Palestine at FIFA, Update 2
This is essentially a story of two halves: before the Palestinian Football Association submitted its proposal for the Israeli Football Association to be suspended, and after.
1) The Telegraph: Palestinian Football Association drops bid to suspend Israel from Fifa clearest account, May 29th;
2) Ma’an: PFLP slams decision to drop bid to suspend Israel from FIFAm May 30th;
3) Time: 2nd half, Loretta Lynch steps in;
4) Time: Palestinians Hope FIFA Corruption Scandal Won’t Affect Motion to Expel Israel, May 27th;
5) Ha’aretz Israel reaches compromise, staving off Palestinian FIFA expulsion bidm Baraj Ravid on the deal;
6) WAND: FIFA confirmed it will be business as usual at their Congress, 28-29 May, the Al Shafie Miles briefing;
7) Sky news: Israel Fighting To Stay In World Football;
8 Reuters: FIFA’s Blatter sketches compromise in Israeli-Palestinian dispute;
Jibril Al Rajoub shakes hands with Ofer Eini, chairman IFA, May 29th, 2015. AFP photo.
Palestinian Football Association drops bid to suspend Israel from Fifa
Palestinian Football Association instead calls for committee to monitor Israeli infringement of Fifa rules, including allegations of racism
By Inna Lazareva, Tel Aviv, Daily Telegraph
May 29, 2015
The Palestinian Football Association (PFA) have dropped their bid to suspend Israel from Fifa in a dramatic u-turn.
Instead of tabling a motion before Fifa’s 209 member congress to suspend Israel from the footballing body, the Palestinians presented a watered down proposal, which was passed by a majority of 165 Fifa members voting for and 18 against.
The new proposal seeks to establish a committee looking into Israeli racism in football, the freedom of movement for Palestinian football players and transfer of equipment, and the controversial status of five Israeli teams based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Jibril Rajoub, the head of PFA, said the change of tack came due to pressure from dozens of presidents of football associations around the world who called on him not to put Israel’s suspension to a vote.
“It does not mean that I give up the resistance,” said Mr Rajoub on Friday.
Earlier this year, the Palestinians said that they will table a motion to suspend [the IFA] from the association due to alleged racism in Israeli football and discriminatory policies by the Israelis towards the Palestinian football players and associates.
Complaints about racism in Israeli football have been mounting in recent years, with one team singled out in particular. An extremist group of hooligans within the Beitar Yerushalaim fan base – nicknamed ‘La Familia’ – have ripped and burned copies of the Koran at matches, held up anti-Arab placards in the bleachers, and stormed the football field to attack Arab players of another team.
The team’s coach came under fire two months ago for saying that he would not accept an Arab player on his squad.
Abdallah Jaber, a 22-year-old Israeli-Arab player on the Palestinian national team told The Telegraph he encountered racism when he played in Israeli teams, despite being born there, speaking fluent Hebrew and studying at Tel Aviv university.
“It’s enough just to hear two Jews say that ‘this is an Arab’, and that ‘you have to stay far away from him’. They think that Arabs are terrorists.
“I decided to leave everything there, and come here,” he said.
Palestinian protester holds red card at a protest today. Uncredited photo.
Furious at these incidents, and other grievances concerning access and movement restrictions imposed on Palestinian football players and high tariffs imposed by Israel on donated equipment, the PFA promised to take the matter all the way to Fifa congress.
In recent days, the Israeli and the Palestinian sides have engaged in footballing bilateral negotiations, with Fifa president Sepp Blatter conducting frantic shuttle diplomacy. Mr Blatter called his recent trip to Israel and Palestinian territories “a peace mission”.
“We are here in the King David (Hotel) and I feel I am a little bit in Camp David,” he said.
If the Palestinian move had gone ahead, Mr Blatter and other footballing heads feared it would have triggered a detrimental political chain reaction throughout the footballing world.
“Tomorrow Ukraine can ask for the suspension of its neighbours, and then we’ll go from one to the other – and this is not football,” Mr Blatter said, speaking in Ramallah last week.
The two sides made significant progress to resolve some of the issues.
On Wednesday, Mr Blatter said an agreement had been reached on four issues: a permit for athletes and sports officials from Gaza and the West Bank to facilitate movement through checkpoints, customs exemption for professional sporting equipment, the establishment of football fields in West Bank and in Gaza through a joint committee, and a new joint working group to mediate on disagreements.
But one key issue remains an unresolved bone of contention between the two sides and was explicitly mentioned in the new Palestinian motion that was overwhelmingly approved by Fifa members on Friday: the status of five Israeli football teams based in West Bank settlements. The settlements are considered illegal under international law, and the PFA insists that the five teams should be banned.
Speaking in Ramallah last week, Mr Blatter conceded that: “It could be a problem when one national association is playing on the territory of another national association without having received permission to do so.” But for Israel to give ground on this matter would be a red line – tantamount to admitting that the West Bank is not under its sovereignty.
The tensions between Israeli and Palestinian football delegations were palpable even in the comments delivered by Israeli Football Association (IFA) head Ofer Eini following the Palestinian move. Mr Eini, who had been conducting frantic behind the scenes lobbying to block the Palestinian motion, expressed his delight at the reversal.
“I appeal to Jibril Rajoub – I want us to work together, I want us to cooperate, I want us to hug and embrace each other,” Mr Eini said, addressing the congress in Hebrew.
The Israeli footballing chief also criticised the Palestinians. “We must not involve politics and football,” said Mr Eini.
When Mr Eini asked Mr Rajoub to join him on stage for a handshake, the Palestinian footballing head refused.
How was the Fifa move perceived in Israel?
The Palestinian allegations of Israeli racism and discrimination drew angry reactions amongst many in Israel, although some supported the Palestinian motion.
“Time for Fifa to show Israel the red card” ran the headline of an op-ed published by the liberal daily Haaretz, arguing that a football ban, like a boycott, “is a legitimate weapon to establish justice and apply international law”.
Meanwhile, sports commentator Joshua Halickman cried foul at Palestinian charges of racism, pointing out that there are no Jews playing on Palestinian teams, while in Israel “there are players of every creed”.
Mr Halickman also accused the international community of double standards.
“Look at what’s happening in Syria: no one has asked for their suspension,” Mr Halickman said.
Jawad Ibrahim, an Arab-Israeli businessman from the village of Abu Ghosh, has been involved for decades with initiatives aimed at breaking down barriers between Israelis and Palestinians. During the last World Cup, he organised for West Bank and East Jerusalem Palestinians to watch the matches in his village together with Israelis.
Having experienced Israeli restrictions at checkpoints first hand many times, he understands the PFA’s frustration. But at the same time, he said he was against any suspensions.
“Who’s going to be helped by this?”, he said. “If Israel is suspended from Fifa – do you think it will make it easier for the Palestinians to get in and out? It’s going to be a big problem. We have to go a different way.” Football in Israel and the Palestinian Authority – which was widely adopted during the British Mandate period – is today ridden with many surprising contradictions.
While they are located only a few kilometres apart, Israeli and Palestinian national teams belong to two geographically separate footballing confederations (Uefa and Asian Cup respectively) due to political tensions.
At the same time, in Israel, unlike in the rest of the Middle East and with the exception of the Beitar Yerushalaim team, Arabs often play together with Jews, from the premier league to recreational teams. “In the Sakhnin team” – a predominantly Arab football squad from northern Israel – “there are also Jewish players,” said Mr Ibrahim.
Even the Elizur Ironi Yehuda football team – whose players include Jewish settlers living near the conflict-torn city of Hebron where tensions between Israelis and Palestinians are often on a knife’s edge – regularly plays football matches against local Arab squads. Seven out of the eleven teams in the local recreational league are Arab teams, said squad head Yinon Butavia.
One proposal by Mr Blatter is a peace-match between Israelis and Palestinians. “This is my dream… to have a game between both sides”, says Mr Ibrahim. “If this happens, it would be wonderful.”
PFLP slams decision to drop bid to suspend Israel from FIFA
By Ma’an news
May 30, 2015
BETHLEHEM – Dropping the bid to suspend Israel from FIFA was an “outrageous deviation from our values, principles and efforts to expose the Israeli occupation’s crimes and to oust Israel from international organizations,” the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said Saturday.
The leftist PLO faction laid responsibility for the last-minute withdrawal on Palestinian Authority decision makers, calling upon the Executive Committee of the PLO to hold an emergency meeting to discuss the issue and “settle account with” those behind the decision.
Palestinian Football Association President Jibril Rajoub dropped the bid Friday minutes before it was scheduled to be brought to the table.
The football governing body voted instead on an amendment proposing the formation of a committee to monitor the movement of Palestinian football players, Israeli racism, as well as the status of Israeli league teams based in illegal Jewish-only settlements in the West Bank.
The new amendment passed with 90 percent of member nations voting in favor following a whirlwind of ambiguous last minute changes.
PFLP maintained that Palestinian Football Association President Jibril Rajoub should be questioned over his position and his exact actions during the FIFA congress meeting.
Such behaviour is a “slap to Palestinian sport,” the group said, pointing to the decision as a waste of the blood lost by all those who have sacrificed for Palestinian movement and independence from Israeli occupation.
The group also described dropping the bid at the last moment as “an act of betrayal” towards international solidarity and the international Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which struggled until the last moment to support the bid.
“This behaviour poses multiple question marks about the Palestinian efforts to join international organizations,” the PFLP wrote in a statement.
Friday’s near-bid to suspend Israel was the latest in a string of efforts to use boycotts, divestment, and sanctions (BDS) to build international pressure on the Israeli government to end the ongoing military occupation.
Protesters supporting Israel’s suspension from FIFA temporarily halted Blatter’s opening address to the congress Friday, waving red cards at FIFA representatives and chanting “Israel out!” before they were escorted out of the hall by security guards.
In light of apparent international support for the original bid, the PFLP urged Palestinian leadership to consult “leading Palestinian organizations” instead of single handedly making major decisions related to the Palestinian national cause.
While the new amendment designates a “multi-lateral monitor group to work directly under the rules of the FIFA Ethics, Legal, and Discrimination committees, and will be composed of International Observers,” it is not yet clear in what capacity the group will act to monitor Israeli violations against Palestinian players.
Re-elected FIFA President Sepp Blatter appointed former South African cabinet minister and African National Congress (ANC) leader Tokyo Sexwale to head the committee.
Both an anti-apartheid activist and former political prisoner, Sexwale’s nomination to head the monitoring committee was a reminder of the potential role sports played in ending the era of apartheid South Africa.
South Africa was suspended from FIFA from 1976 until 1992 when the apartheid regime fell.
Following the amendment win in congress, Rajoub said FIFA must now help tackle the issues facing Palestinian players in the occupied West Bank before waving a red card at delegates to emphasize his point.
“I think it’s time to raise the red card against racism and humiliation in Palestine and everywhere. It is time,” he added.
With this photograph and caption we can explain why the Israeli Football Association is probably breathing a groan of relief today while the PFA is experiencing gutting disappointment. The photo is of U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch announcing an indictment against nine FIFA officials and five corporate executives for racketeering, conspiracy and corruption at a news conference, Wednesday, May 27, 2015 Brooklyn New York. Nine of the 14 that were indicted by the Justice Department are soccer officials, while four are sports marketing executives and another works in broadcasting.
Here are three articles written before the arrests of FIFA officials, and one written afterward.
Palestinians Hope FIFA Corruption Scandal Won’t Affect Motion to Expel Israel
Israel rejects Palestinian charges of preventing freedom of movement for Palestinian players and not cracking down on racism
By Ilene Prusher, Time magazine
May 27, 2015
Al-Ram, West Bank–Palestinians hope that the United States and Switzerland’s investigations into corruption in FIFA, soccer’s world governing body, won’t obscure the Palestinian Football Association’s call to expel Israel from the body.
Xavier Abu Eid, an advisor to Jibril Rajoub, the delegate of the Palestinian Football Association, insisted the discussion of Israel’s violation of FIFA’s laws would not be derailed by the corruption investigation which saw seven senior officials arrested for extradition to the U.S. during a dawn raid on Wednesday at a Zurich hotel.
“The issue of Israeli violation against Palestinian football is part of the agenda. It will be discussed and decisions must be made,” said Abu Eid on Wednesday.
Rajoub has proposed a controversial motion to have Israel suspended, one that is scheduled to be debated on either Thursday or Friday when FIFA’s congress meets in Zurich. In order to pass, the motion would require the support of three-quarters of its 209 member federations. Rajoub’s main contention is that Israel violates FIFA bylaws by preventing freedom of movement for Palestinian soccer players, maintains five FIFA-registered teams in settlements located in the occupied West Bank, and has done nothing to crack down on anti-Arab racist epithets sometimes chanted by extremist fans at games in Israel. The Israel Football Association rejects the charges.
This is the third time that Rajoub had made a motion to eject Israel from FIFA; the other two times he was persuaded to back down by FIFA president Sepp Blatter. But despite Blatter’s visit here last week to meet with Israeli and Palestinian leaders, this time Rajoub is not backing down, despite many “direct and indirect threats” he says he has received and what he describes as increasingly inappropriate treatment he receives from Israel.
“I have been treated in a humiliating way during the past four years. Come with me to the bridge and see how I am humiliated when I travel,” he says in an interview with TIME, speaking about his return from Jordan over the Allenby Bridge, a common land route for Palestinians traveling abroad. The border crossing is controlled by Israel, whom Rajoub also accuses of preventing his players from traveling freely in the Palestinian territories or going abroad, as well as barring players, coaches and training materials from being brought in from overseas.
Rajoub says that he has asked his Israeli counterpart to back him up on his requests, but to no avail. Israel Football Association President Ofer Eini has said that any restrictions faced by Palestinian footballers is a security matter that is beyond his power. Not good enough, says Rajoub.
“The Israeli team has chosen to be a tool for apartheid rather than for peace. Their football association is following the agenda of the extremist right-wing government now ruling in Israel,” Rajoub said at a press conference here Monday as he was preparing to leave for Switzerland. “We believe the Israeli association has to pay a price for systematically violating FIFA statutes. We would have expected the Israeli association to take our concerns seriously, and so they must be solved by the FIFA congress instead. If you don’t see a dramatic move,” he added, “you should see a suspension of the Israeli team by Thursday.”
Israeli officials say politics ought to be kept off the pitch. “The conflict is something that the United Nations and other bodies will deal with, it is not something FIFA should deal with,” says Shlomi Barzel, the spokesman for the Israel Football Association.
“If you want to take each one of Jibril Rajoub’s accusations, I don’t want to say he’s lying but to be polite, he’s twisting to the truth. For one, we’re not the only country in the world dealing with racism. In fact, our national team is a beautiful combination of Arab and Jewish players. This is part of a political agenda by the Palestinians, and football is just one part of it. I can’t say if there is going to be a solution, but we think a big majority of the members will support Israel staying in the association.”
It remains very unclear, however, as to whether Rajoub’s motion has a chance of passing. But he has succeeded in bringing some of the core complaints surrounding Israeli domination over Palestinian lives into the international arena as part of his campaign. Blatter says he opposed the motion because, as he put it, FIFA is the wrong address for political grievances. But he also noted in his visit here last week that he does not have the power to take the motion off the table or otherwise prevent the congress from passing it. In a statement, the organization indicated Tuesday it was looking at the question of whether Israel could actually be considered accountable for violating FIFA statutes.
“The FIFA president will report to the congress on this dossier later this week with the aim of providing a framework for strengthening the development of football in the region,” said the statement. “The executive underlined that a FIFA member association should not be suspended if it has not violated the FIFA statutes.”
Israel reaches compromise, staving off Palestinian FIFA expulsion bid
Under new version of the bid, committee will look into freedom of movement of Palestinian soccer players, Israeli racism and the status of Israeli teams based in the West Bank.
By Barak Ravid, Ha’aretz
May 29, 2015
Israel reached a compromise with the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) officials on Friday and staved off a vote on the Palestinian proposal to ban Israel from world soccer at the 65th FIFA Congress in Zurich, Switzerland.
At the Congress, Palestinian soccer chief Jibril Rajoub announced that the Palestinians had decided to drop the bid. Then, the Congress passed an amended version of the Palestinian proposal, which called for the formation of a committee to look into freedom of movement of Palestinian soccer players. The committee would also look at Israeli racism and the status of Israeli league teams based in the West Bank.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responded to the developments on Friday, saying in a statement that the result “proved our international efforts paid off and brought about the failure of the Palestinian Authority’s attempt to expel us from FIFA (and) I want to thanks those involved… especially Israel Football Association chairman Ofer Eini.”
Netanyahu further said that “Israel is interested in peace which would create security for its citizens, but this will not be achieved through coercion and manipulation. The only way to reach peace is through direct negotiations.”
Netanyahu derailed the Palestinians for what he called a “provocation,” saying it joined a long list of “unilateral actions taken by the Palestinians in the international arena. As long as these efforts continue peace will only be further delayed.”
Earlier in the day, pro-Palestinian protesters interrupted President Sepp Blatter’s opening remarks, waving red cards at FIFA representatives and chanting “Israel out!” before being escorted out of the hall by security guards.
Reaching a compromise
Israeli officials met with FIFA officials until late Thursday night in an effort to draft a compromise proposal, but the Palestinians held onto what Israeli sources termed rigid and extreme stances.
A source in the Israeli delegation said that Rajoub demanded on Wednesday that the United Nations rule on the status of five Israeli soccer teams based in the West Bank as a condition for withdrawing the Palestinian proposal.
Netanyahu on Thursday told reporters that if Israel is suspended from FIFA following the vote, it would destroy the association. “It would be a blatant politicization of sport and the result will be FIFA’s collapse,” Netanyahu said.
“The Athenian Assembly thousands of years ago collapsed when they started ousting people. They cancelled its universality. The same will happen with FIFA. We’ll fight against it.”
FIFA confirmed it will be business as usual at their Congress, 28-29 May.
But supporters fear the PFA resolution will not get the headline coverage it wanted.
Business as usual: briefing and article from WAND, Al Shafie Miles; article on Blatter’s mediation efforts from Reuters.
Football: the case of Palestine
Briefing by WAND (Web Arab News Digest)
May 26, 2015
Summary: a FIFA meeting next week likely to consider the Palestine proposal for expulsion of Israel. Hardly likely to be approved, but football will reach a wider audience than human rights abuses, breaches of international law etc which excite only policy wonks.
In our posting of 6 May we referred to the attempt by the Palestine Football Association to have Israel suspended from international football. The president of FIFA Sepp Blatter has visited Jerusalem and Ramallah to try to get the bid dropped from the agenda of a meeting of FIFA in Zurich on 29 May, as happened in 2013 and 2014. This time he seems to have been unsuccessful. According to Reuters Israel offered some concessions on travel curbs, but two issues were not addressed: “One is the charge of racism in Israeli football, with one team, Beitar Jerusalem, refusing to employ Arab players. Another is the fact that five Israeli clubs are based in settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law… FIFA rules clearly state that teams must be based in a country’s territory.”
Blatter’s proposal for a “match for peace” between Israel and Palestine, which Benjamin Netanyahu said he would be willing to attend, seems unlikely to be agreed or to improve the situation if it is agreed. On 21 May, the day after Blatter left, the president of the Palestine Football Association Jibril Rajub (a former Palestinian security chief and member of Fatah Central committee) wrote to Blatter complaining that the Palestine national team leaving for a training camp in Tunisia had been delayed by the Israeli authorities and one player detained, confirming that promises given by the Israeli government were only words.
Suspension, if it remains on the agenda, would require a three-quarters majority of FIFA’s 209 members to pass. That seems unlikely, although given a secret ballot and alleged levels of corruption throughout FIFA anything is possible. But unless it is defeated by a crushing majority it is likely to remain on the international agenda, moving Palestine from international news to the sports pages and resulting in much wider interest in the question and a boost for the BDS movement.
James Dorsey writing for Al Jazeera America quotes Gershom Baskin in the Jerusalem Post “Whether or not the Palestinians win the vote is only secondary to the realization that this is just the beginning of the Palestinians’ diplomatic efforts to impose sanctions on Israel. The issue is not football or the freedom of movement of soccer players. The issue is much larger and will continue to emerge on the international stage on which Israel is now being targeted. The issue is of course the continuation of the occupation and Israel’s refusal to recognize the Palestinians’ right to self-determination in an independent state of their own next to Israel.”
The article below on the Sky News website was written while Blatter was still in Israel.
Israel Fighting To Stay In World Football
Sepp Blatter meets Israel’s PM over attempts by the Palestinian FA to remove Israel from FIFA because of alleged violations.
By Tom Rayner, Middle East Reporter, Jerusalem, Sky news
May 19, 2015
FIFA President Sepp Blatter has held crisis talks in Jerusalem aimed at averting a Palestinian bid to have Israel suspended from international football.
The Palestinian Football Association is preparing to push a motion calling for Israel’s suspension at the FIFA annual congress later this month.
Mr Blatter emerged “very hopeful” from talks with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
He said he would take “a message” from Mr Netanyahu to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah on Wednesday – though he would not disclose details.
Mr Blatter did reveal that Mr Netanyahu had agreed to a “match of peace” between the national teams of Israel and Palestine, though no date has yet been put forward.
Last week FIFA issued a statement on behalf of Mr Blatter stating “any member association that is fulfilling its statutory duties should not be suspended. This would apply to the Israeli Football Association as long as they fulfil such duties”.
But the head of the Palestinian FA, Jibril Rajoub, has outlined a number of complaints which he says demonstrate violations of FIFA’s standards and ethics.
Mr Rajoub, a former security chief for the Palestinian Authority, says players and officials face unwarranted travel restrictions between Gaza and the West Bank, and international opponents are often blocked from entry into the Occupied Palestinian Territories without sufficient explanation.
He has also condemned the inclusion of teams from Israeli settlements located in the West Bank in Israeli football’s lower leagues.
“I don’t want to cause suffering, even to the Israeli footballers, but as long as their federation is defending, instead of fighting against the racism and restricting the Palestinian footballers’ movements, they are part of the occupation,” Mr Rajoub told Sky News.
“We are asking for free movement, no racism and to respect our jurisdiction within our territories,” he added.
The Palestinian FA insists the aim of this move is to remove the political aspects from football, but Israel dismisses such assertions, claiming the complaints contain “distortions” and are an attempt to politicise sport.
“We will not allow for Israel to be presented as a country which violated the agreements which it signed, and we will do all in our power to prevent any kind of ban,” said the chairman of the Israeli Football Association, Ofer Eini, in comments to the Jerusalem Post.
“I certainly expect the FIFA president to speak out loud and clear on this matter and to prevent this malicious move,” he added.
Israel’s new sports minister, Miri Regev, described the Palestinian bid as “shameful”, and expressed her confidence that Mr Blatter would remove the motion from the agenda.
If presented to the FIFA congress, the motion would require a three-quarters majority of FIFA’s 209 members to pass.
Israel has been a member of UEFA since 1994, and is currently competing in the group stages for qualification to the European Championships.
The Palestinian national team competes in the Asian Football Confederation, and qualified for the Asia Cup for the first time earlier this year.
FIFA’s Blatter sketches compromise in Israeli-Palestinian dispute
By Ori Lewis and Luke Baker, UK Reuters
May 20, 2015
RAMALLAH, WEST BANK–The head of world football’s governing body said on Wednesday Israel had proposed easing travel restrictions for Palestinian players but the head of the Palestine FA insisted he would pursue a move to have Israel suspended from FIFA.
After meeting Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas and football officials in the West Bank, FIFA President Sepp Blatter said Israel had set out a series of measures to ease travel curbs for players, sports visitors and officials.
Similar commitments have been made in the past, but Blatter said this time Israeli officials had “said they will do it”, a commitment he hopes will stave off the threat of a suspension vote at a FIFA congress in Zurich on May 29.
“I am an optimist,” Blatter said as he sat alongside PFA chairman Jibril Rajoub, who has mounted a determined campaign to have Israel sanctioned, a move that could have profound ramifications beyond the world of sport.
“We want to bring a solution for now and a solution for the future in order that we don’t need to go to” a vote in the congress, Blatter said. “I am on a peace mission.”
The PFA has long accused Israel of hampering its activities and restricting the movement of players between the Gaza Strip and the Israeli-occupied West Bank. Israel cites security concerns for the restrictions, an issue that Israel’s FA says is out of its hands.
Blatter met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday in an effort to secure concessions that would persuade the PFA to drop its proposal.
IDENTITY CARDS, ESCORT SERVICE
He said Israel had proposed giving Palestinian football players special identity cards and placing special sports liaison officials at crossings between Palestinian areas and those under Israeli control to ease movement.
A special escort service between Gaza and the West Bank would allow players to cross between the two territories that are separated by Israeli territory.
He added that a monitoring committee comprising an Israeli, Palestinian and FIFA official would meet monthly to address issues and that Israel had agreed to exempt taxation on football equipment donated to the Palestinians.
But two critical issues were not directly addressed. One is the charge of racism in Israeli football, with one team, Beitar Jerusalem, refusing to employ Arab players. Another is the fact that five Israeli clubs are based in settlements in the West Bank, which are considered illegal under international law.
Blatter said the settlement clubs issue was of particular concern and needed to be resolved. FIFA rules clearly state that teams must be based in a country’s territory.
“It could be a problem in FIFA statutes if a national association plays matches on the territory of another national association without permission,” he said.
The five teams concerned play in lower divisions of Israeli football. Rajoub said their inclusion by Israel constituted a war crime and violated FIFA rules.
“The Palestinian federation is acting in the interests of football, in the interests of FIFA statues and above all in the interests of the footballers of Palestine,” he said.
“(The teams’ inclusion by Israel) is not just a war crime but a crystal clear violation of FIFA statutes.”