"...an appeal to act with their conscience..."
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What is the open letter from ‘Stop the Game’ and why was it sent to the Irish football team?
0818-715-815. This is Liveline on RTE Radio 1.
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Good afternoon. You are very welcome to Live Line O eight seven four eight four double eight double eight is the WhatsApp number. If you want to send a message, you can send an email to Liveline at RTE dot IE. Or as always, give me a call on 0818-715-815. As you heard on the news at one with Rachel there, uh Hilmer Hagram God almighty. Hamir Halgramson. Eventually I'll get that right. He'll be long gone by the time I start pronouncing his name right. Anyway, the Irish manager has been talking again about Ireland's upcoming uh Nations League fixtures against Israel and uh expressing his regret that he took the focus uh off the game this week against uh Kosovo. I guess he took the focus off when he said earlier in the week that Ireland wasn't playing.
with genocide, Ireland is playing against genocide. Ireland is not playing with Israel, Ireland is playing against Israel. And that of course elicited that a strong rebuke uh from the Israeli FA accusing him of uh stupidity and hypocrisy, amongst other things. He expressed, Hamir Halgrumson that is, um, his thanks for people who came to his support. All of this, all of this comes in the context of that letter saying Sent by Stop the Game, the campaign group, to the men's national team. And this is what the letter said for people who only picked up this story with those comments from the Irish manager. To the Irish men's senior national team, as athletes were taught that all players are equal and everyone is bound by the same rules on a level playing field.
But these universal values are incompatible with the reality of sport where oppressive and discriminatory structures are reproduced. Nowhere is this more obvious than the first time. In Palestine. So we now appeal to you, as athletes, to act collectively and with conscience. This is a significant moment, and with this moment you have an opportunity to do the right thing. This moment symbolizes something deeper. It's bigger than sport. But in a way this is sport. Not playing the game would be the most sporting thing you could do. We urge you to meet the moment and stop the game. Ireland is behind you. So that was the letter sent, the open letter sent to all of those Irish players who, as of now, are going to be taking the field against Israel in the coming weeks.
Jacinta O'Keeffe is one of the signatories of that letter, of the stop the game uh letter, the triathlete. Uh Jacinta, why did you sign it?
Okay, very simply I signed the letter. Um it was an appeal to the Irish men's football team. to act collectively and with conscience. and to boycott the two UEFA games against Israel. Um it just really comes down very simply to acting with your conscience. Um I believe it's sportswashing a genocide. At a conservative estimate, there are over five hundred footballers who have been murdered by Israel And one thousand athletes. Gaza has the highest number of amputees in the world. um Israel continue to be in breach of USA statutes. during clear breach of UFO statute So how possibly could they be allowed to play in UEFA competition. And I am the reason I signed the letter was just to ask the team to act collectively and just look just
Look at our conscience. And act with with moral integrity and um you know, to play against a team that's that's to play against a country that is plausibly committing genocide. have broken every uh UBA statute. They are implementing a brutal system of apartheid, enforcing a brutal system on the Palestinian people. The sector of violence and the land grabbing at the West Bank is at an unprecedented scale. So and we have a genocide that is unfolding uh in real time. In front of our eyes. But what you cinder, what
what's that got to do with football?
Foppa. I'm after saying that uh the football, the Israeli football team is in clear breach of UEFA statute
Which ones?
uh playing in the occupied territories. And land stolen from Palestinians operating clubs in the operation.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the open letter from ‘Stop the Game’ and why was it sent to the Irish football team?
0:00–7:02
2
Why did Jacinta O’Keeffe and other athletes sign the letter calling for a boycott?
7:02–14:40
3
How does the campaign link the Israel‑Gaza conflict to the concept of sports‑washing?
14:40–22:38
4
What evidence do speakers give that Israel’s actions amount to apartheid or genocide?
22:38–37:17
5
How have protests and public opinion in Ireland responded to the upcoming match?
37:17–57:07
6
Will the Irish players meet on Friday to decide whether to play or boycott the game?
57:07–1:09:06