Ireland lost to Israel

For the past few months, Irish Sport for Palestine (ISFP), which I am part of, has been campaigning for Ireland to boycott its football matches against Israel. We believe playing against Israel legitimises a genocidal regime and gives cover for international law violations, apartheid and war crimes.On Sunday, the match between the two teams went ahead in an almost empty stadium in Hungary. Regardless of the final score (3-0) in Ireland’s favour, they lost the minute they stepped on the pitch to play Israel. They lost because they went against the majority of the Irish people who do not want these matches to be played. They lost because they succumbed to pressure to normalise genocide.A February poll showed that 76 percent of respondents did not want the team to play Israel. In a survey of professional football players in the Irish men’s and women’s leagues also conducted in February, 63 percent said Ireland should not play Israel.The very spirit of Ireland, including Irish sport, is rooted in anticolonial resistance, so why should Irish football help legitimise a settler-colonial project?One player, Gavin Bazunu, embodied that spirit with his courageous and principled decision to b...