More than 200 women have delivered a public appeal to Barbara Ceferin to request that she use her influence to support the suspension of Israel from UEFA, the governing body of football in Europe.
Ceferin is the wife of the President of UEFA Aleksander Ceferin.
The letter was organized by CODEPINK, a feminist grassroots organization, and the #GameOverIsrael campaign.
Mary Rinaldi, the co-director of #GameOverIsrael, said: “Power doesn’t just move through public channels; it moves, invisibly, through our private relationships, our family dynamics, our wider social circles.
“In this moment what we do with that power (in response to Israel’s genocide) either helps or harms the cause of justice.
“Barbara Ceferin has influence with those who have the power to suspend Israel from European football, an event that would begin Israel’s global cultural isolation in earnest. We’re asking that she use it. We hope that she does.”
The letter was signed by well-known personalities including British actor Juliet Stevenson; Shirley Manson, the lead vocalist of British band Garbage; English singer, songwriter, actor and television personality Paloma Faith; and Irish actor Denise Gough, known for her role in the Disney+ series “Andor.”
The #GameOverIsrael campaign was launched on Sept. 16 with a billboard in Times Square, calling on football federations to boycott Israel.
The #GameOverIsrael campaign is advised by Dr. Ghassan Abu-Sittah, a British Palestinian plastic surgeon and founder of the Ghassan Abu Sittah Children’s Fund; Abed Ayoub, director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee; Richard Falk, former UN special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territories, and president of the Gaza Tribunal; and Craig Mokhiber, former UN human rights official.
