Forest Green Rovers Football Club has flown the Palestinian flag in solidarity with the besieged people of Palestine.
Chairman Dale Vince said he wanted to show solidarity with Palestine during Monday’s game against Oldham Athletic in EFL League Two at the Gloucestershire club’s New Lawn Stadium.
He explained on Twitter that: “We flew this flag at FGR’s game today. In solidarity with Palestine. The conflict there has all the same ingredients as the one in Ukraine – invasion, occupation, murder of civilians, destruction of homes and hospitals – and sieges.”
He added: “Palestine has been under siege by Israel – by air, land and sea, for decades. The US allows this, pumps billions into Israel to support it’s economy and military and uses its veto to block any meaningful action by the UN.
“What’s happening there is a disgrace to nations that collectively self identify as the ‘West’. It stands in stark contradiction to ‘our’ claims to moral superiority, civilisation and democratic values. Has to be said.”
Vince, 60, is a green energy industrialist and the owner of the electricity company Ecotricity.
In 2010 he became a major shareholder of Forest Green Rovers FC and three months later was appointed club chairman.
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In October 2015, Forest Green became the world’s first all vegan football club. And the United Nations has recognised it as the world’s first carbon-neutral football club.
The football authorities in the UK and worldwide have traditionally insisted that sport should not be mixed with politics and have fined clubs for displaying political symbols. But this has been set aside in recent weeks with football clubs openly displaying political support for Ukraine in its conflict against Russia.
