'Palestinians' delay soccer final, try to blame Israel

The 'Palestinian' soccer final, which was to have taken place on Sunday in Hebron, has been postponed after a number of players from Gaza were not allowed to cross the border.

The Shejaia club from the Gaza Strip must pass through an Israeli border crossing to reach the West Bank city of Hebron, where Sunday's game was scheduled to be played, and to do so needs approval from Israel.

"It became clear seven people, including four players were not on the list and therefore, the entire mission can't leave Gaza without them," said Ala Shammaly of the Shejaia media office.

Israel said the four players needed to undergo special questioning, which was to have taken place on Thursday, but the Palestinians did not show.

It offered to let the rest of the team cross on Friday, the start of the weekend in Israel, with the four to meet them on Sunday when it would again be possible to conduct the questioning.

The Palestinian federation said the game was delayed until further notice.

In a series of tweets, COGAT, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, tells a far different story.

(1/6)Provocation by Jibril Rajoub: Following the Palestinians request, we coordinate the crossing of 37 players from #Gaza to Judea&Samaria

— COGAT (@cogat_israel) August 7, 2015

(2/6)4 of the players needed to pass a preliminary inquiry.For this purpose,their crossing was coordinated for yesterday. Rajoub canceled

— COGAT (@cogat_israel) August 7, 2015

(3/6) Following the first cancelation, the crossing was coordinate one again for today. In the morning they cancelled again

— COGAT (@cogat_israel) August 7, 2015

4/6)Other example:Even when they had all the information of a Karate competition months ago,Rajoub submitted it only a couple of days ago...

— COGAT (@cogat_israel) August 7, 2015

(5/6)... And not with one month of anticipation as asked. Still we confirmed them.

— COGAT (@cogat_israel) August 7, 2015

(6/6) Palestinians are giving a cynical use to sports, damaging only the Palestinian public.

— COGAT (@cogat_israel) August 7, 2015

In case you need to be reminded why 'Palestinian' soccer players might need to pass 'preliminary inquiries' before being allowed to move through Israel and into the 'West Bank,' here are some reminders.