Wembley Arch was lit up to mark Remembrance Day, as well as many other events. Photo: FA/Tom Dulat
The Wembley Arch will not be lit in Israeli colors and fans' flags will be confiscated when England play Australia on Friday night.
However, the players will observe a minute's silence and wear black armbands to mark the terrorist attacks in the Jewish state.
Telegraph Sport were told there was no fear of backlash behind the decision. to light up the arch in blue and white before or during Friday's friendly, with the upcoming World Cup qualifier between Australia and Palestine considered a factor.
It has been revealed that the Football Association has rejected a proposal from Lord Mann, the government's anti-Semitism adviser, to light up the iconic Wembley site on Thursday night rather than during the England-Australia match.
Talks between the FA and Football Australia instead suggested turning off the Wembley Arch lights as a sign of respect.
Fans attending Friday's game will be prohibited from bringing flags other than those of the two teams playing, to avoid pro-Palestinian or pro-Israeli demonstrations.
< p>The match will also offer support for the Red Cross, while the FA is in talks with the likes of the Premier League and English Football League about a unified response to the weekend's bloodshed.
'We stand for humanity'< p> The FA said in a statement: “On Friday evening we will remember the innocent victims of the devastating events in Israel and Palestine.”
“Our thoughts are with them, their families and friends in England.” and Australia, as well as all communities affected by this ongoing conflict. We stand for humanity and an end to death, violence, fear and suffering.
“England and Australia players will wear black armbands during the match at Wembley Stadium and there will be a period of silence before kick-off.
“Following discussions with partners and external stakeholders, we will only allow the use of flags. , replica kits and other images of the nationalities of the competing countries at Wembley Stadium for the upcoming matches against Australia [October 13] and Italy [October 17].
“The British Red Cross has also launched an urgent appeal to support people affected by the humanitarian crisis in the region and we will be promoting this appeal at the stadium on Friday.”
The FA statement was immediately condemned. A group of Jewish Chelsea supporters who posed on X: «This spineless response is why we need people to stand up against terrorism.»
The FA were also condemned by the Jewish Leadership Council. Claudia Mendoza, its chief executive, said: «Has the FA expressed solidarity with the Russians who have been affected by Ukraine's response to its invasion?»
The slow response within the game to attacks by Hamas terrorists has caused growing discontent among British Jews, including from former FA chairmen Lord Triesman and David Bernstein.
It remains to be seen whether they will be appeased Reasons given for not covering the arch ahead of Friday's game. They may also wonder why it wasn't covered earlier this week instead.
The arch was illuminated in the colors of Ukraine's flag 24 hours after Russia invaded its neighbor last year, and terrorist attacks in Israel saw the latter's flag projected onto 10 Downing Street and other London landmarks.
A minute's silence on Friday will honor the innocent victims of the weekend's bloodshed, as well as the civilians killed or wounded by Israeli retaliatory airstrikes.
It is hoped that this will prevent the moment from being disrupted by pro-Palestinian or Israeli chants.< /p>
The government told the FA on Wednesday that it was right to show support for the victims of terrorist attacks in Israel.
Illuminating the arch would be “empowering”
Lucy Fraser, the culture secretary, wrote to major UK sporting bodies: «In light of the attacks in Israel, on behalf of the Secretary of State, we urge you to mark these events in an appropriate manner, in line with previous events where sport has come together.»
Implications of terrorist attacks The weekend attacks continued to reverberate across football on Wednesday, with Arsenal warning their players of the backlash they could face due to social media posts after Mohamed Elneny changed his Twitter and Instagram avatars to a flag Palestine.
< img src="/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/18a03e260bace2ae9281081d21b685ee.jpg" />
Lord Mann, who has advised the government on antisemitism since 2019, spoke to FA representatives and Jewish community leaders about what could be done to acknowledge the horrific events.
When asked whether he would like to see the arch illuminated in the colors of the Israeli flag, Lord Mann told Telegraph Sport: «It would be empowering as it would be seen throughout London and by many people in the Jewish community.»
Lord Mann has also been in talks with the Premier League and English Football League on how best to respond, and his advice has been sought by clubs concerned about what an appropriate gesture might look like.
< p>Jewish Arsenal Supporters' Organizations Chelsea and Watford issued statements on Wednesday criticizing football's silence on the Hamas terrorist attacks and calling on governing bodies, organizations and clubs to express public sympathy and respect.
Lord Mann said. : “It would be very important and useful for clubs to use their social networks, which are widespread around the world.”
Lord Triesman, a former Jewish FA chairman and former government minister, said the arch “absolutely should was» to be illuminated with the colors of the Israeli flag.
«The reality is that in cases where people felt there was an absolutely monumental terrorist attack like the Ukrainian intervention, they constantly felt that there needed to be some kind of empathy, some kind of acknowledgment of what people had gone through.» , he said.
He also called the FA's statement a «weak attempt to reassure people who were understandably critical» of its previous silence, adding: «As soon as the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition, as well as the Foreign Secretary and the shadow foreign secretary and members of every major and minor party said this was a horrific terrorist attack — and if you know the details, the more horrific it is — I think they thought, «Oh God, we'd better do something» .
Comparing the FA's leadership with that of England manager Gareth Southgate when it came to players' willingness to support certain causes, including their controversial decision to kneel during games, Lord Triesman said: «In this case, what we see is that The football authorities will do anything to avoid this.”
The FA's announcement was met with a strong reaction from Health Secretary Neil O'Brien, who wrote on X: «The FA have put BLM logos on shirts and jerseys;» forced players to kneel in support of BLM.
“BLM are currently supporting Hamas because they are killing children.
“The FA will now not show solidarity with Israel by covering Wembley,” as they have done in the case of other terrorist attacks.
“Simply pathetic.”
Lord Austin, the former Labor Secretary, wrote: “Pathetic. Useless. An absolute disgrace. The FA should be ashamed for yourself.
“Just as they did after the attacks in Paris and Brussels, they should light the arch in memory of the victims of terrorism.”
Brendan Clarke-Smith, a Conservative MP, wrote simply: “Shameful response.” , while his colleague Mark Jenkinson wrote: «The FA are a great team… Supporting BLM, taking a knee — and this.»
The Government itself did not immediately comment, but Health Secretary Steve Barclay previously joined calls for the Wembley Arch to be illuminated in blue and white on Friday, telling Sky News: «We must make clear our strong support for Israel.»
He added: «We support Israel and I think we've seen that with Parliament, we've seen that with Number 10.»
«I think it would be appropriate to demonstrate that with Wembley.» too.”
Marie van der Zyl, president of the Board of Deputies, said: “After the Bataclan massacre in 2015, when 90 people were killed in a Paris nightclub, La Marseillaise was played in all stadiums the following weekend Premier League.
When hundreds of innocent Israelis were killed, raped and kidnapped in a coordinated terrorist campaign unparalleled since 9/11, the FA's response was to «remember the victims of the conflicts in Israel and Palestine.» Such a weak reaction does not do the FA credit.”
Although the clubs have remained publicly silent until now, two Arsenal players have used social media to offer support for both Israel and Palestine, prompting the club to warn their entire squad of the potential backlash they and the club could face.
While Elneny changed his profile picture to a Palestinian flag, Alexander Zinchenko posted a message on Instagram saying “I support Israel” before deleting it.
Arsenal did not order any of the players to delete theirs messages or change avatars, but advised his team that any social media posts on this topic could cause upset or anger among their fans around the world.
The club refrains from action. seminar on anti-Semitism this week and maintain an ongoing dialogue with a group of Arsenal Jewish thugs who posted a message on Twitter criticizing football's lack of response to the Hamas attacks.
The Premier League and English Football League have announced that there would be periods of silence and that players, managers and match officials would wear black armbands during future rounds of matches.
They also promised to make unspecified donations to British Red. Cross.
The Premier League said: “The Premier League is shocked and saddened by the escalating crisis in Israel and Gaza and strongly condemns the horrific and brutal acts of violence against innocent civilians.”
< p>“We hope for peace, and our sincere condolences to side with the victims, their families and affected communities.»
FIFA accused of «total disregard» for Israel
Ben Rumsby
The Israel Football Association has accused FIFA of showing «total disregard» for terrorist attacks in the country after it failed to express condolences.
The IFA struck after UEFA President Aleksandar Ceferin wrote a letter to his federation counterpart Moshe Shino Zuarez, expressing his «deep sorrow» over the bloodshed carried out by Hamas militants over the weekend.
Zuares wrote back, thanking Ceferin for his support, but Telegraph Sport reported that the IFA was stunned that one senior the figure called the “sound of silence” from FIFA.
He said: “We are trying to explain to ourselves the complete disregard on the part of FIFA and are afraid to even express possible explanations for this. More than 1,200 civilians were killed in the most barbaric manner and became victims of a massacre that no human can imagine, more than 150 people were kidnapped and more than 3,000 were injured. Monsters attacked us. And yet, FIFA adheres to the sound of silence.»
Ceferin's letter to Zuarez comes as UEFA postpones a European Championship qualifier in Kosovo due to the Israeli government banning sports teams from traveling abroad due to security concerns.
The country's home game with Switzerland on Sunday is already was cancelled.
The UEFA President wrote: “On behalf of UEFA and the European football community, I write to express my deep sorrow at the tragic acts of violence that occurred in Israel last week, resulting in the loss of innocent lives.”< /p>
“My heart goes out to all the victims and their families during these difficult times. This is an unimaginable tragedy and the pain and regret is deep and resonates throughout the football community. We sincerely hope that no one will ever experience such grief again.
“My friend, I pray for the healing of these deep wounds and for a world in which such senseless acts of violence have no place.”
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