Palestine look for peace through football

Palestine’s 39-year-old coach Jamal Mahmoud couldn’t just hold his excitement. Barring the scheduled break, Mahmoud randomly walked inside the technical area and then shouted instructions whenever a Palestine player went for the counter-attack in a friendly against Qatar in Doha last June.

There was nothing much at stake for the Palestines in that game, but I felt their energy.

When the strife-torn Arab nation, who are ranked 140 in FIFA rankings, play India on February 6, you can expect the same kind of vibrancy.

For them, getting to play a football match is something like a dream. The nation is in a political turmoil where no foreign teams visit them or they can’t travel because of the strict restrictions imposed by Israel.

Despite handicapped by the political ramifications, the Palestine football team is one of the strongest in the Middle-East region. The team consists of players of multiple nationalities and who speak different languages and, who also don’t have a home field.

The conflict means they play their home games in Doha.

Today, Palestine is fighting to overcome obstacles of a physical, emotional, cultural and geographic nature, only to exist. It’s a challenge which they live with it, without even imagining how much they are stretched physically and mentally while striving for an identity.

“Sport is all about peace and harmony. We want to play football without such obstacles,” said Mahmoud, who took over as coach in November 2011. His first official match was a friendly against Bahrain in Manama which Palestine won 1-0.

Many of the players learned to love football after they watched matches between Arabic teams, particularly Egyptian giants Al Ahly and Zamalek.

“We want our freedom and we would like to send a message across the world through the game,” he added.

In March last year, national player Mahmoud Al Sarsak, 25, was arrested and interrogated while he was leaving the Gaza strip to join his fellow team-mates in the West Bank. Al Sarsak was on a hunger strike since March 19 in protest against being held without charge on trial under the “unlawful combatant law” by the Israeli Prision Service.

Ramzi Saleh, Palestine’s 32-year-old captain, was born in neighbouring Egypt. Though he is far from the turmoil, the tall and strongly-built goalkeeper strongly feels the pain.

The inspirational captain has already played for 12 years and wants to lead his team at his home in Gaza. But, that seems unlikely since earning exit visas is always a real challenge for Palestine footballers.

“We’ve so many problems. Players can’t come from Gaza and West Bank because they are denied exit visas. That’s the reason we play less matches and can’t even invite foreign teams,” said Saleh, who plays for Smouha in Egyptian Premier League.

In May 2008, Palestine was not allowed to travel to the AFC Challenge Cup in India. Besides, after a 2011 World Cup qualifier against Thailand, Mohammed Samara and Majed Abusidu, were refused entry to the West Bank and therefore could not travel back with the team from Thailand.

“Football is our life. It’s our right to play in front of our own people. That’s why we want our freedom,” he added.

The identity crisis has made the players bold, and it is their unending fight for survival which makes them so endearing.

Palestinians just want to focus on the beautiful game and win hearts. They don’t enjoy the luxury of playing in proper grounds. The friendly against India will give them a lot of hope to highlight their issue at the international stage.

“In my first game, when we sang the national anthem, I could feel my body shiver,” Saleh said.

Sport is a great reveller. And football, in particular, has been a balm for the wounded and broken hearts of Palestine footballers who want to break away from a political barrier. They don’t understand the language of politics. But they definitely know how to convince the world about their passion for football.