Pirates resist pressure to pull out of friendly with Maccabi Tel Aviv

It’s kick off time for one of South Africa’s favourite soccer teams, Orlando Pirates, to take on Israel’s popular Maccabi Tel Aviv in a friendly pre-season camp in Spain, defying persistent pressure from anti-Israel lobbyists to pull out.

It has been a week of high drama in the Pirates locker room following a bullying call by the South African Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions coalition (BDS SA) last Friday, 7 July, to withdraw in solidarity with Palestinians.

The organisation penned an open letter calling on Pirates not to play against Maccabi Tel Aviv, saying, “There’s nothing ‘friendly’ about playing a team representing apartheid Israel.”

The letter accused Israel of occupation, “institutionalised racism”, and war crimes, and compared its treatment of its Palestinian population to apartheid South Africa. The group also called on the South African department of sports, arts, and culture to enforce a cultural and sporting boycott of Israel.

It’s understood that BDS also reached out to the South African Football Association and the Confederation of African Football to garner more pressure to have the match cancelled.

In response, Orlando Pirates explained in a lengthy statement on Monday, 10 July, that the match with Israel was organised by a FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) match agent, and since there’s no official “boycott of any form” against Israel implemented by FIFA or the government, they must play Thursday’s game against Maccabi Tel Aviv, which includes Arab-Israel soccer players. Pirates further explained that though it’s “naturally conscious of the plight of the Palestinian people”, it must follow FIFA and government rules.

“Orlando Pirates’ core functioning is governed by rules,” the team said. “It’s to the rules that Orlando Pirates went when confronted with calls to withdraw from playing Maccabi Tel Aviv. There’s no cultural boycott or boycott of any form by either the South African government, FIFA, or the host country that Orlando Pirates can base its refusal to play against Maccabi Tel Aviv on. Heeding a call from any other body would create a conflict within Orlando Pirates that would undermine the club’s values and history irreparably.”

Anti-Israel groups aligned with the BDS including amongst others the African National Congress (ANC) Veterans League, the South African Communist Party, and the South African Federation of Trade Unions, added their voice to the calls to back out, urging Bucs Chairperson Irvin Khoza to call off the match. ANC veteran Ronnie Kasrils called it an “immense disappointment” that the “noble” Bucaneers were set to “sully their human rights record”.

Speaking on the sidelines of an ANC elections workshop on Monday, ANC Deputy Secretary General, Nomvula Mokonyane said the party was “concerned” about Pirates playing the Israeli club, but it couldn’t place pressure on the club at this late stage. She said the match was a reminder that a “stronger stance” against Israel, including discourse around a cultural boycott, should be considered by the party.

Pirates and Maccabi Tel Aviv are both on a pre-season camp and are scheduled to play a few matches in a mini tournament in Spain, involving numerous clubs from Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Middle East.

The South African Friends of Israel (SAFI) on Monday called on Orlando Pirates to “stand firm” in its decision and ignore the “hate and bullying” they face.

SAFI spokesperson Bafana Modise said, “Orlando Pirates must play against Israel and tackle BDS hate, because boycotting sport and alienating players won’t produce the goal of peace in the Middle East.”

In a statement, SAFI said, “Instead of allowing South African sports teams to abide by international rules and participate freely in international matches, BDS is trying to harm a sports team like Orlando Pirates by pressuring them to cancel this positive sporting engagement.

“This own goal would be a grave injustice to South African sport as well as the positive role that sport plays in bringing people of diverse backgrounds together, and we call on Orlando Pirates to stand firm.”

Modise said stakeholders of the BDS movement were “fearful” that South Africans would see the diversity of the Israeli soccer team, which is made up of Arabs and Jews – “human beings, just like us”.

“As Israel is the world’s only Jewish state, BDS wishes to discriminate solely against her amongst the community of nations whilst remaining silent when serious human rights abuses occur daily on our doorstep in Africa and other parts of the globe.

“If South Africa was scheduled to play Russia or Iran, or any major human rights abuser, BDS would be cheering our beloved players on as opposed to bullying them.

“Soccer can play a unifying and meaningful role in bridging the disconnect created by the inflammatory tactics of BDS, which only seeks to sow hate and division. This dishonest attempt to dehumanise Israelis and bully South Africans must be rejected and condemned.”

In March, Israeli rugby team Tel Aviv Heat was disinvited from participating in a competition in South Africa after supporters of the BDS movement pressured the South African Rugby Union.

Meanwhile, the recently appointed Maccabi Tel Aviv coach, well-known Irish soccer player Robbie Keane, also faced heavy criticism from anti-Israel lobbyists when he took up the coaching position for the Israeli side. Two days after his appointment as coach, BDS called on him to join “the international athletes who fight for the rights of the Palestinians and oppose co-operating with apartheid”.

Keane, a former Ireland and Tottenham Hotspur striker, joined the club as head coach on a two-year deal. “I’m delighted to take on this challenge at Maccabi. My team and I look forward to beginning work, and we have confidence in our ability to do what’s necessary to prepare the team for the coming season.”

Pirates left South Africa for Spain last weekend. The team is expected to have a pre-season camp in Marbella, southern Spain, until 21 July, during which they will face Maccabi before taking on Independiente del Valle on 15 July. They are also scheduled to face the Spanish La Liga side UD Las Palmas on 19 July.