PA Olympic C'mtee chair slams 'sports normalization' with Israel

The PA Olympic Committee chairman called for a an Arab sports boycott of Israel.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Football / soccer ball (photo credit: INGIMAGE)
Football / soccer ball
(photo credit: INGIMAGE)
The Palestinian Authority's Olympic Committee has condemned Arab normalization with Israel in sports, and has called for a general sports boycott against the Jewish state, according to Palestinian Media Watch.
Taking to Facebook on November 1, Jibril Rajoub, chairman of the PA Olympic Committee and the Palestinian Football Association and secretary of the Fatah Central Committee, posted a strong condemnation against the "crime of normalization" following news that the United Arab Emirates' Pro League signed a cooperation deal with Israel's Professional Football League.
“A number of our Arab brothers are making light of the crime of normalization with the fascist occupation state in the field of sports, in a blatant violation of all the treaties, commitments, and decisions of the Council of Arab Ministers of Youth and Sports," Rajoub wrote, according to PMW.
"The Palestine Olympic Committee… expresses its strong condemnation of these steps, and views them as encouraging the occupation with all its elements so that it will continue the most despicable crimes against our Arab and Muslim people and against the sports system in Palestine, and this is instead of putting it on trial, boycotting it, and isolating it.”
The call for a boycott is nothing new, as the Palestinian Authority has been promoting a universal Arab boycott of Israeli sports for years. Rajoub himself has also been very active in keeping Israeli sports teams from competing against Arab – and especially Palestinian – teams. This eventually led to a full expose report against him from PMW entitled "The Rajoub File," which further detailed his support of terrorism against Israel. This eventually led to him being fined and suspended by FIFA for breaching their disciplinary code.
Rajoub's comments also seem to be in violation of the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) Code of Ethics, with Article 1.2 of which mandates "respect of the principle of the universality and political neutrality of the Olympic Movement." In light of this, PMW has submitted a complaint to the IOC.