Booting PUMA into touch


Tuesday, 22 October 2019
Press Release: Wellington Palestine

EMBARGOED till Saturday 26th October

• Palestinian right activists in over twenty countries, including New Zealand, will take part in an international day of action against the Germans sportswear company PUMA on Saturday 26th October.
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• PUMA sponsor the Israel Football Association (IFA) who support six Israeli football teams based in illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank.
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• Over 200 Palestinian football clubs and associations have called for action to end PUMA’s sponsorship of the Israel Football Association.
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On Saturday the 26th of October activists from Wellington Palestine will join Palestinian human rights groups in over twenty countries to protest against the German sportswear company PUMA. This is the second international day of action directed against PUMA to highlight their sponsorship of the Israel Football Association.

Israeli settlements are illegal and considered war crimes under international law. The Fourth Geneva convention forbids all occupying powers from displacing the civilian population of occupied territories. The illegality of Israeli settlements was reconfirmed in 2016 by Resolution 2334 of the United Nations Security Council. The New Zealand government supports resolution 2334. By accepting teams from Israeli settlements, the IFA is complicit in Israel’s occupation and colonization of Palestine.

Neil Ballantyne of Wellington Palestine said:
“Some people say that you shouldn’t mix sport and politics. We agree. Sport is about hard work, fair play and the celebration of human achievement. But sometimes governments and commercial companies put their own interests before these values. PUMA and the Israel Football association are complicit in the human rights violations of the Israeli state. These violations include the theft of Palestinian land and restrictions on the freedom of movement of the Palestinian people. The Israeli state is also guilty of the harassment, imprisonment and maiming of Palestinian athletes. PUMA must end its sponsorship of Israeli apartheid”.

PUMA took over sponsorship of the IFA in 2018 when their rival company Adidas ended a similar sponsorship deal following an international campaign against their involvement.

ENDS

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