Beitar cancels Barcelona match after demand to not have game in Jerusalem

“After I got the contract to sign and was exposed to the unequivocal demand that the game not take place in the capital, Jerusalem, and a few other demands that I did not like, I slept with a heavy heart, thought a lot and decided that first of all I am a proud Jew and Israeli,” wrote the owner of Beitar Jerusalem, Moshe Hogeg, on Facebook.

“I bought Beitar Jerusalem out of love for the holy capital. I fought a bitter war against racism and I will continue to fight it. I promote coexistence and am for peace. At the same time, a game against Beitar Jerusalem deserves to take place in Jerusalem and if the motive for its not taking place in Jerusalem is political and I submit to it, I will not be able to be whole with myself,” added Hogeg. “I cannot betray Jerusalem.”

Palestinians had called for boycotting the Spanish FC Barcelona football team because of reports that it may hold a preseason game in Israel against Beitar Jerusalem. The match was reportedly set to take place in Jerusalem’s Teddy Stadium on August 4.

A spokeswoman for an anti-Israel boycott movement claimed that the Teddy Stadium (in Malha) is located “near” the east Jerusalem neighborhoods of Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan, where a number of families are facing eviction from their homes.

Malha is located at the southern tip of Jerusalem, while Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan are located in east Jerusalem.

The spokeswoman claimed that the purported match was “politically-motivated in an attempt to marginalize Palestinians’ rights and play over the blood and suffering of the Palestinian people.”

Anti-Israel activists launched a hashtag in Arabic on Twitter titled “Boycott Barcelona” in an attempt to pressure the Spanish team to cancel the alleged match against Beitar Jerusalem.

According to the “Boycott Campaign – Palestine,” the Barcelona team is planning to hold a match in Israel “at a time when Palestinian athletes are being deprived by the Zionists of the right to participate in sports events around the world.”

The anti-Israel group claimed that Teddy Stadium was “established on the blood of the Palestinians,” adding that many of FC Barcelona’s fans are Arabs.

Several Palestinian activists accused Beitar Jerusalem of racism and noted that the team’s fans are known for their chants against Arabs and “insults” to the prophet Mohammed.

President of FC Barcelona Joan Laport said that the club has not publicly released any official statements through its official channels confirming the holding of a friendly football match against Beitar Jerusalem over the summer, according to the Palestinian Authority’s official news agency Wafa.

The agency said that the head of the Palestine Football Association Jibril Rajoub received a letter from Laport about the match planned in Jerusalem on August 4 “in a stadium built on the ruins of the Palestinian village of al-Malha, whose residents were forcibly expelled and displaced in refugee camps.”

Rajoub, a former PA security commander who currently serves as Secretary-General of the ruling Fatah faction headed by President Mahmoud Abbas, has stated in the past that “any activity of normalization in sports with the Zionist enemy is a crime.”

Laport wrote to Rajoub: “We have received the letter which you sent on behalf of the Palestine Football Association, in which you conveyed your concerns about FC Barcelona’s presumed activity of a friendly game in Jerusalem.”

Laport stressed that FC Barcelona has not announced the team’s schedule for the current season through its official channels. He said that FC Barcelona “as a democratic sports institution committed to basic rights and principles, has always expressed through actions, as the club’s history confirms, its clear defense of the rights and freedoms of all peoples of the earth.”