Shamrock Rovers v BY Tel Aviv tomorrow: Protest to highlight Israeli apartheid

THE Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign will hold a peaceful protest at the Shamrock Rovers versus Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv game in Tallaght Stadium tomorrow evening, Thursday, July 15th, at 7pm.

Banners reading ‘Love Football, Hate Apartheid’, ‘Boycott Israeli Apartheid’ and ‘Unity Against Occupation' will be flown alongside Palestinian flags.

The IPSC says it does not want to hijack Rovers' first European game in years and is asking supporters not to interrupt the game under any circumstances.

The protest will take place outside but if Rovers supporters want to take Palestinian flags into the game the IPSC would be happy to see them in the stands.

Freda Hughes of the IPSC answered criticisms that activists shouldn't mix politics with sport:

"Palestinian teams have consistently been refused visas to travel to competitions and aren't afforded the same training facilities and funding as Israeli teams. Restrictions on movement both within the West Bank and between the West Bank and Gaza further compound the difficulties that Palestinian footballers face.

"In 2006, the football stadium in Gaza was bombed by the Israeli military.

"We will use this protest to raise awareness amongst football fans of these issues and hope that Shamrock Rovers and their fans will support the boycott as an effective form of direct action in future."