Why We Should Stop The Game
A lifelong football supporter, and a committed anti-imperialist, I do not actually have a choice but to take part in whatever form of protest we engage in.
The Republic of Ireland men’s national team are due to play Israel this September and October. To an uninterested or neutral observer, this is just another game in the seemingly endless cycle of professional football.
To the more dedicated observer, this match is either a game of football and nothing to get worked up about, sure sport and politics should not mix, or an opportunity to make a stand, refuse to help sportswash an apartheid genocidal state.
I have been involved with the Stop The Game campaign since its inception earlier this year, so I am in the latter camp. For me, its a no brainer. A lifelong football supporter, and a committed anti-imperialist, I do not actually have a choice but to take part in whatever form of protest we engage in.
Playing this game would stain the FAI, stain the players and lend legitimacy and credibility to Israel. A credibility that, even if we ignore the history between the Nakba and the events of October 7th 2023, Israel’s actions should have tanked. However, look around the great western democracies and all you will see, bar one or two outliers, fawning, obsequious support for anything Israel does.
This makes our opposition to this match going ahead all the more important. At a time when the suffering of the Palestinian people is being ignored, it is vital that people of conscience refuse to sit on our hands when an opportunity like this presents itself.
So we will continue to protest, to mobilise and to agitate.
To finish, I mentioned earlier in this piece that there are a cohort of people who say sport and politics should not mix. That is a red herring, and a flimsy one at that. Do these people say these should not mix when there are two national teams on the island? Did they say it when Russia got removed from virtually all international competitions? Do they decry Derry city playing in the League of Ireland? Is sport and politics mixing an issue when whichever rotating Fine Gael politician is congratulating Katie Taylor or Rashida Adeleke? Of course not. They are weasel words, a straw man and a cop out rolled into one.
As a footnote, the home game against Israel has been moved from Dublin to the Zionist outpost of Serbia. Neutral venue? We know what official Ireland thinks of neutrality, but that is for another day.
Stop The Game!
