Pro-Palestinians march through Cardiff


September 8, 2015
Sarah Benton

Pro-Palestine protesters march through Cardiff ahead of Wales v Israel clash

They were demanding the expulsion of Israel from UEFA

By Tom Houghton, Wales Online
September 6 /7, 2015

An estimated 1,500 pro-Palestine protesters marched towards the Cardiff City Stadium ahead of Wales’ Euro Championship qualifier against Israel in protest at the away side’s UEFA membership.

The march, which began at City Hall, travelled through the city centre and finished at Jubilee Park next to the Cardiff City Stadium, where around 300 people from the pro-Israel Zionist Federation also gathered.

But the two groups were kept around 100 metres apart by barriers, as police looked to take control of the situation.


The two demos, planned by both the Palestine Solidarity Campaign (PCS) and the Zionist Federation, were planned to coincide with the match which kicked off at 5pm.

Numbers for the pro-Palestinian march were far higher than organisers expected, as an estimated 1,500 people gathered in the sun, meeting outside Cardiff Crown Court.

Once there, they marched down Castle Street and through Canton towards Jubilee Park, Leckwith, past hundreds of fans also heading to the ground and causing traffic to be temporarily halted.

Then, speakers including the Palestinian Ambassador to the UK, Manuel Hassissian, Welsh Green party leader Pippa Bartolotti and Plaid Cymru MEP Jill Evans gave speeches, encouraging passing fans to help them boycott Israel.

And organisers said they were delighted with the turnout.


Shavanah Taj, secretary of PCS Wales, said: “Everyone seems to be quite lively for this peaceful demonstration. We’ve had people travelling down in coaches from Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, London, Newport, Bristol and various other places, so it’s been a good day.”


PCS accuses Israel of being an apartheid state by treating Palestinians as second-class citizens, and demands football governing bodies Fifa and Uefa expel the country from its competitions.

It claims the example of South Africa, which, as an apartheid nation, was frozen out of international sporting events during the 1980s, should apply to present-day Israel.

Across the park, Israeli fans gathered with flags and banners before heading to the stadium.

Arieh Miller, executive director of the Zionist Federation, said: “We are here to celebrate an incredible football game between Israel and Wales and welcome the Israeli national team and the fans from Israel to this amazing city.

“We feel the match has the ability to go over and above politics. If some individuals – a small, very vocal minority – choose to bring politics into sport, that really is shame.

“The Israeli national team is the only team in the Middle East where you have Jews, Muslims and Christians all playing side by side with the same shirt in the same colours for the same manager and the common cause of beating their opponents.

“Unfortunately, those protesters are trying to silence that coexistence and cooperation when in actual fact that’s the exact message we should all be promoting for peace.”

According to South Wales Police, the two groups were gathered in the park because both wanted maximum publicity for their causes, and after risk assessment, officials judged there was no threat to safety, as long as the barriers kept them apart.

A spokesman for South Wales Police said: “No arrests have so far been made and the protests passed through quite peacefully.”



The pro-Israel fans in Cardiff

Football fans unite for Israel

Jewish News Online
September 07, 2015

Israeli and Welsh football fans joined forces on Sunday to counteract an anti-Israel demonstration which was held prior to the Israel vs Wales 2016 European qualifier in Cardiff.

More than 150 supporters sung, chanted and played Israeli music on loudspeakers as nearly 1,000 Pro-Palestinian supporters reached Jubilee Park, a stretch of land which lies adjacent to Cardiff City stadium, the venue of the match, having marched there from the City Hall.

Arieh Miller, Executive Director of the Zionist Federation, which organised the pro-Israel rally, said: “We’re delighted to say we were able to bring over 100 people over from London to Cardiff to support Israel against Wales. As well as enjoying a fantastic day of football, we countered the false narrative of the BDS who preposterously accuse Israel of being a “racist” state. Our solidarity rally showed the true face of Israel, with placards and banners celebrating the most diverse team and country in the Middle East. Our volunteers also handed out 5000 fan magazines to Welsh supporters, filled with quirky facts that show Israel in a more positive, realistic light.

“The Israeli team itself is a fantastic representation of everything that’s great about Israel, not only Jews, Israeli Christians, Israeli Muslims, all playing together in one team. The irony of the people who are trying to get them banned from playing is that they’re looking to shut down this co-existence and collaboration.

“Today’s about Wales and Israel playing football against each other, it’s not about bringing politics into sport. The Olympic Games, every four years, has the Olympics Truce, where the UN declares a worldwide truce – that shows how the world should work with sport and in particular football – the beautiful game. Politics shouldn’t mix, it doesn’t need to come into it, yet unfortunately a few people do tend to bring politics into it which is a real shame.”

The estimated 600 Israel-supporting fans who were in Wales for the match, were also unable to view a photographic exhibition at Cardiff’s Central Library, depicting Jewish-Arab diversity and coexistence through football, after it was closed down less than 24 hours after it had opened. Miller said: “That is the other shame of today, that an exhibition which was a fantastic message of Jews and Arabs playing football together in the lower leagues of Israeli football was shut down, which means we’re unable to see it because of a tiny amount of bigoted, negative voices.” The exhibition was though on show in an area in the stadium.

Among those in support of Israel was Anthony Dennison, co-chair of North West Friends of Israel. He said: “I think it’s important to be here because today’s about football, international football, Israel playing Wales, and yet we have people turning up demonstrating, trying to make it a political issue, it’s not a political issue, it’s sport.”

South Wales Police confirmed no arrests were made, describing the one-hour protest as a “peaceful one.”

© Copyright JFJFP 2024