One little thing Wales could do that would have a huge impact

Having worked in journalism for more than half my life, days seem to come and go without the dates really registering with me... it applies to birthdays, even my own, Christmas and all sorts of other anniversaries that should have significance but don’t as I struggle to even remember what day it is let alone the date.

As far as I’m aware it’s either today, yesterday or tomorrow... with the actual name of the day and date being somewhat irrelevant except when working out how distant events were in the past or will be in the future.

So it didn’t come as any great surprise to me when St David’s Day crept up without me really being aware of it. And only yesterday did it really dawn on me that it would be in three weeks’ time that Wales play Finland in a Euro 2024 play-off semi-final in Cardiff, the same night Israel play Iceland in Budapest... because playing in Tel Aviv or Jerusalem would be far too dangerous during a campaign of genocide in Gaza targeting innocent children and civilians. Really? People are stupid enough to buy that story? Do they not realise it’s just part of the narrative to legitimise Israeli propaganda to justify genocide?

Wales and Israel are not in the same play-off path so will not have to face each other in order to qualify for the Euro 2024 finals in Germany this summer but, for the first time in my life, I cannot muster any enthusiasm for the clash with Finland on Thursday, 21 March, while a state committing genocide in Gaza is allowed to participate in the competition on the same night.

A phoney World Economic Forum-sponsored conflict has been taking place in Ukraine for more than two years now and was enough to see Russia thrown out of the qualifying competition for this year’s tournament in Germany, but a full-blown campaign of ethnic cleansing by Israel in Gaza brings no disqualification for Benjamin Netanyahu’s terrorist state from football’s world governing body Fifa or its European affiliate Uefa.

Surely the double standard is apparent for everyone to see, with the loss of life in Gaza exponentially greater than that in the Ukraine. The only common factor in the two scenarios being the United Kingdom and United States’ military support for both Ukraine and Israel, in strict adherence to the WEF mandate to foment World War III.

I’ve written emails, calling for Rob Page’s players to take a stand for humanity and boycott the play-offs, to the Football Association of Wales and its chief executive officer Noel Mooney, to the Senedd and the majority of its members, to many Welsh ministers in Westminster and the sports departments of the main newspapers in our nation but have received hardly any response from anywhere.

There have been some replies, most notably from Lewis Hannam of the sport policy branch of the Senedd and Vale of Glamorgan MP Alun Cairns. Both responses informed me that any decision to ban a team from competing in international football tournaments would have to come from Uefa, or Fifa, so there was nothing the Senedd nor Cairns could do about Israel’s participation in the play-offs.

Now it really didn’t come as any surprise to be told neither Cairns nor the Senedd could ban Israel from competing in international football, but that was not what I’d asked at all… my request was that Wales be encouraged to boycott the play-offs if Israel is allowed to compete.

And I’m well aware that decision would have to come from the FAW but – in the same way I have the ability to canvass support for a boycott from Mooney’s Welsh FA – the Senedd, Westminster MPs and newspapers could also apply pressure for it to take a humanitarian stance and pull out if Uefa does not ban Israel’s further participation in Euro 2024.

The response from Hannam at the Senedd stated that “like so many around the world, we drew hope from the temporary ceasefire and its extensions, which enabled Israeli hostages to be released and for desperately needed aid to enter Gaza” before continuing: “It is with profound disappointment and regret that the ceasefire ended, and fighting resumed and intensified.

“Although Israel has a right to defend itself, and to ensure such an attack like 7 October can never happen again, Israel’s actions must comply with international humanitarian law and take every possible step to minimise harm to civilians. Determining whether genocide has occurred is a matter for the international courts.

“I can understand that you have strong feelings on this matter. However, the Welsh government is unable to intervene in decisions made by a sporting organisation, ultimately the decision to ban a team from competing in international football tournaments would have to come from Uefa or Fifa.”

Nice to know the Senedd shows concern about the alleged hostages taken during the false-flag incursion on 7 October last year that has allowed Israel to carry out genocide with impunity thanks to unquestioning support from the UK and US but a shame it didn’t express any disquiet over the slaughter of innocent children and civilians during the five-month campaign of ethnic cleansing in Gaza by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF).

I’ve followed the genocide that has been going on unabated in Gaza but I am not aware of any “fighting” having taken place, all I have seen is a constant bombardment by the IDF that has decimated the Palestinian enclave and left tens of thousands of children and civilians blown to smithereens.

If anyone at the Senedd needs an international court to explain to them that what Israel is carrying out is genocide then I seriously question what the hell they are doing in the chamber… they clearly have no grasp of reality and no compassion for humanity.

And, as for allowing in humanitarian aid, well not much of that goes on with trucks blocked from entering Gaza by Israeli mobs. Then, on the rare occasions when trucks manage to get through they become traps to ambush starving children and civilians, as happened in Gaza City yesterday when the IDF butchered more than 100 Palestinians, with at least 700 others injured.

The Gaza Ministry of Health said at least 104 people were killed and more than 750 were wounded, with the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemning what it said was a cold-blooded “massacre” by the IDF.

Jadallah al-Shafei, the head of the nurses’ department at al-Shifa Hospital, said “the situation is beyond any words”, adding that “the hospital was flooded with dozens of dead bodies and hundreds of injured”.

“The majority of the victims suffered gunshots and shrapnel in the head and upper parts of their bodies,” he told Al Jazeera. “They were hit by direct artillery shelling, drone missiles and gun firing.”

And that’s Israel taking “every possible step to minimise harm” to civilians? Come on, you can’t possibly still need to debate whether or not genocide is taking place… there is no question about it, however Wales can either condone it or do whatever it can to put pressure on Israel to stop the slaughter.

I accept that the Welsh government has no power to force Page’s Wales players to boycott the play-offs but there is a huge amount it could do to condemn Israel’s actions and appeal to the FAW, Page and the players to stand up for humanity and set an example to the world that Wales does not condone genocide and will not participate in an international event that does.

Today is supposed to be a day to remember the life of Saint David, the nation’s patron saint, who died in 589 AD having been consecrated as a bishop in Jerusalem during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, a stone he brought back from his travels located in an altar in St David’s Cathedral in Pembrokeshire.

Legend has it that Saint David’s last words to his followers came in a sermon on the Sunday before his death when he told them to “be joyful, keep the faith, and do the little things that you have heard and seen me do”, which gave rise to a well-known Welsh adage: Do the little things in life (gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd).

And today, on the day we remember his teachings, a little thing we can do that would have a huge impact on the world is to take a stand for humanity and refuse to participate in any international event that Israel plays any part in… if Israel’s in, Wales is out!