The Government response to public opinion, to the stop the game campaign and to the massive pressure it is now under is a continuation to its basic approach to the issue of Palestine. It is to have words. It is to hide. It is to engage in cowardice. In this case, it is to hide behind the FAI. The Minister for sport says he will personally not go to the game but then hides behind the FAI and refuses to take a clear position. What is needed from the Government is absolutely clear and it is what is being called for. The Government needs to make a clear statement about its opposition to playing the genocidal team of Israel, call for its exclusion from international sport and then it needs to say it is going to back up the FAI in that and ensure that grassroots football will not pay any price as a result of taking a principled position. What the Government needs to do is very simple. I find it astounding that there is an amendment from an opposition party tonight. Independent Ireland is calling for serious consideration to matches being played behind closed doors, thinking that somehow if we close the doors and play this genocidal team it somehow makes it okay. Let us be clear why there is mass support and calls for boycotting these games. It is because Israel has been committing a genocide for almost three years where it is likely that the death toll in reality is well over 100,000 people, where the vast majority of buildings in Gaza have been destroyed and where this is all continuing today. We know, in terms of the impact of sport, that 1,000 Palestinian athletes and over 560 footballers have been killed. As for this idea that sport and politics have nothing to do with each other, look at what is happening in America right now where a Somalian referee has been refused access to referee the World Cup because of the racist policies of the US Government. An Iranian team are going to have to fly in and out to play games because of the murderous assault being rained down on them by the US and Israel. Football and sport are absolutely political. Let us not act like the members of the Israeli national team are some innocent civilians. Many of them are former IDF terrorists. It is even more insidious than that because many of them qualify for an exception as athletes but chose to join the IDF in any case. I will give two examples. Number 10, Manor Solomon, stated that Palestinians were killing their own people and blaming Israel. His hatred for the people of Gaza is so well known that fans of his former club made up the chant of "He looks good, he looks fine, he hates Palestine". Shon Weissman is a forward who had a transfer to another club cancelled over his support for the genocide of Palestinians. He said that Israel should wipe Gaza off the map. Of course, we should not be playing these people. Ireland should be leading the way in isolating Israel on the world stage. That starts with stopping the game.

Sentiment score: -0.05