‘We’re Used To Hearing It Is Impossible’: Peres Center Program Unites Israeli, Palestinian Youth Through Soccer

For 20 years, the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation has used sport to create common ground, overcome linguistic and cultural barriers, challenge ingrained beliefs, and foster mutual understanding between Israeli and Palestinian children

Over 100 Palestinian and Israeli children ages 6-12, both Jews and Arabs, gathered in Abu Gosh on Monday to play soccer and celebrate the end of the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation’s yearlong program, Sporting in the Service of Peace.

Bringing children together and teaching them how to work through their common passion, what we are teaching them is how to actually see each other as they are, as children, without being afraid of each other

“We believe at the Peres Center that the most important work is the work that we do with children and it’s our future,” Efrat Duvdevani, director-general of the Peres Center, told The Media Line. “Bringing children together and teaching them how to work through their common passion, what we are teaching them is how to actually see each other as they are, as children, without being afraid of each other.”

Children enjoy a face-painting booth at the end-of-year celebration of the Sporting in the Service of Peace program, in Abu Ghosh, Israel, June 19, 2023. (Hannah Levin/The Media Line)

The program, which just concluded its 20th year, creates teams of Israeli and Palestinian children—Jews, Arabs, and others—from around Israel and the West Bank. The youth join each other through soccer in the hopes of creating connections.

“The challenge is to know how to make the children communicate even without a common language and teach them to love each other and help them bridge the gaps even though they are different people and come from different backgrounds,” Adam Pomerantz, the general manager of professional soccer content, told The Media Line.

Adam Pomerantz, general manager of professional soccer content, gathers the children before a game to go over rules and sportsmanship, in Abu Ghosh, Israel, June 19, 2023. (Hannah Levin/The Media Line)

The school system in Israel is separated between Arab- and Hebrew-speaking schools, which leads to large degrees of separation between the youth. Hadas Prawer, the program’s project manager, explained to The Media Line that Sporting in the Service of Peace provides the opportunity for connection that the formal education system lacks.

“People live near each other and grow up separately. The education system is segregated, most of the sports clubs are segregated, so we try to bring them together to get to know the other side,” Prawer said. “We believe that once you meet, the stereotypes and beliefs will fall apart, and you’ll have new perspectives.”

A 2018 study by the Jewish-Arab nongovernmental organization Sikkuy found that only 8.6% of Israeli Jews say they know Arabic, and a 2020 study by Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reported that 47% of Arab Israeli respondents said they spoke between “medium” and “almost zero” Hebrew.

Fatme Hamudi, a professional soccer player who works as a language trainer for the program, told The Media Line that language is the key to connection. “If Jews don’t speak Arabic and Arabs don’t speak Hebrew, there is no opportunity for dialogue and communication, and it is impossible for them to connect with each other,” she said.

Professional soccer player and language trainer Fatme Hamudi, Abu Ghosh, Israel, June 19, 2023. (Hannah Levin/The Media Line)

This year is significant as it marks the first year since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic that the Palestinian children were able to reenter Israel and continue their involvement in the program. Due to coronavirus restrictions, passage between Israel and the West Bank was restricted, and the organization had to turn to online programming.

“Being able to bring them back into Israel and play together is very special for us,” Prawer said. “We understand the importance of working within Israel and the mixed [Israeli Arab and Jewish] cities, but we also really enjoy and see what matters about working with the West Bank and with the Palestinian community.”

There are wonderful coaches and students and educators and community leaders across this region that want to give children the opportunity to learn how to mitigate conflict rather than create conflict.

In 2023 alone, at least 170 Palestinians and 25 Israelis have lost their lives due to the conflict. Peres Center Deputy Director General Yarden Leal-Yablonka acknowledged the ever-present tension that exists in the region and described the program’s success in bringing together the communities that are often at odds with one another.

Program participants smile with one of the volunteers at the end-of-year celebration of the Sporting in the Service of Peace program, in Abu Ghosh, Israel, June 19, 2023. (Hannah Levin/The Media Line)

“We’re used to hearing that it is difficult or impossible to bring together Israelis and Palestinians or Jews and Arabs for years and years, and especially during times of heightened tension,” she told The Media Line. “There are wonderful coaches and students and educators and community leaders across this region that want to give children the opportunity to learn how to mitigate conflict rather than create conflict.”

Hannah Levin is a student at Northwestern University and an intern in The Media Line’s Press and Policy Student Program.