radiofree.asia

Zack Polanski says kick Israel out of all sports

As the Labour government shitshow over Maccabi Tel Aviv fans rages on, the Green Party’s Zack Polanski has once again shown Prime Minister Keir Starmer what a real leader looks like. And it’s one with principles in spades as he calls for Israel to be banned from international sports.

Maintaining his media momentum, Polanski dove right into another TV interview – this time with ITV’s Robert Peston. Like with many of his recent appearances, he caught the corporate media hack off guard with his no-holds-barred responses.

Polanski said he endorsed a “general boycott of Israeli sports teams” in “the same way we have with Russia”. He also added that it’s important athletes are allowed to play; however, it is “deeply problematic” if they are allowed to “play under their state banner or a city in Israel”, whilst Israel is committing genocide:

This was clearly not the response Peston bargained for, so in reply, he said:

You have to accept Israel is a democracy, and you’re basically punishing essentially innocent citizens. It’s perfectly reasonable to criticise the Israeli government, but to punish citizens in that way is surely not appropriate.

Then Polanski started to explain how the Flotilla participants were not treated as any democracy would treat a person. However, he was not able to finish his sentence before Peston cut him off and said that it was “time”.

‘Democracy’

Peston’s claim that we cannot boycott Israel because it is a democracy is quite frankly ridiculous:

Firstly, Israel is an apartheid state. Palestinians and Jewish Israelis are treated differently in practically every aspect of life. Including, but not limited to, education, employment, family life, freedom of movement, health, housing, and residence. There are dozens of Israeli laws and policies which institutionalise this prevailing system of racial domination and discrimination.

Secondly, it means the people voted for the government that is now carrying out a genocide. Jewish Israelis voted for Netanyahu.

In Russia, which has faced sporting sanctions since it launched its war on Ukraine, Russians did vote for Putin. However, the US, Germany, and the UK, among other nations, have all said that the vote was neither fair nor free, due to “imprisonment of political opponents and censorship.

However, of the 15 million people living in ‘Israel’, half of them are not Jewish, and most of them have no right to vote in Israel. Non-Jewish residents in the Israeli-controlled West Bank and East Jerusalem do not have the right to vote in national elections.

This means that the Jewish people of Israel did in fact vote for a genocidal maniac, when they didn’t have to. Unlike in Russia, where there was no alternative. Having said that, whilst it may be a ‘democracy’, most of its citizens did not vote for Netanyahu.

Sports boycotts

Throughout history, sports boycotts have been a legitimate protest tool against countries committing human rights violations.

In 1964, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) banned South Africa from participating in the Tokyo Olympic Games.

This happened because of pressure from the anti-apartheid movement to boycott the regime’s segregationist sports policies. Not only did it work, it was significant in mobilising awareness of apartheid laws and support for the movement, as events were cancelled and players were prevented from travelling.

After Russia invaded Ukraine, the IOC banned the Russian national team and suspended the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC). Similarly, Russia was expelled from the 2022 World Cup and both FIFA and UEFA banned it from all international competitions. The announcement also included Russian clubs involved in European competitions.

Saved by the bell

Of course, just as Polanski was about to make another crucial point about Israel breaking international law detaining and abusing the Global Sumud Flotilla activists, ITV conveniently called it:

 

 

Some on X pointed out the glaring double standards on display. While the corporate media has swathes of time to spare for the political charlatans of the right-wing, its hostility to left-wingers speaking hard truths the media is loathe to admit, is plain to see:

Let’s be clear: Israel is a colonial entity – that for all the talk of a ceasefire – is continuing to commit a genocide and heinous atrocities in Gaza. In over two years of brutal siege, it has massacred hundreds of Palestinian football players and athletes. It has stolen the lives – and dreams – of more than 20,000 children.

It likes to hide behind its image as the supposed bastion of democracy in the Middle East. But of course, nothing could be further from the truth in its colonial, apartheid regime. Peston’s appeal to this is nothing short of propaganda for the violent settler state – and in this context, entirely irrelevant anyway.

Had Peston and ITV not cut Polanski off, we’re sure he would have set them straight on all this too.

Featured image via the Canary

By HG

This post was originally published on Canary.