This meant that there was actually something at stake for Palestinians (imagine the fate of the Palestinian soccer team if Israel had been kicked out of FIFA). Which is why the Palestinian Soccer League ultimately dropped the petition when it became clear that there was no majority support for the motion, let alone the 75% majority required.
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The heads of the Palestinian and Israeli soccer
associations, Jibril Rajoub (R) and Ofer Eini, shake hands.
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Indeed, the vote did not merely fail. It flopped, collapsed and then imploded. 90% of FIFA members voted against the suspension after the Palestinians withdrew their support for the idea.
BSemites who had nothing to lose (and for whom failure is becoming an all too familiar reality these days) are fuming. How dare the people who would have been most affected by the boycott and for whom the boycott is ostensibly launched, call it off without consulting 18 year-old college kids in California? The Jerusalem Post Reports:
"The Palestinian BDS (Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions against Israel) national committee is disappointed that that the entire FIFA congress, including the Palestinian Football Association, have not lived up to their obligations and stated principles. FIFA and its membership have delayed the suspension of Israel, but they cannot delay the growth of the international boycott of Israel or prevent the continued isolation of Israel..."Two BS allies, Hamas and the PFLP, joined in condemning the Palestinian capitulation. And the much advertised "avalanche of boycott efforts at other international bodies" is now, obviously, not going to come about.
For if Israel cannot be suspended from FIFA, given that organization's corruption and relationship with Hamas-funder Qatar, and where Palestinians have agitated for years, what chance is there of boycotting Israel at flower-growing or pet-grooming competitions around the world?
