Antisemitism on the lawn: the English group that incites hatred of Israel Israel today

It is common to think that, at least in sports, the path to publicity and fame goes through excellence and achievements, but even this rule has an exception.

There are those who pave their way to the headlines through scandals, and if they smell anti-Semitic - what good.

The soccer team Forest Green Rovers, from the third division in England, is far from impressive in its performance on the field - and its owner Dale Vince understands that its professional level alone will not justify the media's interest in the unknown club.

How does he still attract her attention, and for free?

Vince's method is simple: make his group the leading voice of the boycott movement against Israel.

We flew this flag at FGR's game today.

In solidarity with Palestine.

The conflict there has all the same ingredients as the one in Ukraine - invasion, occupation, murder of civilians, destruction of homes and hospitals - and sieges.

pic.twitter.com/D6a2nqCuMz

— Dale Vince (@DaleVince) April 18, 2022

Vince, the owner of the energy company Ecotricity, purchased Forest Green Rovers in 2010, and immediately tied the club to his anti-Israel agenda.

The team's games serve as a platform for presenting extreme views, which portray the Jewish state as the root of evil and the source of all problems, and Jews are advised not to appear in them, or at least not to identify as such.

Supporters of terrorism in the stands

Vince's personal struggle in Israel attracted to the team's home field two figures who share his worldview: the chairman of the Labor Party at the time, Jeremy Corbyn, and the representative of the PLO in Britain, Hussam Zomlot.

Corbyn arrived at the home game of Forest Green Rovers at the height of the anti-Semitism scandal in his party, after his sympathetic statements towards Hezbollah and Hamas were widely exposed, and demonstratively asked to be photographed wrapped in the club's scarf.

Zumlot, who was expelled from Washington after the Trump administration decided to close the PLO representative office in the US, became a household member in this field, after Vince's order raised the PLO flag in it.

Corbin.

received great honor in the team game,

Last April, in a game against Harrogate, the owner of Forest Green Rovers went so far as to invite Zumlot to the pitch.

The billboards around the field also went into action and broadcast to the fans the call to "stop the invasion and occupation of Palestine".

At the same time, Vince repeated his well-known slanders, and again, taking advantage of the sports stage, accused Israel of murdering civilians and destroying hospitals.

In accordance with the anti-Semitic tradition, he even lamented that the US is protecting Israel, and hinted at a Jewish conspiracy in the matter. Those who remember Vince's past on the fringes of the extreme left (in the 1980s his group forcibly took over a military base intended to house American soldiers) were not really surprised. But even in Britain, which is used to hostile statements against Israel, it was probably already too much.

Vince's anti-Israel rampage woke up the Jewish bodies in the kingdom from their slumber, and one of them - the organization of British jurists for Israel - appealed yesterday to the football association demanding an end to turning the game into a tool for spreading hatred towards the only democracy in the Middle East.

The conduct of Forest Green Rovers violates the league regulations, the organization claims.

The rules of the Football Association in England, which also apply to the owners and managers of the teams, prohibit offensive and insulting statements, and exclude the use of football events for purposes not related to sports.

The team's fans.

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