Ireland vs Israel - To play or not to play, that is the question Read OP for Mod Warning

You don't know that peoples actions are performative, you're presuming they are.

You're living a life ignoring the reality of what people are doing and saying and projecting entirely your thought process on the motivations of everyone else.

But so be it, you're free to do so. But as I've said already, you should be thankful not everyone acts or thinks in this way.

This picture is both why Ireland should act to protest Israel's actions in Palestine, and why some people say it is pretty much pointless them doing so.

The guy in the picture is the head of FIFA, Gianni Infantino and where he is is sitting on the stage at the first meeting of Donald Trump's Board of Peace abomination. The two people in the picture are a sign of the company he is happy to keep not to mention the person who he went out of his way to arrange a fake Nobel knock off prize for last year who is likely going to launch an attack on Iran as soon as this weekend.

Hundreds of Palestinian footballers have been killed by Israel, thousands more have lost limbs and suffered other injuries and this guy is happy to be part of the facade of what is happening those people. It's because of things like this that I would agree that Ireland and the FAI should act.

So I expect if Ireland do act to protest against Israel, all they will get from the FIFA side is condemnation and pressure on UEFA to hold Ireland to account as much as possible.

Also, this pic shuts down entirely the "keep politics out of sport" argument, that's one benefit you could say.

It's another part of the discussion.

It doesn't justify anything on it's own, whether they play the game or not, but it should be considered in the thought process around the game.

I just listened to Eamon Dunphy talk on the topic and he said Ireland shouldn't play the game, but that the decision shouldn't have to be made by the FAI or the Irish players. He said the likes of FIFA and primarily UEFA should have acted to remove Israel from international competition.

The above shows just how abandoned and mistreated the Palestinians have been and right now Ireland is effectively contemplating if we are going to take a stand to help them, or protect ourselves for having done so.

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It may encourage other countries to do similar leading to more widespread calls for UEFA to act, which if they did, may lead to FIFA. IOC etc coming under serious pressure, which may lead to national goverments recognizing the feeling towards Israel which may lead to them demanding they stop and be held accountable.

Wishful thinking? Yes, absolutely, but every positive outcome in societal change started in that way.

And even if none of this ultimately happened, the Palestinians may take support in knowing at least 1 country stood up for them. That's not insignificant for a country struggling as they are.

And to add to that post, FIFA banned Russia after first Poland (I think) and then Sweden and Czech Republic refused to play in light of their invasion of Ukraine.

I could negatively impact some people in Ireland, but I think it would positively impact more people from a simple headcount perspective being proud of the country taking such a stand. I'm not discounting those who would be negatively impacted, as Eamon Dunphy said on a podcast this week, the decision shouldn't be put on the shoulders of the Irish team or FAI.

The fact that you don't see the comparison for the people of Gaza is telling me everything I need to know about where you stand in all of this.

I'm not going to get in to it here, there's a dedicated thread for the conflict.

Again - See Russia v Poland for reference.

You may disagree with it, that doesn't change the facts.

For anyone interested, Eamon Dunphy spoke on the Independent Sports podcast with Joe Molloy on this topic this week.

I won't spoil it for people interested in listening themselves but it is worth a listen.