Israeli crimes against Palestinian sports must be condemned: Euro-Med

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
19 May 2024 19:32

The Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor urges international sports organizations to "firmly condemn Israel's violations of civilian sports facilities and athletes in the Gaza Strip."

The Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza that Israeli occupation forces turned into a detention center. (Social media)

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) to take "decisive action" against the Israeli occupation entity and hold it accountable for the crimes committed against Palestinian athletes in the Gaza Strip since the start of the Israeli genocidal war on October 7.

In a statement published on its website, the human rights group highlighted that "at least 270 Palestinian athletes have been killed as a result of the continuing Israeli military attack on the Gaza Strip," pointing out that "all sports facilities, infrastructure, and stadiums have been completely or seriously damaged."

The group recalled that the Israeli occupation forces "deliberately turned the Yarmouk Stadium in Gaza City into a detention centre to hold and humiliate hundreds of Palestinians, including children, shown naked and stripped of their clothes in footage published by the Israeli media in December 2023."

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor urged international sports organizations to "firmly condemn Israel's violations of civilian sports facilities and athletes in the Gaza Strip."

It mentioned that the Israeli occupation forces are "targeting and killing hundreds of athletes and players in all the governorates there, demolishing the sports infrastructure, and converting some stadiums into mass graves, abuse centres, and detention spots, in blatant disregard of all regional, national, and international laws and conventions."

The statement accused the Israeli occupation entity of long targeting Palestinian sports "to silence Palestinian voices and representation and to eliminate all Palestinian elites and experts in the Gaza Strip."

According to the human rights group, "31 sports facilities, football fields, gyms, headquarters, and sports training halls appear to have been destroyed, accounting for over eighty percent of the stadium- and club-level sports facilities in the Gaza Strip."

In addition, "300 five-a-side courts, 22 swimming courts, 12 covered sports halls for basketball, volleyball, and handball, and six tennis stadiums" have been bulldozed and destroyed, while 28 sports and fitness centers have been targeted, damaged, and destroyed by the Israeli occupation forces, the statement noted.

"The ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip must be addressed by FIFA, whose fundamental laws and disciplinary and ethical rules specifically forbid support for actions that violate international law and human rights," the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor underlined.

It warned that "failure to consider the Gaza Strip genocide would raise serious questions of double standards in FIFA's operations and policies," recalling that the world football's governing body banned Russia from taking part in international competitions over the war in Ukraine.