Jibril Rajoub is using sports to express his hatred for the Jewish state. We must ensure he is suspended from all international sports forums.  

Jibril Rajoub, a convicted terrorist and the driving force behind the Palestinian campaign against Israel in sports, currently serves as the head of  Palestinian Football Association (PFA) as well the Palestinian Olympic Committee and as the PA’s representative to the IOC.

Israeli Minister of Strategic Affairs and Public Diplomacy Gilad Erdan on Monday sent a letter to Thomas Bach, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), calling for Rajoub’s suspension from the IOC.

Erdan wrote that “Rajoub was suspended and fined by FIFA for inciting violence. I call on the International Olympic Committee to follow suit.”

In September, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) sanctioned Rajoub for inciting fans against Argentine superstar Lionel Messi.

Rajoub was banned from attending football matches for a year and was fined $20,000 for calling for violence against Messi following plans by the Argentine soccer team to play in Israel in May.

FIFA said Rajoub “incited hatred and violence,” and the punishment marks an embarrassing blow for Rajoub, who has long lobbied FIFA to sanction Israel for what he claimed was a restriction of movement of Palestinian players.

In his letter, Erdan highlighted the fact that Rajoub was suspended and fined by FIFA for inciting violence against players and families of the Argentinian national football team.

As a result of Rajoub’s incitement, a planned friendly match between Israel and Argentina in Jerusalem was canceled but was then rescheduled for later this year in Haifa.

“There should be no room in respected international organizations for those who support terror, promote violence and employ threats and intimidation,” Erdan stated in the missive.

Rajoub’s conduct “stands in direct opposition to the values of the Olympics,” Erdan wrote, and therefore “it is essential that the IOC demonstrate that it is a professional body, guided only by the values of international sport, and not a political body which allows a person who supports violence and terror to be a member.”

“Any activity of normalization in sports with the Zionist enemy is a crime against humanity,” Rajoub stated in 2014.

In 2012, slamming the idea of organized sports activities with Israelis, Rajoub stated on PA TV that he would bring Arabs by helicopter to events instead of crossing through Israel “so they will see no Jews, no Satans, no Zionist sons of bitches.”

Rajoub must be expelled from any respectable forum, and the IOC must safeguard its values of sportsmanship and fair play.

The IOC states that it is committed to building a better world through sports. Let’s hold them to their commitment.

We must join Minister Erdan and call on the international sports organization to suspend Rajoub.

Demand Rajoub’s Suspension Over Hate!

1. Click here to submit a complaint to the IOC’s Integrity and Compliance Hotline.

2. Click here to send the IOC a message via Twitter.