Summary     

The Football Association (FA) holds minute silence at England game for those killed in Israel and Brussels, whilst ignoring Palestinians being massacred in Gaza. Write to them and demand they accept all lives are equal.

Background    

On Tuesday 17th October the England National Team played against Italy at Wembley. At the previous match at the stadium, a minute’s silence was held for all those killed since October 7 in the conflict in Palestine-Israel.  It seems due to pressure, that on October 17, the FA called for a minute’s silence for the Israelis killed in the conflict and the two Sweden fans killed in Belgium, whilst keeping silent on the lives of over a thousand Palestinians that had already been killed by that time. Many fans in the stadium felt let down and unsafe by this announcement.  In wording their statement on October 17^th thus, the FA’s messaging is that Israeli and Swedish lives are worth more than those of Palestinians. Whilst the FA did not succumb to pressure not to light up the stadium in the colours of the apartheid regime’s flag, it appears to now be buckling under pressure to support the Israeli regime.

We request that you write to the FA and inform them of your deep concern and upset at their actions.

Requested Action     

Write to the FA, demanding that they stop buckling to governmental and other pressures to show bias towards the Israeli regime. Feel free to use our model letter below. 

You can contact Mark Bullingham, the CEO of the Football Association at: 

Alternatively, you can email at sgpenquiries@TheFA.com   

or by post

Model Letter / Email    

Dear Mark Bullingham,

I have been made aware that during the football match between the English and Italian national teams on October 17^th there was an announcement made in which a minute’s silence was observed for the victims of violence in Israel and Brussels, but not for the Palestinians. This unacceptable political and racial bias is disappointing from an organisation that has often claimed that they do not mix politics with sports. Thousands of people have been killed in Gaza, thousands more injured.  Over a million have lost their homes, water and electricity are cut off and the list of crimes and violations of international law and norms by the Israeli regime is longer, including the bombing of hospitals, schools and an ancient church, both of which were places of refuge, and the bombing of civilians often in areas they are told go by the Israeli regime.

These heinous war crimes are characteristic of genocide.  Many independent analysts, including international law scholars have confirmed this to be the case. There are 3.7 million Muslims, and over 330,000 Arabs in the United Kingdom, many of whom support the England National Team, and some of whom attended the match against Italy.  They, and many people of colour and indeed most of the population would surely have been made to feel deeply uncomfortable and insecure as a result of this messaging.

If the Football Association does not show solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians, as it did with Ukraine, then it at the very least it should  recognise that the lives of the thousands of Palestinians killed in Gaza are worth as much as the lives of the Israelis you have already commemorated.

Yours Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME]