RAMALLAH, The Palestinian Higher Council for Youth and Sports tonight said it regrets and denounces the decision of Moroccan and Emirati teams to hold friendly matches with Israeli teams in Israel, and to host those teams in their countries, describing it as “an insult to the struggles and sacrifices of our people, and a disregard for the feelings of millions of Arabs and Muslims sympathetic to the cause of justice and human rights in this world.”

The Council reminded in a statement “our brothers who took this decision, which constitutes a resounding stab in the heart of every free Arab, that by doing this they are rewarding one of the most heinous types of occupation for its crimes against a defenseless people who stand alone in the trench defending the Arabism of their sanctities on behalf of all Arabs.”

It appealed to the Moroccan and Emirati teams not “to shake hands stained with the blood of the children of Palestine.”

The Youth and Sports Council called on those in charge of such agreements “to respect the decisions of the Council of Ministers of Arab Youth and Sports, and the decisions of the Arab League regarding the normalization of sports with the occupying state while they offer a free reward to a country whose racism constitutes a clear violation of the Olympic Charter.”

It added, “We appeal to them to reconsider their position and think about the feelings of millions of Arabs and Muslims, who care for the issues of truth and justice, before they extend a hand of peace to an occupation that does not know the language of peace, and has nothing to offer them except contempt and arrogance.”

Source: Palestinian News & Info Agency