Call on UK clubs to end their association with Puma
From the Palestine Solidarity Campaign:
| Over the past year, we’ve seen an unprecedented eruption of solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for freedom, justice, and equality – as apartheid Israel has escalated its violence against Palestinians. As part of this solidarity, tens of thousands in the UK have demanded PUMA end its sponsorship of the Israeli Football Association (IFA). The IFA includes teams in illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land, sustaining Israel’s ongoing dispossession of the Palestinian people. We know PUMA is feeling the pressure from our international protest. That’s why we must continue to take action. Click below to write to UK football clubs sponsored by PUMA, asking they drop the brand until it stop supporting Israeli war crimes. And on Saturday 12th February we’re mobilising for an international day of action- with protests and pickets at PUMA stores and stockists across the UK. Protests across the world are working. A leaked internal memo showed PUMA admitted its celebrity ambassadors and business partners are increasingly questioning its support for Israeli apartheid, while a PUMA lawyer told the campaign it was making their lives “miserable.” We’ve got to keep up the pressure, and make 2022 the year PUMA ends its partnership with Israeli apartheid. So join us in taking action by writing to football clubs….. and we’ll see you on the streets on Saturday 12th February. James PSC Campaigns Officer |
Here’s an edited version of the email relevant to our club. Please feel free to use it in place of the suggested text:
I am writing to you about your clubs business relationship with sportswear manufacturer Puma, and their complicity with Israel’s abuses of Palestinian human rights.
Puma is the main sponsor of the Israel Football Association (IFA), which, as documented by Human Rights Watch, includes football clubs based in illegal Israeli settlements on stolen Palestinian land.
All Israeli settlements are illegal, and, as noted by Amnesty International, “key acts required for the establishment of settlements amount to war crimes under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.” Israeli settlements are illegal land grabs that form an integral part of Israel’s occupation infrastructure – pushing Palestinian families off their land, destroying their houses, robbing Palestinians of natural resources and essential supplies such as water and medicine and denying Palestinians their right of movement. My football team, the Easton Cowboys and Cowgirls based in Bristol, have visited the West Bank and played with both men and womens teams there. We have seen first hand the injustice and cruelty that the Isreali forces are perpretrating on the Palestinian people, and since then have vowed to share their stories to a world that often doesn’t want to listen.
Football has the potential to do tremendous good in bringing communities together, and can be an effective way of delivering social justice. Supporting justice and equality means being proactive, and choosing not to do harm. This is why I implore you to be on the right side of history regarding the Israeli apartheid of Palestine and to commit to end your business relationship with PUMA while they contribute to the violation of Palestinian rights.
The IFA has refused to take measures to end its complicity in Israeli crimes, despite being repeatedly condemned by senior UN officials, parliamentarians, civil society and human rights groups representing millions, and notable public figures. As one of the world’s top athletic apparel makers, Puma’s sponsorship brings international legitimacy to the IFA and helps keep its direct involvement with violations of human rights and international law. Don’t not let your club have its reputation tarnished through association.
In order to discuss these matters further, I would encourage you to meet with the Palestine Solidarity Campaign. Please get in touch with them by emailing campaigns@palestinecampaign.org
I look forward to your response
