Israel To Be Evicted From UEFA?

UEFA threatens to evict Israel.

The state of Israel is an all-purpose human rights violator. And Palestinian athletes are not excluded. The Palestinians Football team, for example, has never even played on Palestinian soil because the Israeli government denies them a visa. Palestinians are denied the ability to train and compete in international events all the time. ESPN wrote the following:

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Then there is Zakia Nassar. She’s a 21-year-old Palestinian from Bethlehem studying dentistry in Jenin, a city in the West Bank. She said it has been her dream since she was 10 to swim in the Olympics but there is no pool available for training in Jenin. There is an Olympic-sized, 50-meter pool in nearby Nazareth, but the Israeli government did not give her permission to use it.

“Without permission, there is no way to go there,” Nassar said. “Many journalists did their best. They talked, they wrote, they talked, they wrote. Our Olympic committee, our swim federation, they said, ‘This is sport; let her train.’ And they said no. I said, ‘I am just going to swim.’ And they said no. They didn’t say anything. They just ignored me.”

Nassar was limited to training only when she returned to her parents’ home in Bethlehem, but she did so only about every two months for two days or so, and the pool is only 12 meters long. Yes, she is very good at flip turns.

“My parents always encouraged me,” Nassar said. “They said, ‘This is your dream, these are the Olympics, you must train as best you can.’ And I’m glad. I’m here.”

Nassar said she received a lot of supportive text messages from Palestinians back home. “All the Palestinian people always support me. They said, ‘We are proud of you. Keep going. Swim your best for Palestinians.’”

She swam the 50 in 31.97, more than seven seconds behind the best time, but it was good enough to win her heat. She will not appear on the cover of Time magazine or a Wheaties box or receive millions of dollars in endorsements, but she can always say she won a race at the Olympics.

“There wasn’t a lot of training,” she said. “But I tried my best, and that’s OK. It has been my dream, and I am excited to be here. I don’t think I will keep on swimming. I have to concentrate on dentistry now. But maybe I’ll keep on swimming for next time.”

Her story is one of hundreds of Palestinians whose right to compete and even train have become prohibitive due to the brutal Israeli occupation.

SWIMMING STRETCHES: Palestinian swimmers, Abdul Rahman, left, and Shahdi el-Masry, performed warm-up stretches before training at the Nama’a Sports Club in Jabaliya, Gaza Strip. Mr. el-Masry’s leg was amputated after an Israeli jeep ran over it when he was 2 years old. The handicapped swimmers hope to travel to Germany in May to qualify for the 2012 Paralympics. Gaza has few adequate training facilities for professional athletes, many of whom have great difficulty leaving the blockaded territory to compete internationally. (Warrick Page/Getty Images)

But the Palestinians continue to persist. And to resistance. Resistance means training in defiance of Israel even if you know that your chance to compete will be prohibited.

But Israel should not be allowed to impose such injustice with impunity. Until Israel recognizes the rights of Palestinian athletes, Israeli athletes should be barred from international competitions. Including the Olympics. Unless Palestinian tennis players are respected by Israel then Israeli tennis players should be prohibited from partaking in any competitions.

Finally one institution is taking notice:

The head of European soccer's governing body told a senior Palestinian Authority official that Israel is in danger of eviction from UEFA if its government does not change its policies limiting the freedom of movement for Palestinian athletes, according to reports in Palestinian and Arab media outlets.

And not a day too soon. The only reason has been allowed to play in the European field is because it has been rightly excluded from its own region. The European invite should not be rescinded from this cruel nation.