Palestinians hail Argentina and Messi for calling off Jerusalem
match
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[June 06, 2018]
By Ori Lewis and Ali Sawafta
JERUSALEM/RAMALLAH, June 6 (Reuters) -
Palestinian soccer officials praised Argentina and its star Lionel
Messi on Wednesday for calling off a friendly match against Israel
that Israeli officials had planned to move to Jerusalem.
Argentina's final World Cup warm-up against Israel was originally
slated to be held in the Israeli coastal city of Haifa but was moved
to Jerusalem at the urging of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's
government. Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain announced on Tuesday
it was cancelled.
"The Israelis tried to use Messi and those stars from Argentina, and
I would like to thank them and appreciate their decision, which I
think was on the right track," Palestinian Football Association
President Jibril Rajoub told a news conference on Wednesday in the
West Bank city of Ramallah.
At the entrance to the news conference was a placard saying "From
Palestine, thank you Messi" with Argentinian and Palestinian flags,
under a big photo of Rajoub posing with the Barcelona ace.
It was a change of tone from Rajoub, who on Sunday had called for
Palestinians to burn replica Messi shirts and photos if the
Argentinian played in Jerusalem.
Israel's Football Association accused the Palestinians of crossing a
"red line" by inciting anger towards the Argentinian players in
order to scupper the match. It said it would complain to soccer
world governing body FIFA about Rajoub's comments, which it
described as "physical and brutal threats".
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The Palestinians opposed the decision to hold the match in
Jerusalem, accusing Israel of seeking to use the fixture, and
especially the presence of global star Messi, to underpin Israel's
claim to the Holy City.
Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital, while Palestinians
want the eastern part of the city as capital of their own state.
Most countries say Jerusalem's status must be left to be resolved in
future peace talks, although U.S. President Donald Trump reversed
American policy last year to recognise the city as capital of
Israel.
Palestinian soccer officials say they would have had no issue if the
match were held as planned in Haifa, but it should not have been
moved to Jerusalem.
Zeev Elkin, a senior Israeli cabinet minister, said on Army Radio
that holding the match in Jerusalem was a matter of national pride.
Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said in a statement "the
politicisation of Argentina's move is very worrying". (Writing by
Ori Lewis Editing by Peter Graff)
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