As a Palestinian footballer, I call on FIFA to stand against Israeli apartheid
Palestine football team pose prior to the FIFA Arab Cup Qatar 2021 Group C match against Morocco on 1 December 2021 in Al Wakrah, Qatar
Mohammed Bassim Rashid writes in The New Arab on 5 November 2025:
I am a professional Palestinian footballer. I’ve played for three Palestinian Premier League clubs and played nearly fifty times for the Palestinian men’s national team, scoring two goals. I am extremely proud to be able to represent the Palestinian people in international competitions.
But my homeland is illegally occupied and oppressed by Israel and has been for decades. We live under a system of racial segregation that the International Court of Justice (ICJ) found last year amounts to the crime against humanity of apartheid. We face daily attacks by armed Israeli settlers and the Israeli army.
Sports is no exception. In the beginning of my career with the youth team of Shabab Al-Bireh Club, we faced repeated assaults and attacks by the Israeli army due to the club’s proximity to the illegal Israeli settlement of Psagot. Israeli forces frequently fired tear gas at us during training.
While I was with Jabal Al-Mukaber Club, the Israeli army stormed the area surrounding Faisal Al-Husseini Stadium during the final match of the 2023 Palestinian League with Balata Refugee Camp Club. Israeli forces fired tear gas inside the stadium in the 70th minute, forcing the match to be stopped for half an hour, while many players and fans suffered from suffocation.
Israeli football is deeply implicated in Israel’s violations of international law. The Israeli Football Association (IFA) governs on behalf of at least six clubs currently playing in its leagues that are based in illegal Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.