巴勒斯坦向國際足聯提案禁止以色列出賽

RAMALLAH, West Bank — The Palestinian grievances against Israel are familiar ones: hampering travel, blocking import of equipment, rampant racism, and the treatment of settlements in the occupied West Bank. The Israeli response is also a repeat: security concerns, mostly.

約旦河西岸拉姆安拉──誰都知道巴勒斯坦人對以色列的不滿有哪些：限制走動、禁止進口設備、猖獗的種族歧視，以及處理所佔西岸定居區的方式。以色列的迴應也是反覆那麼幾句：多數時候是出於安保考量。

But this round of the conflict is all about the soccer pitch. The Palestinians have placed a proposal to suspend Israel from FIFA, the governing body of world soccer, on the agenda for the organization’s annual congress, in Zurich on May 29.

但這一回衝突在足球場上演。在世界足球管理機構國際足聯(FIFA)於5月29日在蘇黎世舉辦的年度會議中，巴勒斯坦人提案禁止以色列出賽。

It would be a severe sanction against Israel for its treatment of Palestinians, and one with wide resonance on both sides of the unofficial border, for unremitting devotion to soccer is something these bitter enemies deeply share. Intense lobbying campaigns are underway.

這將是對苛待巴勒斯坦人的以色列發起的一次嚴厲制裁，在非正式邊境線的兩側都會引發廣泛的反響，因為對足球的不懈熱情，是苦戰多年的雙方共有的。遊説活動已如火如荼地進行着。

“Soccer is a language that is known all over the world,” said Dima Yousef, 21, who plays midfield on the Palestinian national women’s team. “It’s easier for people to get connected with something that deals with soccer, versus a political point.”

“足球是全世界共通的語言”，巴勒斯坦國家女足隊的21歲中場迪瑪‧尤塞夫(Dima Yousef)説。“相較於政治觀點，通過跟足球有關的事去聯絡彼此會更容易一些。”

It is, of course, as much about politics as sport, a novel arena in the Palestinians’ broader campaign to leverage membership in international institutions to punish Israel and build their sovereign state. Israel argues that soccer should be a bridge for coexistence, not a diplomatic weapon — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday that “the thing that could destroy the football association is politicizing it.”

這不僅是運動上的角力，還關乎巴勒斯坦在更廣泛層面上的行動，他們要利用在國際機構中的成員身份懲罰以色列，建起自己的主權國家，而足球也就成了其中的一個新戰場。以色列則表示，足球是共存的橋樑，而非外交武器──以色列總理本雅明‧內塔尼亞胡(Benjamin Netanyahu)週二警告“政治化可能摧毀這個足球協會”。

Mr. Netanyahu’s statement came as he met with Sepp Blatter, FIFA’s president, who on Tuesday set off on the well-trod path of shuttle diplomacy, promising to bring a message from the Israelis to his Wednesday session with President Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority and other officials here in Ramallah.

內塔尼亞胡是在會見FIFA主席賽普‧布拉特(Sepp Blatter)後發出的聲明。布拉特在週二開始了往返巴以之間的斡旋——一條他已經走過多次的路，他承諾週三在拉姆安拉會與巴勒斯坦民族權力機構(Palestinian Authority)主席馬哈茂德·阿巴斯(Mahmoud Abbas)及其他官員會談時，帶來以色列人的訊息。

Mr. Blatter, whose four terms as FIFA’s chief have been marred by internal controversy, is trying to broker a compromise to avoid a contentious vote at the congress where a Jordanian prince is among those challenging his re-election. He declined to say what, if anything, the Israelis had offered as possible concessions or compromises, but said Mr. Netanyahu had accepted his invitation to host a “match of peace” between the Israeli and Palestinian national teams in Switzerland.

連續四屆擔任FIFA主席，卻因內部爭議染上污名的布拉特，試圖促成雙方的一次妥協，以擋下約旦王子等人在議會中挑戰他連任的異議投票。他拒絕表示以色列是否為和解提供了任何可能的讓步，但説內塔尼亞胡接受了他的邀請，在瑞士舉辦以色列與巴勒斯坦國家隊的“和平比賽”。

“I am here on a mission of peace,” he said at an evening news conference in Jerusalem, where a FIFA emblem proclaiming “My game is fair play” sat on the dais. “This situation cannot continue.” Noting that “there are a lot of countries in the world where there is a political conflict,” Mr. Blatter added: “There is no end to this.”

“我為和平而來。”他在耶路撒冷的一場夜間記者會中表示， 講台上擺着FIFA的“公平競賽”標誌。“這種情況不能繼續下去。”“世界上有很多國家都有政治衝突”，布拉特還説：“這種衝突沒有止境。”

A FIFA suspension would mean that Israel’s national team would be barred from international competitions including the World Cup and European championships, and that its professional clubs could not compete in lucrative competitions like Europe’s Championship League.

國際足聯若禁止以色列出賽，就代表該國國家隊無法參加包括世界盃與歐洲盃等國際賽事，該國的職業球隊也無法參與歐洲盃冠軍聯賽等營利賽事。

FIFA has suspended members in the past, including apartheid-era South Africa and war-torn Yugoslavia, and last year UEFA, the European Union’s soccer organization, forced Russia to drop plans to incorporate Crimean teams claimed by Ukraine. FIFA has also prevented Gibraltar, a British territory long claimed by Spain, from joining.

FIFA過去有禁止國家參賽的先例，包括執行種族隔離的南非，以及因戰爭分裂的南斯拉夫。去年俄羅斯打算將烏克蘭宣稱擁有主權的克里米亞納入其國內聯賽，最後在歐盟足球組織歐洲足聯(UEFA)施壓下放棄了。FIFA還阻止了直布羅陀的加入，西班牙多年來一直宣稱對這塊英國領土擁有主權。

Jibril Rajoub, president of the Palestine Football Association, cited these precedents in making his case. Israel, he said, has violated FIFA rules by allowing five teams from West Bank settlements to play in Israeli leagues even though they are in occupied Palestinian territory.

巴勒斯坦足協主席基博裏·拉賈博(Jibril Rajoub)在陳述自己的理由是援引了以上的例子。他説，以色列允許來自約旦河西岸定居點的五支球隊在以色列聯賽中比賽，儘管他們位於巴勒斯坦控制地區，這一行為違反了國際足聯的規定。

Players, coaches and referees are blocked from traveling between the West Bank and Gaza Strip as well as in and out of the area for training and tournaments, Mr. Rajoub added, and fans of the notorious Beitar Jerusalem team routinely chant “Death to Arabs” at matches.

拉賈博還説，球隊隊員、教練和裁判都被禁止在約旦河西岸和加沙地帶間往返，也不能為了訓練和聯賽進出這片區域，臭名昭著的比達耶路撒冷隊的球迷總是在比賽中喊着“阿拉伯人去死”。

“The suspension is not the target; the target is to end the suffering, the grievances, of the Palestinian football family,” he told reporters at a briefing here in Ramallah on Tuesday. “We are not using violence, we are using a legal leverage tool, FIFA statutes,” he said. “They have to pay the price of their racist, apartheid policies against us.”

“禁賽並不是目的，目的是結束巴勒斯坦足球大家庭所遭受的苦難，”他週二在拉姆安拉的一場新聞發佈會上告訴記者。“我們不使用暴力，我們在使用一個法律制衡工具，國際足聯章程，”他説。“他們必須要為針對我們的種族主義、隔離政策付出代價。”

But Rotem Kemer, chief executive of the Israel Football Association, said that more than 95 percent of Palestinian requests for player movement had been approved so far this year, and that those rejected “probably had some background involving terrorism.”

但是以色列足協總幹事特姆·基默(Rotem Kemer)稱，今年至今有超過95%的巴勒斯坦球員出入境申請都被批准了，那些被拒絕的申請“可能有恐怖主義相關的背景。”

Mr. Kemer complained that he could not control Israel’s security protocol, and that his organization had unwillingly and inappropriately been turned into “some kind of foreign office” scrambling to head off a diplomatic crisis.

基默訴苦説以色列的安全程序不是他能控制的，他的組織還被迫地、不妥當地成為了“某種形式上的外交部”，手忙腳亂地要化解一場外交危機。

“We have found ourselves now as some kind of hostage in the fight against our government,” he told reporters in a conference call organized by the Israel Project, an advocacy group. “It’s nothing to do with sport, and they are trying to abuse the FIFA status and punish the I.F.A., which has nothing to do with this case.”

“我們發現自己在一場反對我們政府的戰鬥中成了某種人質，”他在一場由遊説團體“以色列計劃”(Israel Project)組織的電話會議上告訴記者。“這和體育沒有關係，他們試圖濫用國際足聯章程來懲罰以色列足協，而以色列足協和這件事情沒有任何關係。”

Israeli officials said that bad behavior like that of Beitar’s fans was rife among soccer fans worldwide, and that they had done more than other countries to crack down. They did not address the question of the settlement teams.

以色列官員稱，類似比達耶路撒冷隊球迷的惡劣行為，在全世界的足球迷中很常見，他們也比其他國家更加努力地打擊這種行為。他們沒有回答有關定居點球隊的問題。

In recent days, a few leftist Israeli columnists have called on FIFA to “show Israel the red card,” as Gideon Levy of Haaretz put it. “A soccer ban doesn’t kill anyone,” Mr. Levy said. “When the price becomes intolerable, more and more Israelis will awaken from their indifference.”

近日，一些以色列左翼專欄作家向國際足聯發出倡議，用吉迪恩·萊維(Gideon Levy)的話説，要“給以色列亮一張紅牌。”“一個足球的禁令不會殺害任何人，”萊維説，“等到後果無可忍受時，會有越來越多的以色列人從冷漠中覺醒。”

Each of FIFA’s 209 members has a single vote in the congress, regardless of the size of the country or its soccer program, and Mr. Blatter said he had no power to veto decisions or remove items from the agenda. He said suspension required 75 percent approval, though the Palestinians plan to make a legal claim that a simple majority should suffice.

國際足聯的209個成員，無論國家和它的足球項目的大小，都在大會中有一票的投票權，布拉特説，他沒有否決和在議事日程中移除項目的權力。他説禁賽的決定需要75%的贊成票，不過巴勒斯坦人準備提出一項簡單多數通過即可生效的法律要求。

Mr. Rajoub tried at the last two FIFA congresses to have sanctions placed on Israel, but Mr. Blatter and then a task force were instead charged with resolving the problems. Now, he said, “we will never, never accept any compromise,” promising to pursue the case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport if the congress did not act.

拉賈博在最近兩次國際足聯大會上嘗試通過對以色列的制裁，然而布拉特和當時的一個專門工作組受命解決這個問題。現在，他説，“我們絕對、絕對不會接受任何的和解，”如果大會不採取行動，他承諾會將此案提交到國際體育仲裁法庭(Court of Arbitration for Sport)尋求解決。