England's Football Association (FA) has been condemned for its “weak response” to the Israel and Palestine conflict by a Jewish communal organisation.
The FA had faced calls to illuminate the Wembley arch in the colours of the Israeli flag before Friday’s friendly between England and Australia, following attacks by Hamas militants on the country’s territory last weekend.
The FA announced in a statement on Thursday that players would wear black armbands and that a period of silence would be observed instead to remember the victims of the conflict.
Wembley remembers the victims of the conflict in Israel and Palestine.
— The FA (@FA) October 12, 2023
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The Hamas attacks have led to the Israeli government responding with airstrikes on the Gaza Strip, with a ground invasion also reported to be a possibility.
The Board of Deputies of British Jews criticised the FA statement, pointing out that it made “no mention of the mass terrorist murders of hundreds of innocent Israelis last Saturday”.
Marie van der Zyl, the Board of Deputies’ president, added: “After the Bataclan massacre in 2015, when 90 were murdered at a Paris nightclub, La Marseillaise was played at every Premier League stadium the following weekend.
“When hundreds of innocent Israelis were murdered, raped and kidnapped in a co-ordinated terrorist campaign, unequalled since 9/11, the FA’s response is ‘to remember the victims of the conflicts in Israel and Palestine’. This weak response brings no credit on the FA.”
The FA’s statement read: “On Friday evening, we will remember the innocent victims of the devastating events in Israel and Palestine. Our thoughts are with them, and their families and friends in England and Australia and with all the communities who are affected by this ongoing conflict. We stand for humanity and an end to the death, violence, fear and suffering.”
The FA said flags, replica kits and other representations of nationality beyond those related to England or Australia would not be allowed inside Wembley on Friday.
Teams in the EFL and Premier League will also pay tribute to the victims of the conflict in their next rounds of matches
The British government had written to UK sports bodies encouraging them to mark events in Israel appropriately.
The England and Wales Cricket Board released a statement on Thursday which read: “We deplore the appalling loss of innocent life following recent events in Israel and Palestine.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of all the innocent victims, and those who are still missing, as well as the communities who are affected.
“While sport seems trivial compared to the harrowing scenes we have all watched, it is also an opportunity for people to come together and remind ourselves that there’s far more that brings us together, than divides us. We should now all unify in our hope for peace.”
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England cricketer Moeen Ali has deleted an Instagram post featuring the Palestinian flag and a quote from Malcolm X.
Moeen then put up a new post, without the flag but containing the same Malcolm X quote: “If you’re not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
The International Olympic Committee said its executive board members had “expressed their very strong feelings over these tragic events in the recent days” at the start of Thursday’s meeting in Mumbai and “express their deepest sympathy with the innocent victims of this terrible violence”.
