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Palestinian Authority Terror Supporter Jibril Rajoub Should Be Removed From FIFA — Permanently

Itamar Marcus

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Palestinian Olympic Committee President Jibril Rajoub, who also heads the Palestinian Football Association, holds a news conference to update the media about challenges facing Palestinian sports ahead of the Olympics in Paris, in Ramallah, in the West Bank, June 12, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ammar Awad

The US and Canada should be commended for refusing to grant a visa to see the World Cup to the antisemite and Palestinian Authority (PA) official Jibril Rajoub, head of the Palestinian Football Association. Rajoub is also the PA’s representative to FIFA (International Federation of Football Association).

Since his release from Israeli prison in 1985 in an exchange of Palestinian terrorists for Israeli hostages, Rajoub has glorified and supported terror against Israelis while spreading hate and antisemitism.

After Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) submitted a formal complaint to FIFA with evidence that Rajoub was a terror supporter, he was suspended from FIFA for a year.

Now that Rajoub has repeatedly supported the atrocities of October 7, as is documented below, and continues to spread antisemitism, FIFA must expel him permanently and distance itself from Rajoub’s vile hatred.

After Israel killed Saleh Al-Arouri, a Hamas leader and planner of the October 7, 2023, atrocities, Rajoub openly glorified the dead terror mastermind, lauding him as:

the extraordinary national leader who was always extraordinary in the way of his struggle [i.e., terror]. I am among the believers in his ideology, his way, and his activity.

Al-Arouri’s “way and activities” in which Rajoub believes included planning rape, beheadings, burning families alive, and the murder of nearly 1,200 on October 7, 2023. This is what Rajoub was honoring.

Rajoub has also said that Hamas’ October 7 massacre and launch of war were a successful rite of passage for Hamas:

Our brothers in Hamas — what they did on Oct. 7 made them part of the Palestinian national self-liberation movement.

He referred to the October 7 atrocities as “acts of heroism,” while calling it a defensive war for which Israel was responsible for all the deaths. He has later added that Israel is so evil that “if Hitler were to come, he would learn Nazism and fascism from Netanyahu.”

Finally, in one of his outbursts, in which he exposed his vile antisemitism, Rajoub said:

The Americans, Europeans, and others were deceived to think that the Jew is a victim. The truth is that he is a criminal, a terrorist, and a distorted form of the fascism and Nazism of the last century.

The US and Canada correctly refused to grant Rajoub, the Palestinian FIFA representative, a visa to see the World Cup games in their countries. Mexico, possibly unaware of who he was, enabled Rajoub to come.

Mexico should expel this terror supporter from its country, and FIFA should expel Rajoub from FIFA, permanently this time.

PMW is also submitting a complaint with all this information to the Israeli Police, so that Rajoub can be put on trial for possible violations of Israel’s counter-terrorism law.

Many examples of Rajoub’s hate and terror support appear on PMW’s website. The above video is a short collection of some of Rajoub’s antisemitic hatred and his support for October 7, and the transcription follows below:

Rajoub in his own words:

The Jew is not “a victim” but “a criminal, a terrorist”

Fatah Central Committee Secretary Jibril Rajoub: “The Americans, Europeans, and others were deceived to think that the Jew is a victim. The truth is that he is a criminal, a terrorist, and a distorted form of the fascism and Nazism of the last century.”

[Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Dec. 4, 2023]

Hamas became part of Palestinian national self-liberation movement on Oct. 7

Rajoub: “Our brothers in Hamas — what they did on Oct. 7 made them part of the Palestinian national self-liberation movement.”

[Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Nov. 30, 2024]

Don’t condemn Oct. 7 — it is a response to Israel’s crimes

Rajoub: “What happened on October 7 is a response to the crimes committed against the Palestinian people [by Israel] since 1948.”

[Sky News Arabia, YouTube channel, Oct. 7, 2025]

Hamas leader and Oct. 7 planner Arouri was an “extraordinary leader… I am among the believers in his ideology”

Rajoub: “We in the Fatah Movement, from the leadership and its base, express our condolences to our people, to his family, to the Hamas movement… over [the death of] the extraordinary national leader [Saleh al-Arouri] who was always extraordinary in the way of his struggle [i.e., terror.] I am among the believers in his ideology, his way, and his activity, and therefore this is a trust upon us that we be loyal … including that which concerns perfecting the resistance [(i.e., terror.]”

[Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Jan. 3, 2024]

Rajoub praises Hamas: Oct. 7 “humiliated Israel to the dirt”

Rajoub: “What happened on Oct. 7…  the most important thing is that this occupation [i.e., Israel]), this aggression, and this invincible army indeed turned out to be made of cardboard, and indeed turned out to be like cobwebs, and they were humiliated to the dirt.”

[Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Aug. 7, 2024]

Hitler would learn Nazism and fascism from Netanyahu

Rajoub: “The Palestinian people is on the front line of defense against the fascist and racist occupation … If Hitler were to come, he would learn Nazism and fascism from [Israeli PM] Netanyahu.”

[Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, June 26, 2026]

Rajoub wants to bridge the gaps with Hamas

Rajoub: “I call on Egypt and [Egyptian] President El-Sisi personally to hold an urgent meeting between Fatah and Hamas to bridge the political gaps, organizational gaps, and gaps related to the struggle [against Israel].”

[Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Oct. 12, 2025]

Rajoub endorses Hamas’ massacre and terror war on Israel on Oct. 7 as “war of defense”

Rajoub: “We [in Fatah] view what happened on Oct. 7, [2023] as a response to the crimes, terror, and policy of ethnic cleansing that this occupation has been committing against our people since 1948 until today.”

[Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Jan. 31, 2025]

Rajoub: “We in Fatah, from the first day, have said that this is a defensive response to the Israeli aggression.”

[Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Feb. 11, 2025]

Israel is responsible for the Israelis killed on Oct. 7

Rajoub: “What happened on Oct. 7, [2023] was a reaction to the systematic Israeli crimes … the Israeli government is the only responsible for what’s going on, for the suffering, whether for the Palestinians or some Israeli civilians who were killed on Oct. 7.”

[Jibril Rajoub, Facebook page, Aug. 2, 2025]

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The author is the Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, where a version of this article first appeared.

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