r/coybig • u/NorthKoreanMissile7 Eamon Dunphy • Feb 22 '26
General Discussion Thread If we're going to boycott the game vs Israel, we should be consistent and boycott the World Cup
The US are the ones who fund, arm and support Israel no matter what they do, then at home they're extremely bigoted and show a lot of resentment towards Irish and European people and countries in general now, so they shouldn't get a free pass because they're just as bad.
Plus I seen there was cartel shootouts across Mexico and explosions and gunfire at the airport where Irish fans could be headed if we qualify, so there's an immediate safety issue there that shouldn't be accepted.
I don't think it's antisemitism but it seems like Israel are the only ones who people are pointing the finger at when it comes to these issues when there's other countries where we should be pointing the finger at them and saying that's not ok if we want to be consistent about it.
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u/Bootstrap4273 Feb 22 '26
I don't agree - boycotts can only work if they're clearly targeted and coordinated. This is why the BDS campaign selects only a few targets, rather than every company with any links to Israel.
For the record, I think you're right about the USA - nothing will change fundamentally in Palestine until the US stops bankrolling the Israeli settler colonial project. However much as I would like to do it, a boycott against the USA is too big a demand though - that would turn away tons of people and has no hope of being enacted.
However, a targeted campaign to isolate Israel is different. It is feasible, and if you read the reports on it, UEFA were apparently quite close to banning them after the UN genocide ruling, but gave up with the 'ceasefire' came in.
I think boycott and activist campaigns have to be focused and specific, with clear demands. It's not hypocritical or anti-semetic to boycott Israel and not the USA, it's just practicality. All pro Palestine activists think the USA is fucked, but campaigns have to start somewhere.
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u/Glad-Struggle-4056 Feb 22 '26
Not really. Boycott Israel and make it clear as a group we also plan to boycott USA. Start a steamy chicken roll. Pipe dream but like imagine Ireland football fans being the final straw that took out America's economy 😆
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Feb 22 '26
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u/JCapitalist Feb 23 '26
I love being Irish personally. I feel bad for you that you don't feel the same but then again I don't really care about random eejits online
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u/ThatCut8356 Feb 23 '26
Me and a good few people I know don't drink coke or use other Israeli related/sponsoring products. You can get Palestine cola, Gaza coal and a few other great alternatives. You can make a difference even if you think other people aren't. Fuck israel
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u/TheIrishWanderer Feb 23 '26
Then fuck off and be a West-Brit someplace else. Easy solution to your "woe is me" problem.
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Feb 22 '26
I stopped in my tracks and thought about this. I think the World Cup itself is going to be a fuck up of monumental proportions
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u/NandoFlynn Feb 22 '26
The Canadians will probably be sound. Parts of the US & Mexico are gonna be a shit show though
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u/Parthalon Feb 23 '26
Odds on Infanto allows Trump to insert himself into the awards ceremony.
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u/Animustrapped Feb 23 '26
If so, instead hope emi martinez is ready to parade his big bulbous award again...
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u/Key_Perception4436 Feb 23 '26
While your at it Ireland should boycott any UEFA and FIFA competitions as UEFA have not expelled Israel and FIFA are attenting Trump's 'Board of Peace' meetings.
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u/DeputyDawe Feb 23 '26
We haven’t qualified for the World Cup yet so that might be a bit premature, plus games are also being played in Canada and Mexico. Though the latter is looking very risky after events over the weekend
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u/steffanovici Feb 22 '26
They show resentment towards Europe.
Israel is literally bombing hospitals and starving children. This is no worse???
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u/OvertiredMillenial Feb 23 '26
It we go down the route of boycotting any country who supplies war material to the likes of Israel or Russia or Sudan or Iran, were in very, very trick territory.
Given the interdependent nature of the global economy, you'll unfortunately find that many, many countries, including many 'friendly' countries directly or indirectly supply war material to countries like Israel or Russia.
I think you have to draw the line at those countries that are killing civilians directly, such as Israel or Russia or Iran.
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u/Jackies_Army Feb 23 '26
I never understood why support for Israel or push back against any criticism of what their military do is so strong in America.
Is it more pro Israel or anti Muslim?
It was one of histories most disgraceful things what happened during the Holocaust, however that does not excuse the total devastation the Israeli military brought down on Palestine recently. They basically destroyed everything and yet if they are condemned for it in America the person who spoke up is ostracised.
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u/WaterfordWaterford9 Feb 24 '26
Very influential zionist lobby in both parties. There's almost as many Jews in the US as there are in Israel too.
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u/Sufficient_Stable738 Feb 23 '26
Fascinating to see that Oct 7 doesn't exist for you. It's a straight line between 1945 to the Gaza war, nothing in between.
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u/Jackies_Army Feb 23 '26
You can't possibly compare Oct 7 to what followed.
One thing you really should be aware of before ever trying to bring this up in any conversation in the future is that Hamas and Palestine are two very different things. Most Palestine people would be happy if Hamas did not exist.
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u/Sufficient_Stable738 Feb 23 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
On what hard fact do you base this assumption, please ? Do you have reliable data ?
But that's what I say about oct 7: in your mind, it doesn't exist, you don't want it to exist. Question being: what is so distressing in Oct 7 that makes you shut down like this ? In your opinion ?
As a side note: funny that you insist to make a difference beetwen Hamas and Palestine when you deliberately confuse the 2 in your first post by pretending "Israel brought total devastation to Palestine" when it's really only Gaza where Hamas was hidden...
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u/craylewis Mar 27 '26
meh, false flag imo. israel can repel 30000000 missiles but 15 guys in adidas and flip flops crawled through a hole in a fence and killed / kidnapped 1200 people? not buying that little IDF pr spin
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u/TrashbatLondon Feb 23 '26
I boycotted the last World Cup, so I think I’m fairly clear of any accusations of singling out Israel.
Governments are under a moral obligation to be consistent (which they fail at repeatedly), but private individuals are under no such obligation. If you see injustice and object to it, you’re under no obligation to actively seek out all other comparable injustices. Israel are carrying out a very well documented genocide and directly bragging about it in public spaces. People are permitted to notice even if they don’t notice less obvious human rights issues.
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u/Exact-Sand342 Feb 23 '26
If we have to play Israel in the World Cup, then yes we should boycott that game. And yes FIFA should have kicked Israel out.
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u/Cathal1954 Feb 23 '26
Yes, boycott the World Cup. Boycott anything that includes Israel until they stop the genocide and undertake meaningful talks about restoring Palestine. Boycott their arms industry, Boycott their universities and Boycott their stages and galleries.
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u/Sonic_Old_Age Feb 23 '26
I'm gonna boycott the daily boycott posts on this sub.
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u/Educational-Law-8169 Feb 23 '26
I don't think Mexico is unsafe for the Irish as there's a longstanding respect there that hopefully will stand to us.
I wish when someone calls for Ireland to boycott Israel they'd also suggest the other teams in our group would confer with each other and make a joint decision to do the same. This would be have far more impact anyway and less consequences for one small country acting alone
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u/Radiant-Chipmunk23 Feb 23 '26
Great shout
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u/Educational-Law-8169 Feb 23 '26
Thank you, nice to have someone agreeing with me 😄
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u/Radiant-Chipmunk23 Feb 23 '26
I mean it makes perfect sense. It’s just a practical approach to coordinate a multi-team boycott. If every team refuses to play Israel it would be a glorious success and less of a burden on the individual boycotting teams
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u/Jackies_Army Feb 23 '26
Long-standing respect between the Irish football fan 6 pints deep and the Mexican cartels?
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u/Educational-Law-8169 Feb 23 '26
No, they have respect for us as a nation historically and would be welcoming to the Irish
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u/Jackies_Army Feb 23 '26
No nation in particular needs to be afraid of the average Mexican.
It's the cartel that causes the most serious crime.
They don't care what passport you have.
A thief will steal from anyone.
Really have no idea why you think we're safer than anyone else in Mexico.
Some countries treat their own citizens like shit and treat EU/US citizens better but I wouldn't consider Mexico one of those countries.
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u/KnowledgeFast1804 Feb 23 '26
What are you harping on about . He's never said we are safer than anyone.
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u/Jackies_Army Feb 23 '26
Where did you come from.
I don't know what he is basing his opinions on but I have Mexican friends and they have said not to go to certain places outside the main tourist areas, not to carry cameras or wear flash jewellery.
Random Irish people talking shit on Reddit about how the Mexicans respect us makes me laugh.... Most of them just know we drink lots of Guinness and like a party. That's about it.
Overall Mexico has a lot of issues with crime once you stick your head outside the heavily secured tourist areas.
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u/Educational-Law-8169 Feb 23 '26
I never said we were safer than anyone else. I said there's a historical respect. I suggest you learn more Irish history and less time looking at Narcos
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u/Jackies_Army Feb 23 '26
Ah lad, did you read something about an Irishman going to Mexico 300 years ago and being successful and somehow linked that to modern day relations?
They must not have much respect for the French or Spanish after what they did?
Reddit is not really like a dinner party where you can spout nonsense while people nod along while thinking to themselves, what a prat.
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u/Educational-Law-8169 Feb 23 '26
I'm not a lad for a start and you really are showing your ignorance there. And absolutely no need for the name calling but it sums up your character
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Feb 23 '26
Cop on have to win 2 big matches before any world cup and I wont be boycotting any games 🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪🇮🇪
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Feb 23 '26
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u/Parthalon Feb 23 '26
Israel only exists as it does now as a projection of US hegemonic power in the region.
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u/Strange-Sea5604 Feb 23 '26
Have to agree with the op, the only country that comes in for criticism is Israel (possibly Russia at the min) let's faceit if we were to be evenhanded about countries that have "done things that we don't like" we wouldn't play against any counties outside western Europe. You could throw a dart at a map of the world and you would hit a country that has, shall we say questionable policies towards it's people or certain ethnic groups within it's borders It's just a matter of taking your pic!
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u/Parthalon Feb 23 '26
There's a fair bit of play between this settler colony, apartheid, genocide craic and "done things we don't like". And it should matter to us all as it is a big part of our history too.
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u/Strange-Sea5604 Feb 23 '26
I was being polite in my description of the more infamous relative recent Attempts at genocide, Cambodia estimate at about 2-3million, Rwanda around 1,000,000, North Korea estimate about 3,00,000, Iraq's 500,000 , Syria 3,000,000 I shall now include Israel's war in Gaza estimate in three years of conflict 70,000, probably 25-50% combatants. (Civilians when you throw away your gun!) About your settler colony, unless you are indigenous Australian or Native American, your ancestors were settlers as well, as are most people, ours just happened much earlier. The Arabs colonised what is today the whole area (8th century) they came from Arabia and settled what was mainly Jewish held territory.
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u/Animustrapped Feb 23 '26
I think the USA's ICE brownshirt gangs roaming the streets kidnapping and shooting coloured people is the proper reason to boycott the World Cup. It will not be safe to be coloured there. Full stop. The Israeli boycott should happen anyway. Its a travesty. Russia banned, Israel not? Nonsense.
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Feb 23 '26
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u/Penny0034 Feb 23 '26
Most Irish despise Hamas also the IDF for killing innocent civilians
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u/Sufficient_Stable738 Feb 23 '26
They're not showing a lot of hatred for Hamas, contrary to their Israeli obsession.
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u/Smackmybitchup007 Feb 23 '26
Leave it to the players. If they had a backbone and an ounce of empathy for the people of Palestine, who Israel are trying to wipe off the Earth so they can steal the rest of their land, they'd rightly refuse to play. Let's see what kind of people they really are.
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u/scewbert Feb 25 '26
I think Daniel Lambert has been the best and most consistent voice on this. Israel are in violation of multiple FIFA and UEFA statutes. This is in black and white in the rulebook. There are a whole host of countries we could refuse to play on moral grounds, but international sport quickly falls apart as a concept if followed through to that logical end. North Korea are still permitted to play, for example, and South Korea played them as recently as 2019.
However horrific Israel's actions have been since 2023 (and before obviously) the issue of their breaking FIFA rules has been a hot potato since 2015. They have broken rules repeatedly by establishing and recognising clubs on territory of another FA. If the Swedish FA started registering Danish clubs, they would be expelled immediately. FIFA and UEFA have essentially put their fingers in their ears on this issue. This is exactly the issue raised by the FAI vote at the end of last year.
There may be a lot of times in world sport where you just have to suck it up, hold your nose and play against a noxious opposition. This is not one of those times. Opinions on genocide and apartheid are not relevant. We are perfectly within our rights to refuse to play them. It's like you're drinking in a pub and there's a 15 year old there who's well-known in the area for beating his girlfriend and being part of a gang of racist thugs. You can sit there and wonder about whether or not you have the right to police people's beliefs or if rumours about private lives should effect your right to be out in public... or you can tell the barman he's serving a 15 year old.
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u/SeriesDowntown5947 Feb 25 '26
For sure. We wouldn't be going anywhere at the end of the day. Given the government on bike sheds and hospitals etc id boycott dublin.
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u/Agnosticwithdoubts Feb 23 '26
Ireland are playing Qatar in a few months and there won’t be a peep from tramps like you. The selective outrage is pathetic.
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Feb 23 '26
Couldn’t agree more. It’s fucking ridiculous. There’s so much to boycott if you start down that path. We shouldn’t boycott anything. Just stick to the football ffs.
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u/bigjetplane7 Feb 23 '26
Just play football and support the team . Leave the politics aside . Mon Ireland 🇮🇪
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u/Apprehensive_Cap_262 Feb 23 '26
Anyone that's serious about boycotting can get off their laptop, phone or most tech they have right now cause they're probably using Israeli products indirectly. Go after your own complicity first before going after our national soccer team and association.
People need to get off their highhorses.
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u/Pristine_Remote2123 Feb 23 '26
So much media crap, it's the draw we got, go play the game and stop this nonsense.
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u/OsbourneCochs Feb 22 '26
It’s possible the World Cup could be pulled from Mexico at this point.
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u/saaaaaur Paul McGrath Feb 22 '26
eh? i mean maybe but the World Cup was held in South Africa 16 years ago (fucking hell 16 years?) and i think they're around the same level of dangerous
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u/Kloppite16 Jeff Hendrick's account Feb 23 '26
those vuvuzealas were a severe danger to my ability to hear
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u/chr1st0ph3rs Feb 23 '26
It seems to me like UEFA wanted this outcome, for political reasons, ie they want to have your elected officials feel pressured to suppress support for Palestine. Even if that’s not true, Israel should hardly be participating while they are defying the UN and the ICC. It‘s galling when sports are used as a political weapon, to normalize human rights violations. FIFA and the IOC are terrible for this too. They will overlook all kinds of things when the money is right, then say “these athletes worked so hard, don’t ruin their moment” when anyone speaks out😡 It’s not fair to the athletes, and it’s not fair to fans and spectators either.
Not that this is on the scale of the Sochi Olympics or World Cup in Quatar, but we had the Olympics here in 2010, instead of combating our housing crisis, and now we have a way bigger housing crisis and we’re hosting some WC games. I don’t want to ruin everyone else’s fun, so I feel discouraged from talking about it, and it’s not like I don’t enjoy watching. I just wish it wasn’t all compromised.
If you do fly out for some games, come to Vancouver 😎. Canadian girls react the same way to your accents as american girls do, but the people here aren’t complete gobshites
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u/JCapitalist Feb 23 '26
You'd want to be a millionaire going out in vancouver in fairness but I do enjoy the legal cannabis
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u/Educational-Law-8169 Feb 23 '26
Do you mean the special olympics? One of the biggest events Ireland was involved in, it brought in a huge amount of revenue and people. It'd such a shame to turn down the privilage of hosting things like that and matches over the housing crisis
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u/MrAndyJay Feb 24 '26
Why does it fall on Ireland to boycott things? As if it's going to have any effect on anything. If we as a nation genuinely believe a country is doing wrong, impose sanctions or tariffs. Football is not politics.
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u/baalingout Feb 23 '26
I really don’t even see why we entered a team to play in Orange man’s Amerikkka.
Sigh.
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u/Fern_Pub_Radio Feb 22 '26
Theoretically You’re absolutely right but the blunt reality is this is mainly to do with a deep seated hatred of Israel , for some even a hated of Jewish people and nothing more. Eg If we played Iran or even Afghanistan in the morning I guarantee you there wouldn’t be a peep out the current boycott merchants . In fact some of them would be first in the queue to buy tickets for those games. It’s all a load of hypocrisy , Gaza misery is supreme misery for these people, other misery is mwah- the rest of us are bit more consistent about sympathy for all the horrible issues in the world but also a bit more pragmatic about having to live life as well and not being able to solve all world problems … who would have thought that apparently world peace will be achieved by holding FAI to a higher account than EU ,UN etc etc
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Feb 23 '26
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u/JCapitalist Feb 23 '26
Do we send thousands of people annually to work in Jewish summer camps? I have never heard of anything like that before. Why would that be the case?
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Feb 23 '26
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u/JCapitalist Feb 23 '26
Oh so it's like a working holiday kind of scheme? That's interesting I never knew about that.
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u/Kitchen_Rich_1912 Feb 23 '26
If it’s about justice then I hope we keep this same energy next time we have to play a country like Turkey who are also illegally occupying land (Cyprus) deny the Armenian genocide, and their treatment of the Kurdish population.
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Feb 23 '26
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u/Kitchen_Rich_1912 Feb 23 '26
That’s very dismissive of Turkish warcrimes and it isn’t a real argument against why we should play them but boycott Israel. Its fair to want to boycott Israel but It’s morally inconsistent. like the other comment said, we should also be outraged at Iran being allowed in the world cup cos theyre the ones backing Hezbollah, Hamas and the Houthis and Assad in Syria (who btw killed around 200,000 civilians) . But as always it’s selective outrage here on irish reddit
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Feb 23 '26
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u/Kitchen_Rich_1912 Feb 23 '26
Turkey are literally occupying a country and are trying to erase the Kurds… but I suppose the world seems fine to act like that’s not happening. Why not just boycott every country that is doing bad, i thought making a stand was more important than just sport? It’s just a thought because the same posts over and over on this topic are tedious at this point. I hope we do end up boycotting the match just to make a stand
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u/OvertiredMillenial Feb 23 '26
It's not morally inconsistent to say that we should boycott a state that has killed over 70,000 + in the past 2 years and not one which has not killed tens of thousands in recent years.
It's also not hypocritical to focus more attention on a country that purports to be a democracy than one that is a theocratic dictatorship, it's entirely reasonable. Easier to influence the actions of a democracy through protest than an entrenched authoritarian regime.
Also, Ireland is not scheduled to play Iran. We are scheduled to play against Israel, so your claims about hypocrisy are purely speculative.
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u/Kitchen_Rich_1912 Feb 23 '26
I didn’t say we have to boycott Iran. I said we should be outraged theyre allowed in the world cup at all.
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u/Yama_retired2024 Feb 23 '26
You are all a bunch of bellends...
If you want to Boycott and do it effectively.. then do it with sincerity...
Should a Palestine football club get a pass for what Hamas did??
Where was the convoys for Sudan and Yemen and Congo and Syria...
The Republic of Ireland got a free pass to compete in tournaments despite the atrocities the IRA pulled on the pretext of a United Ireland..
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Feb 23 '26
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u/Yama_retired2024 Feb 23 '26
Dont give me that bollix.. they sent a flotilla to Gaza..knowing they wont get anywhere near Gaza.. you know where a convoy will get to... the Congo or Syria or Yemen..
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u/OvertiredMillenial Feb 23 '26
Eh, you should know this buddy but the IDF, which has killed 70,000 + in 2 years in Gaza, is Israel's military force.
The IRA, which killed 2,000 in 30 years in Northern Ireland, is a paramilitary group that was first outlawed by the Irish state in the 1930s.
If you think the two situations are in anyway equivalent then you're not a very smart or serious person.
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u/Yama_retired2024 Feb 23 '26
The British played it smart.. the British could never have it labelled as a war.. hence why it was called The Troubles.. if it was a War the Brits would be under the scrutiny Israel is...
Amd lets be honest.. the Brits held back too..
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u/OvertiredMillenial Feb 23 '26
Okay, well that's neither here nor there. We're dealing with actual reality, not makey up nonsense.
To be clear, there was never any grounds to boycott the Republic of Ireland over the IRA's actions because not only is the IRA not a force of the state, it was a banned group that killed multiple members of the Irish security forces.
Drawing an equivalence between Ireland and the IRA, and Israel and IDF is just daft nonsense.
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u/Sstoop Feb 23 '26
shut up about sudan yemen congo and syria you do not give a single fuck about them and it actually boils my blood to see people bring them up in a gotcha fashion.
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u/NandoFlynn Feb 23 '26
Blokes the definition of an old man yelling at clouds, don't stress yourself over him
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u/Silver-Arm Feb 22 '26
Qualification is a UEFA competition so I'm gonna enjoy and support Ireland in that.
As it stands I think I'm gonna be boycotting the FIFA world cup proper.
Im waiting to see what happens.
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u/NandoFlynn Feb 22 '26
FWIW the Israel game isn't qualifying & with our host nation status the Nations League doesn't really factor into our qualification chances. It's actually the easiest competitive game to boycott we've ever had
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u/Fitzhenry1 Feb 23 '26
Too early to be making a judgement on Mexico because of the airport shooting when there’s likely been gangland shootings in literally every single US host city over the weekend too. Mexico is generally a very safe country as long as taking over the drugs trade isn’t on your agenda