
“As your colleagues, and as athletes who share a passion for sports and fair play, we don’t want to see your passion and name being abused by anyone, especially not by apartheid Israel’s propaganda in its desperate attempt to sports-wash the state’s continuous violations of international law and crimes against our Palestinian people,” the teams said, according to BDS.
BDS supports a variety of boycotts against Israel and Israelis, including in the cultural sphere, in opposition to Israel’s treatment of Palestinians. The statement specifically cited the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, where local Arabs are engaged in a property dispute with a group of Jews.
