Last week, the international soccer federation FIFA was rocked by yet another major corruption scandal just as its global family was gathering in Zurich for their annual business meetings. The arrests and investigations into bribery charges will remain in the headlines for months to come, but there was also another controversy swirling around the football world at the very same time. And this was the bid by the Palestinian Authority to have Israel kicked out of FIFA. The Palestinians were trying to make Israel the only nation to be booted from FIFA in decades. But in the end, Palestinian sports official Jibril Rajoub was pressured by Western countries to back down and not mix politics and sports. The irony, however, is that the Palestinians are far more deserving of suspension from FIFA because of the way they use football and other sports to glorify terror and violence against Jews. So what were the reasons the Palestinians gave for wanting Israel suspended from international soccer competitions? Aren’t there even better grounds for the Palestinians to be expelled from FIFA? How do the Palestinians use sports to promote terrorism? And why were some Israelis insisting that Jibril Rajoub should be disqualified himself from taking part in international sporting decisions? Foiled at FIFA! That’s our focus this week here on Front Page Jerusalem. We’ll hear from a leading Israeli expert on the Palestinian Authority about why it should have been the Palestinians under threat of expulsion at the world football associations’ meetings last week. Our special guest will be Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, who has been closely monitoring the Palestinian Authority’s daily incitement against Israel for the past two decades.
On today’s show, we’re looking at last week’s failed Palestinian bid to have Israel kicked out of FIFA, the governing body for international soccer. Shouldn’t it have been the Palestinian Authority under threat of expulsion for the way it uses football and other sports to glorify terrorism against Israel? Our special guest this week is Itamar Marcus, the founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch. He released a report last week exposing how the PA and its sports minister Jibril Rajoub are constantly using soccer to sow hatred against Israel among Palestinian youths. Here’s Front Page senior producer DavidParsons with this week’s guest…
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Every week, more and more people seem to be joining the effort to boycott, divest and sanction Israel, otherwise known as the BDS campaign. Whether it is student unions in the US and Britain, a famous musician or actor from Hollywood, or some big company in Europe – there is no end to the reports of anti-Israel activism. Mimicking the campaign that eventually brought down apartheid in South Africa, the proponents of BDS hope to scare everyone away from having anything to do with Israel and eventually dismantle the Jewish state. Now one of the latest reports claimed the head of the French telecom giant Orange was ready to join the boycott of Israel. He later clarified that this was not the case, but the fact that everyone read his comments as supportive of BDS shows how much progress they have made in spreading their propaganda and questioning the legitimacy of Israel. No wonder then that the new Israeli government has made it a priority to start fighting against these efforts to incite against the one and only Jewish state. So how did the BDS campaign originate in the first place? What sort of impact has it had so far on Israel, economically or otherwise? How do they spread their anti-Israel incitement? Who is joining it and who has resisted their demands? And what can Israel do to fight back? The BDS Bandwagon! That’s our focus next week here on Front Page Jerusalem. We’ll hear from a leading Israeli expert about the on-going global campaign to delegitimize Israel through incitement, boycotts and other efforts. Ben-Dror Yemini is a veteran Israeli journalist and author who presently serves as a senior columnist for the Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot.
Last week, the international soccer federation FIFA was rocked by yet another major corruption scandal just as its global family was gathering in Zurich for their annual business meetings. The arrests and investigations into bribery charges will remain in the headlines for months to come, but there was also another controversy swirling around the football world at the very same time. And this was the bid by the Palestinian Authority to have Israel kicked out of FIFA. The Palestinians were trying to make Israel the only nation to be booted from FIFA in decades. But in the end, Palestinian sports official Jibril Rajoub was pressured by Western countries to back down and not mix politics and sports. The irony, however, is that the Palestinians are far more deserving of suspension from FIFA because of the way they use football and other sports to glorify terror and violence against Jews. So what were the reasons the Palestinians gave for wanting Israel suspended from international soccer competitions? Aren’t there even better grounds for the Palestinians to be expelled from FIFA? How do the Palestinians use sports to promote terrorism? And why were some Israelis insisting that Jibril Rajoub should be disqualified himself from taking part in international sporting decisions? Foiled at FIFA! That’s our focus this week here on Front Page Jerusalem. We’ll hear from a leading Israeli expert on the Palestinian Authority about why it should have been the Palestinians under threat of expulsion at the world football associations’ meetings last week. Our special guest will be Itamar Marcus, founder and director of Palestinian Media Watch, who has been closely monitoring the Palestinian Authority’s daily incitement against Israel for the past two decades.
Program Features
Parsons with this week’s guest…
Every week, more and more people seem to be joining the effort to boycott, divest and sanction Israel, otherwise known as the BDS campaign. Whether it is student unions in the US and Britain, a famous musician or actor from Hollywood, or some big company in Europe – there is no end to the reports of anti-Israel activism. Mimicking the campaign that eventually brought down apartheid in South Africa, the proponents of BDS hope to scare everyone away from having anything to do with Israel and eventually dismantle the Jewish state. Now one of the latest reports claimed the head of the French telecom giant Orange was ready to join the boycott of Israel. He later clarified that this was not the case, but the fact that everyone read his comments as supportive of BDS shows how much progress they have made in spreading their propaganda and questioning the legitimacy of Israel. No wonder then that the new Israeli government has made it a priority to start fighting against these efforts to incite against the one and only Jewish state. So how did the BDS campaign originate in the first place? What sort of impact has it had so far on Israel, economically or otherwise? How do they spread their anti-Israel incitement? Who is joining it and who has resisted their demands? And what can Israel do to fight back? The BDS Bandwagon! That’s our focus next week here on Front Page Jerusalem. We’ll hear from a leading Israeli expert about the on-going global campaign to delegitimize Israel through incitement, boycotts and other efforts. Ben-Dror Yemini is a veteran Israeli journalist and author who presently serves as a senior columnist for the Hebrew daily Yediot Ahronot.
