ISRAELIS, PALESTINIANS PLAY FOOTBALL FOR HOPE
Jewish National Fund of South African hosts event in honor of Peace Team playing in FIFA social responsibility tournament
At the same time as the amazing World Cup tournament was hosted with such incredible success throughout South Africa, FIFA also hosted the Football for Hope Festival 2010, during which 32 teams of young soccer players representing the power of the game for social change met on soccer fields in Alexander township.
Football for Hope is FIFAs social responsibility arm that seeks to uplift areas of social challenge through the game. Most of the teams come from conflict areas around the world, and have in no small measure contributed to real and meaningful change in their own, and other, disadvantaged communities.
The most exciting part of this festival was the arrival of the Peace Team, a combined team of Israeli and Palestinian teenagers playing together under the auspices of the Jaffa-based Peres Center for Peace and the Ramallah-based Al-Quds for Democracy and Dialogue.
According to the organizers, the teenagers often play in Sderot, scene of many thousands of rockets fired at random from Gaza; and together, when the warning sirens sound, these youngsters from diverse cultures run for cover into the bomb shelter adjoining the soccer field.
Eight Israeli and Palestinian young men and women comprised this Team, all graduates of the Peres Center for Peace Twinned Peace Sport Schools program; and for all, it was their first visit to South Africa.
Eager to present this group to the community, the JNF, under the auspices of their new One Tree One Goal campaign, organized a most successful evening auction event to raise funds for the programme in Israel and the JNFs Walter Sisulu Environmental Center in Mamelodi. Keynote speaker was former South African President and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, F.W. de Klerk, who addressed the capacity audience on South Africa, its past, present and future.
'Leaders of tomorrow'
It was a unique experience not only for the players but for the Jewish community, who were privileged to see in action the amazing camaraderie between young Israelis and Palestinians transcending factional conflicts and interacting and co-operating equally and independently.
Team trainers Israeli Tami Hay Sagiv and Palestinian Sulaiman Khatib described the problems they had confronted and solved in order to reach this point; and Sulaiman spoke of how, despite having spent 10 years in an Israeli prison, he was now totally committed to bringing young Israelis and Palestinians together in a sporting arena.
Thirty-two teams of young players came to South Africa: The only team privately hosted was the Peace Team, who were overwhelmed by community warmth and hospitality. This team showed clearly that Israelis and Palestinians can live, work and play together in harmony and friendship; that they can overcome the obstacles that so many politicians cannot; and that the prospects for a shared and amicable lifestyle for the benefit of both peoples are not unattainable.
The Peace Team participants are part of a group of some 1 500 youngsters who meet regularly under the umbrella of the Peres Center for Peace. "They are the future; they are the leaders of tomorrow; and they are the ones who we hope will pave the way to a peaceful solution in the Middle East," JNF said in a statement.
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LAKERS POINT GUARD FARMER TEACHES COEXISTENCE AT KIRYAT GAT CLINIC
NBA's only Jewish player gives support to the Peres Center for Peace's "Twinned Peace Sports Schools" program.
Jordan Farmar, the NBA's only Jewish player, spent more than an hour teaching a group of Israeli and Palestinian children dribbling, shooting and defensive skills in a basketball clinic in Kiryat Gat on Tuesday.
The Los Angeles Lakers reserve point guard had been invited to the Rabin School to give support to the Peres Center for Peace "Twinned Peace Sports Schools" program. Speaking to The Jerusalem Post after the practice, Farmar said he enjoyed being part of a sporting exercise that helped bridge the gap between cultures. "I realized that I can take advantage of these situations not only to help myself but to help other people in the process," said Farmar. "We can all work together, we can all fit together and we can all have peace with one another."
The son of an African-American father and white Jewish mother, Farmar noted that his diverse background allowed him to transcend cultural barriers in his hometown of Los Angeles and also gave him insight into working toward conflict resolution here. "If I walk into a black neighborhood in LA, they can relate to me, if I walk into a white neighborhood they can relate to me and if I walk into a Jewish neighborhood they can relate to me," said Farmar, who explained that his black friends would celebrate Passover with him when he was growing up. "I come from a lot of different backgrounds, and I don't take sides or judge anybody."
Farmar said he believes sports are an effective vehicle for that resolution because they allow participants to forget about external issues. "No matter where you live or what's going on, people like sports," he said. "People riot for their sports teams and go out all night. It's important for us to reach out to those who have a connection to it." This being his third trip to Israel, Farmar said that he tries to understand the conflict from all sides in order to get a comprehensive picture of the deeper issues. "I'm trying to get more educated and I don't want to hear from one person, I try to hear from all sides of the conflict," said Farmar. I'm not passing judgment, I'm not criticizing. Maybe I can help mediate." He added that the most intriguing facet of Israel, for him, is the country's patchwork of cultures. "There are a lot of different areas and a lot of stuff I've learned," he said. The diversity [strikes me], how many different people have claimed this place as home."
As a point guard, Farmar directs his team on the court. He said that he succeeds at that position because of his natural tendency toward leadership, which he said was also on display in Kiryat Gat. "I'm a leader, and I think that's becoming more and more evident as my career is going along," he said. "I see myself as an ambassador of peace who tries to bring people together who wouldn't normally be together." Farmar will also hold a clinic for girls in Be'er Tuvia on Thursday.
Gal Peleg, the director of the Peres Center's sports department, said that he appreciated Farmar's coming to Israel and admired his philanthropic spirit. "Its amazing that a Jewish basketball star has come to see this project," said Peleg. "It gives inspiration to these kids to see that someone who looks like me and you has come. It tells them, 'you can do it.'" Peleg hopes that upon Farmar's return to America, he will act as an advocate both for Israel and for Peace. "We hope that after this visit, Jordan Farmar will be a special envoy for us," said Peleg. "He should spread the messages of sports and peace."
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MIDEAST AFL TEAM IN AUSTRALIA
An unlikely AFL 'Peace Team' comprising Palestinians and Israelis is in Australia for an international amateur tournament.
Sixteen teams from Europe, Asia, Oceania, Africa and the Americas will contest the third Australian Football International Cup, which starts on August 27 and culminates in the grand final on September 6 at the MCG.
Games will be held in Melbourne, Geelong and Warrnambool.
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Members of the Shimon Peres Centre for Peace approached the AFL late last year and the code recently dispatched two of its best known ambassadors, Ron Barassi and Robert DiPierdomenico, to Israel to help prepare the Peace team for the upcoming tournament.
"Their journey has been amazing, some of these guys have got to travel four hours through three check points just to get to one hour's training," said DiPierdomenico, who will be the Peace team's match day coach.
"The commitment has been amazing."
He said the Peace team had beaten a group of Australian ex-patriots in one game, but that was on a soccer field and on Thursday at the SCG was the first time they had seen a ground with proper Australian Rules goal posts.
"We know that sports can overcome the barriers of religion, gender and also of conflicted areas such as ours," said Gal Peles, the director of sport for the Peres Center of Peace.
"We are familiar with the AFL only for the last year or so. We learn this totally new game and we met totally new stars and celebrities such as `Dipper'.
"It's a great honour for us to be here."
The difficulty of training one team in two languages (Hebrew and Arabic) added to the overall challenge of creating a Palestinian-Israeli AFL team.
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JOINT ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN TEAM TAKES PART IN EUROPEAN JOURNEY
While there may not be anything unusual about most of the lineup of teams at the Youth European Soccer Cup in the Austrian town of Linz yesterday, the inclusion of a joint Israeli-Palestinian squad might come as something of a surprise.
Organizers of the event decided to extend a special invitation to the Israeli-Palestinian co-ed team in honor of Tel Aviv's 100th anniversary and to emphasize their commitment to peace, according to a statement posted on the tournament's Website yesterday.
Despite the good will, the joint Israeli-Palestinian team did not fair well and is currently ranked in the tournament's last group.
"Unlike the other teams we are not professional, our goal is to experience playing together," Tami Hay, a representative of the Peres Center for Peace, which organized the joint delegation, explained. "What's important to us is that the kids had time to bond."
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'PEACE TEAM IN BARCELONA MATCH
A joint Israeli-Palestinian football team has taken on Spanish champions Barcelona in a match aimed at promoting peace in the Middle East.
The "Peace Team" lost 2-1 to the Spaniards at their Nou Camp stadium.
Barcelona's star-studded team included Brazil's Ronaldinho, the newly crowned European footballer of the year.
The "Peace Team" was made up of Israeli internationals and Palestinian footballers from the West Bank.
They went behind to a 60th-minute lob by Barcelona's midfielder Deco, and then conceded again to striker Maxi Lopez five minutes later.
Israeli winger Abas Suan pulled a goal back for the Israeli-Palestinian side in the 67th minute, in front of a crowd said to number 31,820.
The match was organised by the Peres Center for Peace - a body set up by Israeli politician Shimon Peres.
"Football is a great contributor to the peace process," Mr Peres told a news conference.
"I think all of us are coming here with one message and that is peace has a future."
The match was timed to coincide with the end of the Euro-Med summit in Barcelona.
First of many
Actor and football fan Sean Connery also attended the match at the famous Nou Camp.
"What we really need is to get back some of the optimism [in the Middle East peace process] we had five years ago and I'm sure there's going to be a change in the climate within a week," said the former James Bond star.
The "Peace Team" was managed jointly by Israeli national coach Dror Kashtan and Palestinian coach Jamal Hadeideh from Tulkarm.
Kashtan said he hoped the game was the first of many Israeli-Palestinian sporting ventures.
The 27-member squad included Israeli captain Avi Nimni, veteran defender Alon Harazi, and Israeli Arab Walid Badir.
Palestine national team captain Haldin Mahed and Ali Aloara are among the Palestinian contingent from the West Bank.
As well as Ronaldinho, the Barcelona squad included Cameroon international Samuel Eto'o and Argentine prodigy Lionel Messi.
The Peres Center says its programme of football and basketball coaching for Israeli and Palestinian children has involved more than 2000 young people since it began in 2002.
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