Petition Against Arsenal Football Club's Support to Israel
This petition is for protesting Arsenal Football Club's sponsorship deal with Israel Ministry of Tourism's organisation"Think Israel".
Arsenal Football Club has signed a sponsorship deal to promote Israel as a tourist destination (on 26 February 2006).
The £350,000 agreement makes Israel Arsenal's "official and exclusive travel destination." Below are just some of the benefits Israel receives from this deal:
- Israel is featured on digital perimeter boards and 450 high-definition LCD screens at the stadium on game days;
- Israel is featured on the team's website, Arsenal.com; and in its magazine.
- The televised ads reach audiences in an estimated 198 countries.
- The Israeli Tourism Ministry receives intellectual property rights, the use of the team logo and the right to use photos of the team and its players in ads.
- The Israeli Tourism Minister is allowed use the stadium banqueting hall twice a year and organize an exhibition at the end of the playing season
- The stadium holds permanent sale tables for Israel t-shirts
Israel is a racist apartheid state built upon the ethnic cleansing of the indigenous Arab population from Palestine.
Israel's apartheid policies include the segregation of West Bank roads by the military and the construction of a vast steel and concrete barrier through the West Bank and Jerusalem. Dubbed the "apartheid wall", because it forces communities apart and grabs land, it was held to be in violation of international law by the International Court of Justice.
Israel's racial discrimination is daily life of most Palestinian Arabs who have no place in a "Jewish" state. Since Israel is a Jewish state, Israeli Jews are given special rights which non-Jews do not have. Israel has deprived millions of Palestinians of their liberty and property and has waged a war against a civilian population, in particular children.
As regards football, Israeli human rights groups have documented how Israeli soldiers routinely shoot Palestinian children playing football outside their refugee camps. Furthermore, Israeli authorities regularly prevent Palestinian players from attending international games. In September 2004, five players were prevented from traveling to the World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan. Unable to play in Palestine, the team travels to Doha, Qatar, for "home" games and trains in Ismailia, Egypt, more than 100 miles from the local Gaza players' homes.
For Arsenal to sign a deal to promote such apartheid state as Israel is to go against the very principles of the 'Let's Kick Racism out of Football' campaign. I urge you to pull out of this deal as only economic pressure, similar to that which toppled the apartheid South African regime, will end apartheid in Israel.
Please add your sign to this petition for Arsenal to quit its economical support to Israel.
Thank you.
Children Victims of Apartheid Israel
More information about the Arsenal Campaign
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