Palestinian soccer chief refuses to shake hands with Israel federation VP at FIFA event

Jibril Rajoub accuses FIFA president of failing to understand ‘deep suffering’ of Palestinian people after Infantino urged the two to ‘give hope to the children’; Israel’s rep had said, ‘We are proud of their squads and our squads’

VANCOUVER, Canada — Palestinian soccer federation President Jibril Rajoub refused to shake hands or even stand alongside Israel Football Association Vice President Basim Sheikh Suliman in a heated moment at the FIFA Congress on Thursday.

Both men were called to the stand by FIFA President Gianni Infantino, but Rajoub declined to be brought closer to the Arab-Israeli Suliman.

Infantino put his hand on Rajoub’s arm and invited him with a gesture to come closer to Suliman, but in vain.

Asked what Rajoub said when he refused, Palestinian FA Vice President Susan Shalabi, who was in the room, told Reuters: “I cannot shake the hand of someone the Israelis have brought to whitewash their fascism and genocide. We are suffering.”

Israel has strongly denied committing genocide in Gaza, an accusation repeatedly leveled since October 2023, when Israel went to war against Gaza’s governing Hamas terrorists after they invaded and massacred 1,200 people in southern Israel and abducted 251.

Infantino then took the stand and said: “We will work together, President Rajoub, Vice President Suliman. Let’s work together to give hope to the children. These are complex matters.”

Rajoub and the Palestinian football federation have for years sought to have Israel suspended from international soccer.

In remarks to the Congress just before, Israel’s Suliman had said, “I believe football is supposed to build bridges between us and our brothers and neighbors, the Palestinians, and today I call upon everyone here to contribute in projects and initiatives to change the reality of today.

“The Israel FA has supported the existence of the Palestinian FA since day one, and we still have the same position; we are proud of our squads and their squads,” Suliman added, according to the New York Times. “In football, there is no place for politics, and everyone has the right to play and compete. We are members of the world football association.

“We are teaching the values of football in all languages to children and teaching them that everything is possible on the pitch. We are trying to nurture the values of respect, equality and love for everyone. We call upon everyone to do their best in order so that when we meet next time, we have a better situation. We extend a hand to the Palestinian FA to have a victory for our shared values.”

Speaking to Reuters after the Congress ended, Shalabi said Infantino’s attempt to have Suliman and Rajoub shake hands showed little consideration for the Palestinian FA chief’s speech, in which he made yet another plea for Israeli clubs not to base teams in the West Bank settlements.

“To be put in a position where to have a handshake after everything that was said, this negates the whole purpose of the speech that the general [Rajoub] was giving,” she said.

“He spent like 15 minutes trying to explain to everyone how the rules matter, how this could easily become a precedent where the rights of member associations are violated with impudence, and then we’ll just wrap this under the carpet. It was absurd.”

Rajoub said: “From my side, I still respect and follow the legal procedure but I think it’s time to understand that Israel should be sanctioned. The double-standard policy should stop.

“I refused to shake hands. Sport is sport… for me, that should be respected, but if the other side is representing a criminal like Bibi [Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu] and speaking on behalf of Bibi as if Bibi is Mother Teresa, how can I shake hands or have a photo with such a man?”

“I think Gianni has the right to try to bridge gaps and bring people together but I think maybe he does not understand or does not know the deep suffering of the Palestinian people.”

Yariv Teper, the Israeli Football Association’s acting general secretary, called Rajoub’s refusal to shake hands with Israel’s Suliman a missed opportunity. “Our mission is to show the world that we can do it in a different way. Our vice president stood there. And the president of FIFA asking both sides to come to the floor together. The way I see it, it was a missing of opportunity, in order to show something else for the world,” Teper said, according to the New York Times report.

“We are not dealing with politics. We are dealing only with football, and in order to bring a better future for football in all other regions of the world, especially in our region, in the Middle East. So that was our mission in this Congress,” Teper reportedly went on. “If someone wants to take us to a political area, this is not for us. We are only aiming to bring better future, better football to all children all over the world.”

Last week, the PFA appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against FIFA’s decision not to sanction Israel over clubs based in West Bank settlements.

The PFA has long argued that clubs based in settlements in the West Bank – territory Palestinians seek as part of a future state – should not compete in leagues run by the Israel Football Association.

FIFA said last month it would take no action against the IFA or Israeli clubs, citing the unresolved legal status of the West Bank under public international law.

As they were leaving the Vancouver Convention Center, Rajoub and Shalabi were targeted by protesters who were demanding that FIFA ban Iran from the World Cup on the grounds that the team, they say, represents the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

“Does that convince you that you have to support IRGC… because you’re having a problem with Israel?” one protester asked Rajoub.

“We’re not supporting anyone, we just want the support of the international community,” Rajoub said.