Arsenal supporting Israeli Apartheid

ACTION ALERT: Arsenal supporting Israeli Apartheid March 2006

Arsenal Football Club has just signed a sponsorship deal to promote Israel as a tourist destination from next season. The £350,000 agreement makes Israel Arsenal's "official and exclusive travel destination."

Below are just some of the benefits Israel will receive from this deal:
- Israel will be featured on digital perimeter boards and 450 high-definition LCD screens at the stadium on game days;
- Israel will feature on the team's website, Arsenal.com; and in itsmagazine.
- The televised ads will reach audiences in an estimated 198 countries.
- The Israeli Tourism Ministry will receive intellectual propertyrights,the use of the team logo and the right to use photos of the team and itsplayers in ads.
- The Israeli Tourism Minister will be allowed use the stadiumbanquetinghall twice a year and organize an exhibition at the end of the playingseason
- The stadium will hold permanent sale tables for Israel t-shirts

The financial advisers Ernst & Young were employed to draft thisproposalwith the aim of bringing an extra 2 million tourists to Israel annually.Arsenal FC and individual players have been in the forefront of the'KickRacism Out of Football Campaign'. For Arsenal to sign a deal to promoteIsrael which denies Palestinians human rights and is illegally occupyingPalestinian territory is to go against the very principles of anti-racism.

This campaign is supported by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, Palestinian Return Centre, Innovative Minds, the British Muslim Initiative, the Muslim Association of Britain, the Palestinian Forum in Britain, Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Scottish-Palestinian Solidarity

Suggested Action
All campaigners are urged to:
a) Contact Arsenal Football Club reminding them that Israel is a racistapartheid state which is consistently in breach of international law initshuman rights abuses; and that such a deal endangers Arsenal's anti-racistreputation: Commercial and Marketing DepartmentArsenal Football Club Arsenal Stadium Avenell RoadHighburyLondon N5 1BUEmail: marketing@arsenal.co.uk Tel. 020 7704 4170Fax. 020 7704 4171

b) Write to the players at the same address. Many of them have actively supported Kick Racism Out of Football.

c) Contact the Football Association's Kick Racism out of FootballCampaign reminding them that Israel is a racist apartheid state which is consistently in breach of international law in its human rights abuses; and that such a deal endangers the FAs anti-racist reputation and the KickitOut campaign itself. Ask the FA to use its influence to prevent the dealgoing ahead: Kick It Out PO Box 29544 London EC2A 4WRT: 020 7684 4884F: 020 7684 4885 Email: info@kickitout.org

Please CC all correspondence to info@palestinecampaign.org,
info@aqsa.org.uk and info@ihrc.org.uk so we can track the number of letters sent.
More info on www.palestinecampaign.org"