It was 22-October-1962, the venue was Windsor Park, Belfast. Northern Ireland were hosting England, a game that resulted in a 1-3 defeat for the home side. It was the start of a love affair with the game, Yeah, I have been unfaithful, straying into affairs with other sports, which include but are not limited to Gaelic football, cricket, darts, squash, tennis, badminton, snooker, even pickleball which I have played with my daughter earlier this year in Dublin. But despite my wandering eye and sporting promiscuity I have remained wedded to soccer.
To my mind it is the beautiful game. That endearing quality is undermined and compromised to the point of extreme ugliness when the beauty of the game is used to sports wash genocide, when soccer is promoted as a beauty pageant that serves as a mask to conceal the most ugly creature on the catwalk. Imagine a scenario where we all gather for a Bride of the Year competition and out struts the thirteen year old corpse of Margaret Thatcher, propped up on either side by Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The compere, Keir Starmer, calls on us to open our nostrils and breathe in the perfumed scent, to applaud and marvel at the beauty of this stunningly striking woman. Even those who believe in miracles would think to themselves: Nah, no god out of all the thousands the human race has invented since it evolved as a species, could make that monster look attractive. That's the Bride of Frankenstein, not the Bride of the Year.
No matter what scent is sprayed to mask the putrefaction, allowing the genocidal state of Israel to take part in international sporting events is simply an exercise in painting a smile on the face of a corpse.
So, when Glasgow Celtic announced that Martin O'Neill would assume the permanent coaching spot at the club, and that Robbie Keane, who managed the racist thug-supported side Maccabi Tel Aviv during the genocide, would not be getting the job, the two words that leapt to mind were Hail Hail. I am not a Celtic supporter but admiration has to be extended to those fans who protested the much anticipated signing of the former Maccabi manager with their No To Keane campaign.
It is this type of ethical persuasion that needs brought to bear on the upcoming game between Ireland and the genocidal state. Richie Sadlier because of his unqualified call for the game not to proceed has been described as 'the deepest-thinking, most intelligent and most socially-aware pundit in Irish sport.'
If only the FAI and Dublin government were not averse to that deep thinking, intelligence and social awareness, the Irish tricolour could billow in the breeze, not as a symbol of racist hatred but of pride as Ireland steps onto the winners podium and then to the highest step in the middle to claim the ethical gold medal.
Cahair O'Kane in the Irish News outlined what the government can do to help instead of pious handwringing:
Perhaps I will be excused by my fellow Drogs fans who are part of Drogheda Stands With Palestine, when I suggest that while Micheal Martin is the government Taoiseach, the ethical Taoiseach is Shamrock Rovers captain Roberto Lopes who stated last month:
The message that the activists of Drogheda Stands With Palestine send out continuously is simple: Don't make Irish soccer a home for genocidal Israel. Instead of a cead mile failte there should be a sign above the turnstile with one word that even the Judeo Nazis - a phenomenon identified by the Israeli philosopher Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz after the Six Day War - will understand: Verboten.
To my mind it is the beautiful game. That endearing quality is undermined and compromised to the point of extreme ugliness when the beauty of the game is used to sports wash genocide, when soccer is promoted as a beauty pageant that serves as a mask to conceal the most ugly creature on the catwalk. Imagine a scenario where we all gather for a Bride of the Year competition and out struts the thirteen year old corpse of Margaret Thatcher, propped up on either side by Donald Trump and Joe Biden. The compere, Keir Starmer, calls on us to open our nostrils and breathe in the perfumed scent, to applaud and marvel at the beauty of this stunningly striking woman. Even those who believe in miracles would think to themselves: Nah, no god out of all the thousands the human race has invented since it evolved as a species, could make that monster look attractive. That's the Bride of Frankenstein, not the Bride of the Year.
No matter what scent is sprayed to mask the putrefaction, allowing the genocidal state of Israel to take part in international sporting events is simply an exercise in painting a smile on the face of a corpse.
So, when Glasgow Celtic announced that Martin O'Neill would assume the permanent coaching spot at the club, and that Robbie Keane, who managed the racist thug-supported side Maccabi Tel Aviv during the genocide, would not be getting the job, the two words that leapt to mind were Hail Hail. I am not a Celtic supporter but admiration has to be extended to those fans who protested the much anticipated signing of the former Maccabi manager with their No To Keane campaign.
If only the FAI and Dublin government were not averse to that deep thinking, intelligence and social awareness, the Irish tricolour could billow in the breeze, not as a symbol of racist hatred but of pride as Ireland steps onto the winners podium and then to the highest step in the middle to claim the ethical gold medal.
Cahair O'Kane in the Irish News outlined what the government can do to help instead of pious handwringing:
If you had a strong government standing behind them, it’s a simple fix: pull out of the game lads and we’ll foot the bill for you, and we’ll be seen to do it too.
Our government, unfortunately is not for standing behind anything of the sort. It would rather fork out to prevent fuel blockades than prevent genocide. A government behind homelessness in this society is determined to bestow a get out of jail free card on those behind the homelessness of Gaza.
We have to stop the game. As players and fans, our natural instinct is always to get out there and compete, but this is a moment where we need to look at the bigger picture. We can't ignore the humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine; the sheer loss of life there has to take precedence over any sporting consideration. Ireland has an opportunity here to lead—to be a pioneer and do what others won't. We need to be brave enough to say enough is enough. We can't just stand by. Please, stop the game.
The message that the activists of Drogheda Stands With Palestine send out continuously is simple: Don't make Irish soccer a home for genocidal Israel. Instead of a cead mile failte there should be a sign above the turnstile with one word that even the Judeo Nazis - a phenomenon identified by the Israeli philosopher Professor Yeshayahu Leibowitz after the Six Day War - will understand: Verboten.
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