Earlier this year I posted about the football game between FC Barcelona and a joint Israeli-Palestinian team, as way to promote coexistence.
Now comes the Palestinian reply:
The star-studded soccer team Barcelona FC will host two soccer clinics for children in the Holy Land in August, one in the West Bank and one in Israel. The events, scheduled for August 3 and 4, aim to promote “peace between Israelis and Palestinians through the values of sport,” the club announced on Wednesday. But a planned exhibition match, pitting Barcelona against a joint Israeli-Palestinian team, has been cancelled because of Palestinian objections.
And who made the call? Jibril Rajoub:
“Because of the behavior of the Israelis, that targets sport and athletes, our movement is limited,” Palestinian football Association head Jibril Rajoub told Reuters in early May. “I believe that it’s too early to talk about a joint match because of the discriminatory behavior, even on the playing field, which is being practiced by Israel,’’ he said.
Yes, the same guy who recently said he’ll use an atomic bomb on Israel if he had one, and that Israel is their main enemy.
And now you know why after 65 years there still isn’t peace in the Middle East. FC Barcelona will have better luck teaching pigs how to fly, than teaching Palestinians about alternatives to zero-sum games.
