On the 5th of April of this year, the male Maltese Rugby team will be playing against Israel in Malta (Tony Bezzina Stadium). The Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement alongside the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) have long called for a complete boycott of Israeli cultural institutions as they are complicit in the upholding of Israeli apartheid and current genocide.

As Moviment Graffitti, Ġustizzja għall-Palestina, Watermelon Warriors, Lebanese Advocates and Youth for Palestine we stand by and support the work being done by BDS and PACBI and have identified this game as an opportunity to push back against any form of complicity in Israeli apartheid and genocide.

In the same way that in the nineties, the apartheid regime in South Africa came to an end following international boycotts and sanctions, we now need to put pressure on the apartheid and genocidal state of Israel by means of boycotts and sanctions against all those that in one way or another are accomplices in its actions.

Rugby and other team sports gather people from all walks of life to celebrate and support the joy of the game. However, we must remain steadfast in our condemnation of Israel’s war crimes and crimes against humanity. 

The Israeli Rugby team represents the country of Israel and is a tool for Israel’s attempts to spread its cultural capital and hide its atrocities, in this case, through sportswashing. These institutions actively work to hinder and impede Palestinians basic human rights, including freedom of expression and free movement. Let us not forget that the Israeli Occupation Force has deliberately targeted young, Palestinian sportspeople falsely imprisoning them, disabling them or even executing them extrajudicially.

We must completely sever ties with the axis of genocide of our age, spearheaded by Israel and completely supported by the United States of America and several European countries.

We are calling upon the European Rugby Union to sever its ties with the Israeli national rugby team, just as it did with the Russian team when Russia began its imperialist operations inside Ukraine. By keeping Israel within its ranks, Rugby Europe is contravening its own code of ethics and principles that are based on respect for human rights and dignity. Moreover, national rugby teams are threatened with a debilitating fine if they refuse to play games with the Israeli national team. This makes the European Rugby Union a complicit partner in Israel’s sportswashing campaign and ultimately, genocide; a conduct that violates the 2024 ICJ ruling and various UN resolutions that have passed since the beginning of the genocide in 2023.

This call is coming up in front of the backdrop of Israel’s resumption of its full-scale genocidal operations in Gaza, where over 400 people were murdered in just a few hours, with many more grievously injured or trapped under rubble, still to be found. Israel is now bombing the last standing hospitals in the Gaza strip and has completely cut off any electrical supply, which means that more and more Gazans will succumb to their injuries than ever before.

Since October 2023, 50,000 Palestinians have been massacred.

This matter is no longer just one about sports but a matter of life and death for those living in Gaza and the West Bank. Malta should not be threatened into complicity and Israel must be held accountable on all fronts.

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Logħba tar-Rugby Malta – Iżrael: Uru l-Karta l-Ħamra lill-Iżrael

Fil-5 ta’ April ta’ din is-sena, it-tim tal-irġiel Malti tar-Rugby se jkun qed jilgħab kontra l-Iżrael f’Malta (fil-grawnd Tony Bezzina). Il-moviment Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) flimkien mal-Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott of Israel (PACBI) ilhom għal żmien twil jitolbu bojkott sħiħ tal-istituzzjonijiet kulturali Iżraeljani peress li huma kompliċi fiż-żamma tal-apartheid Iżraeljan u l-ġenoċidju attwali.

Bħala Moviment Graffitti, Ġustizzja għall-Palestina, Watermelon Warriors, Lebanese Advocates u Youth for Palestine, aħna nappoġġjaw ix-xogħol li qed isir mill-BDS u l-PACBI u għarafna li din hija opportunità biex niġġieldu kontra kull forma ta’ kompliċità fil-apartheid u l-ġenoċidju mill-Iżrael.

Bl-istess mod li fis-snin disgħin ir-reġim tal-apartheid fl-Afrika t’Isfel sab tmiemu wara bojkotts u sanzjonijiet internazzjonali, issa jeħtieġ li d-dinja tagħmel pressjoni fuq l-istat t’apartheid u ġenoċidali tal-Iżrael permezz ta’ bojkotts u sanzjonijiet kontra dawk kollha li b’xi mod jew ieħor huma kompliċi fl-azzjonijiet tiegħu.

Ir-rugby u sports oħra jiġbru nies minn kull qasam tal-ħajja biex jiċċelebraw u jipparteċipaw fl-ispirtu tal-logħba. Madankollu, irridu nibqgħu sodi fil-kundanna tagħna tad-delitti tal-gwerra u d-delitti kontra l-umanità mill-Iżrael.

It-tim Iżraeljan tar-Rugby jirrappreżenta l-Iżrael bħala pajjiż u huwa għodda għat-tentattivi tal-Iżrael biex ixerred il-kapital kulturali tiegħu u jaħbi l-atroċitajiet tiegħu, f’dan il-każ, permezz ta’ sportswashing. Dawn l-istituzzjonijiet jaħdmu b’mod attiv biex ifixklu u joħonqu d-drittijiet bażiċi tal-bnedmin tal-Palestinjani, inkluż il-libertà tal-espressjoni u l-moviment ħieles. Ma ninsewx il-mod li bih il-Forza tal-Okkupazzjoni Iżraeljana deliberatament qabdet ma’ żgħażagħ sportivi Palestinjani u tefgħethom il-ħabs bla bażi, ikkaġunatilhom diżabbiltajiet jew saħansitra qatlithom b’mod ekstraġudizzjarju.

Irridu naqtgħu kompletament ir-rabtiet ma’ dawk li qegħdin jwettqu l-ġenoċidju – ġenoċidju mmexxi mill-Iżrael u appoġġjat kompletament mill-Istati Uniti u diversi pajjiżi Ewropej.

Qed nappellaw lill-European Rugby Union biex taqta’ r-rabtiet tagħha mat-tim nazzjonali tar-rugby Iżraeljan, bħalma għamlet mat-tim Russu meta r-Russja bdiet l-operazzjonijiet imperjalisti tagħha ġewwa l-Ukrajna. Il-fatt li l-Iżrael tħalla jibqa’ f’din il-federazzjoni jikser l-kodiċi t’etika u l-prinċipji ta’ Rugby Europe li huma msejsa fuq ir-rispett lejn id-drittjiet tal-bnedmin u d-dinjità. Bħalissa, it-timijiet nazzjonali tar-rugby qed jiġu mhedda b’multi ħorox jekk jirrifjutaw li jilagħbu logħob mat-tim nazzjonali Iżraeljan. Dan jagħmel lill- European Rugby Union kompliċi fil-kampanja ta’ sportswashing tal-Iżrael u fuq kollox, tal-ġenoċidju, u għalhekk huwa ksur tad-deċiżjoni tal- Qorti Internazzjonali tal-Ġustizzja tal-2024 u diversi riżoluzzjonijiet tan-Nazzjonijiet Uniti li daħlu fis-seħħ sa mill-bidu tal-ġenoċidju fl-2023.

Din is-sejħa qed issir ukoll fid-dawl tat-tkomplija tal-operazzjonijiet ġenoċidali kbar tal-Iżrael f’Gaża, fejn aktar minn 400 persuna nqatlu f’temp ta’ ftit sigħat, b’ħafna aktar midruba serjament jew maqbuda taħt it-terrapien għad iridu jinstabu. L-Iżrael issa qed jattakka bil-bombi l-aħħar sptarijiet li baqa’ fil-Medda ta’ Gaża u qata’ għal kollox kull provvista ta’ elettriku, li jfisser li aktar u aktar persuni mill-popolazzjoni ta’ Gaża se jitilfu ħajjithom.

Sa minn Ottubru 2023, inqatlu 50,000 Palestinjan.

Din il-kwistjoni mhijiex biss dwar l-isports iżda hija kwistjoni ta’ ħajja jew mewt għal dawk li jgħixu f’Gaża u x-Xatt tal-Punent. Malta m’għandhiex tiġi sfurzata tkun kompliċi u l-Iżrael għandu jinżamm responsabbli fuq kull livell.