Over 4,300 people have signed a petition urging Liverpool Football Club to reject sponsorship from Israel.
The Friends of Al Aqsa organisation says it is deeply concerned over recent discussions regarding sponsorship between Liverpool and the Israeli Tourism Minister Yariv Levin.
The petition says: “We are concerned the potential link being established between LFC and Israel. Since, Israel is an occupying power of Palestinian territory and in breach of a number of international laws, UN Resolutions and Geneva Conventions.
“Not only is the state of Israel actively pursuing expansion through illegal settlements, and in doing so destroying a vast number of Palestinian lives, it is also illegally occupying a state and its people. By accepting sponsorship from Israeli tourism board, LFC would be complicit in this occupation.
“Sport, and particularly football with its enormous international reach and fan base, should work as a unifying force for fans and players alike. Hence, an association with Israel counters the inclusive nature of footballing ethos.
“Currently Palestinian football players are barred from travelling abroad and face daily discriminatory practices at the hands of the Israeli regime. Only recently young Palestinian footballers were brutally maimed at the hands of the Israeli military, leading to a demand from the international community for Israel to be removed from FIFA.
“The Israeli government attempt to link with LFC is a tactic to normalise the violence of the occupation.
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“We therefore firmly advocate that you reconsider any deals with the Israeli government, not only on legal but also moral grounds, because it acts to normalise the illegal occupation of Palestinian land and oppression of the Palestinian people.
The Liverpool Echo newspaper has written that reports of a lucrative sponsorship deal with Israel are wide of the mark.
However, Liverpool’s director of international business development Jonathan Kane was pictured with Israel’s tourism minister Yariv Levin at the World Travel Market fair in London. And there has yet to be an official denial from the club itself.
