HIBAPRESS
The head of the Palestinian Football Association, Jibril Rajoub, sparked controversy today, Friday, after he refused a request from the FIFA president to shake hands with the vice president of the Israeli Football Association, Bassem Sheikh Suleiman.
Rajoub used to shake hands and sit with the presidents of the Israeli Football Association who held the position during his tenure as head of the Palestinian Football Association (from 2008 until now), before he decided to refuse to shake hands with Suleiman during the 76th FIFA conference held in Vancouver, Canada. Rajoub, who refused to shake hands with the vice president of the Israeli Football Association, had previously shaken hands and sat with Ofer Eini, the president of the Israeli game's association, during the 65th FIFA conference held in 2015, and this was repeated on more than one occasion between 2016 and 2023. Algerian journalist Walid Kabir, in a video clip broadcast on his YouTube channel, considered the position of the head of the Palestinian Football Association to be "hypocrisy," displaying a collection of photos showing Rajoub shaking hands with or sitting with Israeli officials. Kabir said: "He sat with him, embraced him and spoke with him, and then he refuses to shake hands? This is called hypocrisy," adding: "If the president of the Palestinian Football Association was someone other than Rajoub, I would have understood the matter, but the person in question is known for sitting with, conversing with, and shaking hands with Israelis."
