PEACE campaigners have written to the Football Association of Wales demanding it add its voice to banning Israel from all European football competitions.

CND Cymru, Palestine Solidarity Campaign Cymru and Stop the War Cymru wrote to FAW chairman Mike Jones on Monday asking his organisation to debate the call to ban Israel from football competitions at its next council meeting.

The peace groups also pointed out that the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) has recently overwhelmingly passed a motion to call on Uefa to ban Israel from European club and international competitions.

“In 1976, South Africa was expelled from Fifa due to the wretched apartheid system in that country, and after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Fifa acted swiftly in banning Russia from club and international competitions,” the letter said.

“This shows that in the footballing world there is a precedent for taking action when the political situation dictates and we call on you in this spirit to take action against the genocide of the Palestinian people by Israel.”

The three peace groups explain that 421 Palestinian footballers have been killed in the genocide committed by Israel, along with deaths of 69,100 Palestinians confirmed by the United Nations.

The letter says: “We write this letter to call on the Football Association of Wales and all Welsh Clubs to support the FAI and over 30 legal experts by adding your voices to the many who are calling for the banning of Israel from all club and international competitions.”

In a hard-hitting passage the FAW letter says: “The United Nations has said the Israel assault on Gaza is a genocide with the number of deaths confirmed to be 69,100 of whom over half are women and children, and with estimates for the total number of deaths to be as high as 186,000.”

The peace campaigners also highlighted the 421 Palestinian footballers who have been killed.

“Hospitals and health workers have been deliberately targeted to deepen the suffering of the people, and the numbers of journalists killed are already more than the total number killed in the second world war,” the letter said.

“Despite this, the Israeli National Football Team and Israeli clubs have been allowed to continue to take part in international football, while the rights of football fans to express their solidarity with the people of Palestine has been forcefully suppressed.”

It also said the Israeli FA operates in the occupied West Bank without the consent of the Palestinian Football Association which is in flagrant violation of Fifa rules which state: “Member associations and their clubs may not play on the territory of another member association without the latter’s approval.”  

The letter to the FAW also said the Israeli FA was unable to implement an effective anti-racism policy which is evident with anti-Arab racism being rife among Israeli clubs.