Celtic management must stand with the fans against UEFA & FIFA racism hypocrisy – for legal action

I received an email the day after Celtic fans demonstrated to the world that they will not stand idly by whilst UEFA & FIFA display absolute hypocrisy with regard to its own policy on racism, by not only failing abysmally to oppose Apartheid racism – the worst manifestation of racism, but seeks to punish the football fans that endeavour to highlight that hypocrisy,  whilst UEFA even rewards the Apartheid racism they claim to oppose.

Celtic fans demonstrate the hypocrisy of UEFA with regard to UEFA own policy on racism which rewards Apartheid the worst manifestation of racism.  UEFA said Celtic had been charged for displays of an “illicit banner” and added: “This case will be dealt with by the UEFA Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body on 22 September.”

The email via a marvellous campaigner against the Israeli illegal and brutal occupation of Palestine and its Apartheid racism,   contained a message regarding football and the six Israeli football clubs that are situated in Palestinian land, and is calling on Tokyo Sexwale to sort the matter out.    There is not a single mention in the document of the massacre of 561 innocent Palestinian children killed whilst playing football or sleeping peacefully in their beds in the middle of the night.  Draw your own conclusions. 

Tokyo Sexwale who served many years in jail with Mandela in Robben Island

We regular football fans don’t need to be painted by people who don’t know football as thoughtless selfish chauvinist male pigs telling others what their priorities should be, as genuine football fans would never put the cause of the game we love above the lives of the oppressed Palestinian people.

But like all abuses suffered by football in Palestine such as the killing and permanent maiming of players, the destruction of stadia, the delays in delivery of football equipment, theft of equipment, stopping of players at checkpoints preventing travelling to represent Palestine, etc the presence of 6 Israeli football clubs on Palestinian land is important, very important to FAA & Celtic fans.   But Celtic fans and all genuine football fans also know there is life outside of football. There is also oppression even death, and the massacre of 561 innocent children in July / August 2014 alone

Celtic fans and all real football fans are conscious of the suffering of all Palestinians, including football players and football fans, but refuse to seek concessions with regard to football alone, whilst hundreds of thousands of innocent Palestinians including completely innocent children suffer even die for belonging to the wrong ethnic / racial  group.   Our aim,  Celtic fans aim & the aim of all genuine football fans is to end all racism and in particular its worst manifestation – Apartheid racism & ethnic cleansing

 

The body of one of 4 boys from a single family playing football on the beach amongst 561 children killed by Israeli missile on 16 July 2014 just 3 Days after World Cup final.

Football Against Apartheid (FAA) including its Celtic fans will not sell out the oppressed people of Palestine and calls on all football fans world-wide to stand with us, because together we  can force change on Apartheid Israel as we did against Apartheid South Africa 40 years ago.
Football Against Apartheid & Celtic fans demands that  FIFA do NOT treat Apartheid Israel more favourably than it treated Apartheid South Africa when it expelled the latter from its ranks on 16 July 1976 at its FIFA Congress in Montreal by 78 votes to 9, with only Sir Harold Thompson speaking against the motion.   Apartheid racism was wrong for S A, and is wrong for Israel.    Zimbabwe was EXPELLED from the 2018 World Cup on 12 March 2015 for failing to pay its former coach a debt of $60,000 owed in wages.

But FIFA was not acting within democratic norms when it changed its Statutes (Page 32) to enable a select number of its members known as The Council (which in practice is a slight variation of what was hitherto known as the Executive Committee)  to veto any proposal to expel or suspend one of its members.  The new “council” (effectively re-naming the Executive Committee) will have 37 Members, 10 (9 +the President) will be UEFA and together with 9 others will form a 19 person controlling block, with the powers to VETO any proposal to EXPEL a member.    

The Football Association (English) is an even a less democratic body, and fans do not have a vote, but The British Army,  The British Navy, and British Air-force have representatives as does the elite universities of Oxford & Cambridge,  and almost certainly support Apartheid Israel as the FA supported Apartheid SA to the very last moment.   The FA like UEFA & FIFA requires change from top to bottom where  women & non white males & persons with disabilities are grossly under-represented, if we are to see the FA take a genuine stand against Apartheid Israel.

This change to the FIFA Statutes occurred at a special Congress in April 2016 which followed the congress in Zurich in 2015 where delegates were arrested by USA’s FBI and Swiss police during the night before the expected vote to expel Apartheid Israel from FIFA.

The Palestine Football Association were expected to move a resolution on 28 May 2014 on the floor  of the full congress to expel Apartheid Israel from FIFA,  but inexplicably the Palestine Football Association did not table the motion to expel.  The PFA opted instead for a handshake and agreement to establish a Monitoring Committee which was subsequently headed by Tokyo Sexwale following a year of inaction by Sexwale’s predecessor.

FAA & Celtic fans have commenced discussions with lawyers to formalise a legal challenge to this anti-democratic manoeuvre, a veto by a tiny minority of FIFA members to prevent FIFA Congress members moving a resolution to Expel Apartheid Israel from FIFA from the floor of Congress.

However anti-apartheid / anti-racist campaigners believe that there were many FIFA members who are prepared to move & second a resolution to ensure that Apartheid Israel is not treated more favourably than Apartheid South Africa which was expelled from FIFA on 16 July 1976 by 78 votes to 9 with only Sir Harold Thompson speaking against expulsion.

Sir Harold Thompson was the only speaker against the Expulsion of Apartheid SA on 16 July 1976

FAA & Celtic fans are fully aware that the FIFA decision to expel Apartheid SA gave new life to the wavering campaign against apartheid in South Africa and heralded the beginning of the end of the racist Apartheid system of oppression of all non whites.    FAA & Celtic fans also know through bitter experience of the hypocrisy of powerful institutions that not only tolerate racist oppression but also endorse it, and that such institutions including some national football associations must be opposed.

 

FIFA Congress did not base their decision on matters of football alone, as the vote followed the 16 June 1976 massacre of 167 Students in Soweto,  and FIFA rightly made no concessions to apartheid – the worst manifestation of racism.

Apartheid Israel carefully planned its 2014 assault on Gaza to commence after the FIFA Congress which was held in San Paulo on 9 /10 June where the Palestinian FA president Jibril Rajoub had announced plans to raise the issue of expulsion of Apartheid Israel.  There is little doubt that had Israel launched its attack before 9 June 2014 that Apartheid Israel would have been expelled from FIFA at that Congress.

The massacre of the 561 children took place after World Cup Final was held on 13 July 2014, starting with the killing of the 4 children playing football on the beach on 16th July 2014)

The assault on GAZA that killed 561 Innocent sleeping children as well as approx 1500 other Palestinian civilians, had as its excuse, the kidnap and killing of 3 Settler youths in The West Bank in retaliation for the Beituna killing of 2 Palestinian teenagers (one shot in the back) during Nakba day  demonstrations on 15 May.   The 3 settlers went missing on 12 June and their bodies “found” close to where they disappeared 18 days later on 30 June.

The Above incidents happened in The West Bank but Israel chose to blame Hamas to justify the  pre planned massacre of innocents and wanton destruction of homes in Gaza which commenced after the FIFA Congress and World Cup was over and delegates returned to their homes across the world.

Apartheid South Africa was EXPELLED from the Confederation of African Football in 1958, and never allowed back,

Apartheid Israel was expelled from Confederation of Asian Football in 1974 and NOT YET allowed back.

FAA & Celtic fans are aware that the FIFA decision to Expel Apartheid SA followed years of dirty deals by Sir Stanley Rous who was deposed as President of FIFA in 1974 following the entry of several African nations to FIFA.  We believe that the current battle against apartheid must be won in white dominated racist European institutions such as UEFA.

Sir Stanley Rous lied to the FIFA congress to prevent the expulsion of Apartheid SA

Sir Stanley Rous lied to FIFA Congress in 1964 to prevent the EXPULSION of SA, insisting to the the FIFA congress that during his visit (along with Joseph Maguire of USA) to SA and his “Investigation” in 1963 found no evidence that Black, Asian and Coloured footballers were discriminated against.   Based on this “new information” and pressure from the European dominated FIFA,  delegates voted to suspend rather than EXPEL.

We now see FIFA again appointing a person Tokyo Sexwale,  who on the face of it appears more than neutral, arriving as he did with his anti-Apartheid credentials, having served a prison sentence alongside Nelson Mandela on Robben Island for membership of the banned ANC and organising to overthrow Apartheid.   But Sexwale’s financial links and links to Blood Diamonds and concerns in S A about “business” dealings and connections may have made him vulnerable to “leverage” or as we call it blackmail.      Former FIFA vice-president Chuck Blazer was “leveraged”, or blackmailed  and used as a Spy by the FBI to get at certain FIFA officials including FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

Getting Sexwale on board was an exceptionally good coup for Apartheid Israel.

Despite the indication by Sexwale in a letter in August that his committee would present recommendations, Shlomi Barzel of the Israeli Football Association said his organisation had “no sense” where the issue was going, suggesting that any decisions would be left until next year’s Fifa congress (2017). The issue had the potential to become a “big problem for Israeli football”, Barzel said.  On the argument that 6 Israeli clubs were playing outside Israeli football’s territory, he said: “It is very simple. This has nothing to do with Fifa. Those areas are disputed.”      Did Tokyo take his lead from Shlomi Barzel?

The former Ambassador of Israel to South Africa, Ilan Baruch says of Sexwale:

“Referring to the Palestinian occupied territories as “territory in dispute” this coming from the mouth of a prominent South African leader as Tokyo is, undermines the Palestinian struggle way beyond the football and FIFA context. This in my view is a very anti-Mandela legacy, and very un-South African language”

Former ANC intelligence chief Ronnie Kasrils who was a minister in Mandela’s government says “Sexwale is a disgrace, to refer to Palestine as “disputed territory”

Sexwale certainly knows all about wheeling and dealing and will ensure that with the help of the former Imperial powers Britain, France, Germany, and others such as Australia, they can form a powerful block with USA and its Arab Royal friends in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Kuwait, Etc  to support a call to
(1)  Unite opposition to the expulsion of Apartheid Israel from FIFA to allow
(2)  “more time for Tokyo Sexwale – who is allegedly working hard to reach agreement between the parties  (As per Sir Stanley Rous’ efforts to support Apartheid in SA, and of course as The Oslo Accords which provided more time for new settlements)

There is even a Zionist campaign / plan for Apartheid Israel to “return to the Asian Football Confederation” that EXPELLED them in 1974.

The call by Football Against Apartheid for expulsion is simple, straight forward and easy to understand and support and has a defined clear goal and time scale of June 2018.

FAA & Celtic fans and all genuine football fans do not want to be seen to “sell out” the oppressed people of Palestine for concessions to elite football players, and managers etc whilst children are being massacred in their hundreds – 561 children alone two years ago during the assault on GAZA massacred whilst sleeping peacefully in their beds.   Celtic fans are not new to massacres of innocents, many of whom lost innocent loved ones in The Bloody Sunday massacre in Derry.

There are a great many arguments for getting football fans on board this Anti Apartheid campaign, as well as people from other walks of life, example athletics,  but not to undermine the campaign for equal treatment of Apartheid Israel with Apartheid South Africa who we expelled on 16 July 1976 by a massive 78 votes to 9.For example Israel had got representation in Rio at the 2016 Olympics but there was only one subtle protest  action for Palestine by Malasian cyclists.(see pic below)     Malasia has also withdrawn from hosting the 2017 FIFA Congress in Malasia because of the requirement to fly the Apartheid Israeli flag and issue visas to Apartheid Israeli officials.

  Malasian Cyclist Hasni Awang shows his support for Palestine at the Olympic Games 2016

Many football fans inside and outside South Africa believe that Tokyo Sexwale was brought in (willingly or unwillingly), to be the Sir Stanley Rous of Israel, to prevent any sanction against Apartheid Israel.

Many South Africans football fans believe that the “suspend” campaign may be conceived by Sexwale to split the campaign calling on FIFA to NOT treat Apartheid Israel more favourably than it treated apartheid SA.    Such a split will offer the Arab royal friends of Israel, in Bahrain, UAE, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman, Kuwait a back door route to save face and avoid voting for or against the EXPULSION of Apartheid Israel from FIFA.

Football Against Apartheid & Celtic fans and genuine football supporters believe that we can change the hypocrisy of the ruling bodies of Football, preferably by mass actions of fans or by legal action in the Courts if necessary.   The hypocrisy that enables UEFA to have a great policy on racism on paper, but uses it only to punish football clubs and individuals, mainly players for abusive words, bites, spits etc, or waving the flags of the victims of racism –  and the same  UEFA is completely hypocritical when it comes to Apartheid racism, the killer racism that kills people including  football players, massacres innocent children, renders hundreds of thousands of innocent people homeless, for being of the wrong race,  whilst the only punitive action against Apartheid was a mild threat by UEFA President Michel Platini in 2010, and many suspect that is why Platini is now Suspended without a hearing.

The hypocrisy of the institutional racism of UEFA is shameful in the extreme as it admitted apartheid Israel to its ranks in the full knowledge that it was expelled from the Asian Football Confederation in 1974 for reasons of Racism, and remains expelled.

 

The action that upsets the UEFA hypocrites more than the massacre of 561 innocent children playing football on the beach or roof or sleeping peacefully in their beds

But the hypocrisy of UEFA does not end there.   Whilst completely silent on the massacres aforementioned solely because the children were a different “race” being Palestinian, the same UEFA instructs football clubs to prevent their fans from alerting other fans to the fact that Apartheid racism – the worst manifestation of racism exists in the UEFA area of football jurisdiction and it not only kills Palestinian football players as young as 10 years, jails players without trial, prevents players from travelling to represent their country, but massacres hundreds of  wholly innocent children whilst sleeping peacefully in their beds.

The famous Anti Apartheid  (Against USA segregation laws) at 1968 Olympics.  

The hypocrisy of UEFA dives further into the racist mire by imposing fines on football clubs whose fans dare to actively carry out UEFA & FIFA policy by alerting the world to the fact that Apartheid Racism is not only tolerated by UEFA & FIFA but is rewarded with being selected to host prestige tournament finals, such as the Women’s Under 19 finals,  and the Men’s Under 21 Finals.

This Hypocrisy has highlighted only days ago on 17 August for two hours before kick-off and during the  UEFA qualifying match  Celtic – V – Hapoel Be’er Sheva,  when FAA and thousands of  Celtic fans demonstrated their objection to playing with representatives of the Apartheid State (no players or club officials have denounced the Apartheid Racism of their Government)

Fans demonstrate their objection to playing with apartheid outside the Celtic Stadium before the Celtic – V – Hapoel Be’er Sheva match

When Celtic fans demonstrated their objection inside the stadium to UEFA bringing Apartheid Racism onto the hallowed pitch upon which the ashes of our great anti racist anti apartheid ancestors has been laid, the UEFA officials delivered what may yet turn out to be a fatal blow to Israeli Apartheid racism.

The UEFA ultimate act of hypocrisy was to come the following day when UEFA publicly announced that it would “punish” Celtic Football Club for allowing its fans and supporters that have opposed racist abuse all their lives for doing what they always believed to be right, to never turn a blind eye to racism, to peacefully oppose racism, particularly Apartheid racism at every opportunity when it shows its ugly head.  We believe there is no wrong place, or no wrong time to oppose apartheid – the worst manifestation of racism.

 

Football Against Apartheid (FAA) alongside representatives of  Celtic Fans Against Apartheid, and others are calling for Celtic FC and all its fans to jointly take legal action against UEFA for (1)  UEFA’s  hypocritical failure to implement the UEFA anti racism policy in its worst manifestation – Apartheid Racism and enabling a team from a country that is currently expelled from its own Asian Football Confederation for racism to bring racist discord,  to the anti-racist football pitches of Europe, and (2) UEFA’s punitive action against fans who peacefully highlighted Israeli Apartheid racist state intervention in Palestinian football and racist ethnic cleansing of its civilian population.

Consultation / discussions have already commenced with a London Law Firm & a committee of FAA,  Celtic Fans Against Apartheid & other representatives of Celtic & its fans will be established ASAP to liaise with the lawyers.   Please advise in the comment box below if you wish to sit on the committee.

Be awesome if you can help in the struggle against apartheid racism by connecting with FAA on fb, Twitter below or by simply giving this report a “like” and sharing with others on fb, twitter etc.