A coexistence project bringing together Palestinian and Israeli children on the soccer field has ruffled some feathers in the Palestinian street.
The Peres Center for Peace, an Israeli institute promoting cooperation in the Middle East, recently initiated a joint Palestinian-Israeli soccer team, called the Peace Team. The aim of the team is to bring together children aged 10-13 in sports tournaments, children who under ordinary circumstances would never meet their peers from “the other side.” The team recently played in France at a game attended by the Israeli and Palestinian official representatives there.
However, the project has generated some resentment from Palestinians in the sports business. According to the Palestinian daily Al-Ayyam, Palestinian officials in this field have criticized the initiative, on the grounds that it is taking place at an inappropriate time. Israel is continuing hostilities in Palestinian territories, they say, citing the construction of the separation barrier and the increasingly growing number of victims on the Palestinian side.
Officials from the Palestinian Soccer Union have threatened to strike off their registers anyone who backs such initiatives, and have openly criticized anyone linked to the get-togethers.
A representative of the Palestinian Youth and Sports Ministry requested that Palestinian Authority Chairman Yassir Arafat and the Palestinian leadership should put a stop to these “unjustified normalization ties.” He urged the Peres Center to insist that the Israeli government is receptive to peace initiatives.