A summer packed with sport is well under way. England just got knocked out their place in the finals of the ICC T20 World Cup and are in the knockout stages of the Euros. While debate rages about Gareth Southgate’s tactics and who should be starting for the Three Lions, back in October, Khalil Jadallah, a Palestinian football commentator and analyst, was putting together a starting XI of the best Palestinian footballers who Israel had killed since the beginning of the genocide.
Now, nearly nine months on, the Palestinian Football Association (PFA) tells us that at least 300 sportspeople, including 200 footballers, have been killed in Gaza and the West Bank since October. The latest high profile victim, Al-Ahli Gaza’s Ahmad Abu al-Atta, was killed, along with his wife and children in an Israeli airstrike on 22 June. Additionally, all facilities in the Strip have either been destroyed or heavily damaged, with Gaza’s Al-Yarmouk Stadium turned into a concentration camp before it was destroyed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF).
In the West Bank, frequent IOF and settler violence has worsened an already unbearable situation. Since 7 October, seven sports facilities have been destroyed in the territory and football has come to a standstill with clubs such Lajee Celtic forced to halt all activities to protect children and staff from Israeli forces and settlers.
None of Israel’s human rights violations, whether before or after 7 October, would be possible without the collaboration of its allies and the many corporations that choose to ignore international law. One such company, Coca-Cola, is sponsoring Euro 2024, Copa America and the ICC T20 World Cup – attempting to use sport to detract from its complicity in Israeli apartheid and colonisation of Historic Palestine. In addition to being blacklisted by the Arab League from 1966 to 1991 for supporting Israel, Coke was among 112 companies cited for having ties to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank in 2020. Its factory in Atarot is located on stolen land and forms part of Israel’s attempt to ethnically cleanse the West Bank by establishing “facts on the ground” and cement Jerusalem’s status as its undivided capital.
The company claims that human rights is one of its “core values” and lists land rights as one of the “salient human rights issues associated with [their] activities and business relationships.” These lofty words are inconsistent with its actions in Occupied Palestine. We want to send a strong message to Coca-Cola that, despite its attempts to use sports to conceal its crimes, we will not turn a blind eye to their complicity in the illegal occupation of Palestine. We will not drink their products until they stop operating on stolen land!
We are already seeing pressure grow on Coke, and many other brands, that are seeing their sales plummet because of links to Israel’s violations of Palestinian rights. In November, Turkey’s parliament voted to remove all Coca-Cola drinks from shops and restaurants on their grounds, while its local distributor saw a 22% drop in sales in the last quarter of 2023. Sales also fell by 23% in Bangladesh, where a Coca-Cola advert used two prominent Bengali actors to distance the corporation from Israel. The ad, which aired during the Pakistan-India cricket match, claims that Coke is not “from that place” but consumed in 190 countries globally. It outraged many who saw it as insensitive propaganda and has backfired by further hurting their sales. It was a desperate attempt by the company to restore its image and shows that boycotts are putting those complicit in Israel’s occupation under increasing pressure.
So, while we get together to enjoy the festival of sport this summer, join Friends of Al-Aqsa in honouring the 300+ sportspeople that have been killed in Palestine since October by supporting the campaign to #BoycottCocaCola.
