(JNS) A coalition of anti-Israeli organizations and activists is calling on international soccer federations to boycott the Jewish state, lighting up a Times Square digital billboard on Tuesday to kick off the campaign.

The effort to sideline the Blue and Whites from competing comes ahead of next year’s FIFA World Cup, jointly hosted by the United States, Canada and Mexico from June 11 to July 19. MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., across the Hudson River from Manhattan, where the billboard is on display, will host eight matches, including the final.

According to the campaign’s website, the demands for the head of soccer federations include boycotting Israel’s national team and Israeli clubs and banning Israeli players. The site calls to “flood the federations,” listing the phone numbers for the heads of the UEFA national soccer federations in Belgium, England, France, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Norway, Scotland and Spain.

The main organizers include the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, CodePink, Tech for Palestine, Gaza Tribunal, The Hind Rajab Foundation and Health Workers 4 Palestine.

Among the anti-Israel activists joining the campaign are Bobby Vylan, Craig Mokhiber and Liam Cunningham.

The campaign is centered around the false accusation that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza in its nearly two-year war with Hamas, which infiltrated southern Israel and slaughtered 1,200 people and kidnapped 251 others on Oct. 7, 2023, starting the current conflict. Hamas is sworn to Israel’s destruction and has vowed multiple repeats of Oct. 7. For its part, Jerusalem vehemently rejects the charge of genocide, calling it a modern-day blood libel against the Jewish people.

The campaign’s website encourages supporters to share promotional materials, such as an image featuring a bloodied soccer ball adorned with an Israeli flag and the slogan: “Block the genocide: Boycott Israel.” The billboard near the intersection of Broadway and West 43rd Street also accuses the Jewish state of committing genocide.

According to Reuters, the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee said the billboard company approved the language after seeing a United Nations Commission of Inquiry report on Tuesday that accuses Israel of genocide.

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Daniel Meron, called the report “scandalous” and “fake,” saying it had been authored by “Hamas proxies,” Reuters quoted him as saying.

“Israel categorically rejects the libelous rant published today by this commission of inquiry,” said Meron.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog also condemned the report.

“While Israel defends its people and seeks the return of hostages, this morally bankrupt Commission obsesses over blaming the Jewish state, whitewashing Hamas’s atrocities, and turning victims of one of the worst massacres of modern times into the accused,” he said.

‘Not welcome visitors to our country’

A Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies study published earlier this month found that the genocide charge against Israel was based on manipulated data.

“As the United States prepares to host the FIFA World Cup in 2026, Americans must not allow our stadiums to become platforms for whitewashing war crimes,” said Abed Ayoub, national executive director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

“We stand with our European counterparts and demand that every football governing body take immediate and decisive action to bar Israel from international competition,” said Ayoub. “The world must tell Israel that the game is over, and there is no room in sports for war criminals.”

The statement makes no mention of Hamas and other Palestinian terror groups sworn to Israel’s destruction, the atrocities of Oct. 7 or the remaining 48 hostages Hamas still holds captive. Nor does it mention the explosion of global antisemitism since the Hamas-led attack.

“If you are a football fan, and you are tired of seeing the genocide that is happening against the people in Palestine and taking place against the people in Gaza, then now is the time to put pressure on the Football Association and the European football federations that represent you and your countries and make sure that the Israeli national team, the local teams and the players themselves never set foot on U.K. or European pitches,” Vylan said in a video statement.

Vylan and his band urged violence against Zionists and celebrated the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk during a performance in Amsterdam on Saturday.

According to the Central Jewish Board of the Netherlands, the band called on fans to find “Zionists” in the streets and “kick them in the face.”

In June, the United States revoked the visas for the members of the Bob Vylan band, who are facing a criminal probe in the United Kingdom for leading chants there of “Death to the IDF” at the Glastonbury festival.

“Foreigners who glorify violence and hatred are not welcome visitors to our country,” Deputy U.S. Secretary of State Christopher Landau said following the decision. Bob Vylan had a tour lined up in November.

Meanwhile, Israel’s national soccer team continues to compete for World Cup qualification, currently sitting in third place in UEFA Group I with nine points, trailing Italy (nine points with a game in hand) and Norway (12 points), which is in first place. Estonia is in fourth place, and Moldova sits fifth. Israel faces Norway on Oct. 11, Italy on Oct. 14 and Moldova on Nov. 16.

The group winner advances to the World Cup, while the runner-up moves into the second-round playoffs of the UEFA qualification tournament.