Justice for Palestine are responding to PACBI ‘s call for a fifth international day of action against the global sportswear company PUMA on Saturday 18th of September. PUMA is the only international sponsor of the Israel Football Association (IFA). The IFA supports teams in Israel’s illegal settlements built against international law on occupied Palestinian land.
Israel’s military occupation forcibly expels Palestinian families from their homes to give way to illegal settlers. Recent violent expulsions of Palestinian families in the East Jerusalem neighbourhood of Sheikh Jarrah featured in international news stories and led to world-wide protests, including in Aotearoa.
More than 200 Palestinian sports clubs have called on PUMA to end the sponsorship deal and thousands have emailed and tweeted at PUMA pledging to boycott the company until it ends sponsorship of the Israel Football Association.
Puma is worried about the growing boycott campaign.
In a leaked internal memo, Puma said Israel’s escalation of violence against Palestinians in May led to an increase in enquiries from its “business partners and ambassadors” about its complicity in Israeli apartheid.
Teams from Asia to Europe are dropping Puma over its sponsorship of the Israel Football Association, which governs teams in illegal Israeli settlements forcing Palestinian families off their land.
And the campaign continues to grow.
In July, Black Lives Matter UK announced its support for the campaign, as did football club Clapton CFC, and 50 locations across the UK held boycott Puma actions.
In June, Qatar Sports Club announced it won’t renew with Puma and cities across France protested Puma’s complicity in Israeli apartheid.
The Oakland Roots Radicals fan club just launched a campaign calling on the US soccer team to end its deal with Puma.
Last month, famed ice cream maker Ben & Jerry’s announced it would not renew its contract with its Israeli licensee over sales of its products in illegal Israeli settlements, stating it is “inconsistent” with the company’s values.
Here in Aotearoa, Justice for Palestine have launched a petition calling on the Silver Ferns not to renew their partnership with PUMA.
We encourage all of our members and supporters to sign and share our petition to the Silver Ferns and to distribute the leaflet below. If COVID-19 levels permit, we also encourage you to take action on Saturday the 18th of September. You might, for example, want to stage a protest outside one of the six dedicated PUMA stores in Aotearoa, or a local retailer of PUMA products. There are some more action ideas on the BDS PACBI site.
Please feel free to download and use the leaflet and placards below.
Contact Justice for Palestine for any advice about the international day of action or to find out about the action we have planned for Wellington. Also, if you know of anyone associated with the Silver Ferns who might be sympathetic to the Palestinian cause, we would love to hear from you.
Justice for Palestine 
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