At last, Palestinians now have a new way to express their national pride - through soccer.
The Palestinian team has existed for a decade, but until today the Palestinian squad played its "home games" in Arab countries, including Jordan and Qatar, although Palestine has been a FIFA member since 1998. The reason is simple: for years it has been denied a home ground and it was forced to train and play overseas due to Israeli occupation. Today is no different with Israel still occupying the Palestinian territories, however, as a form of resistance, Palestine’s football team decided to makes history with its first ever international game at home. Palestine - taking on Jordan in their first home game - will be the only team now with a ground, but without a country.
The Palestinian national football team prays before the start of a friendly football match against Jordan at the newly established stadium in the West Bank town of al-Ram, on the outskirts of Jerusalem on October 26, 2008. FIFA President Sepp Blatter was in the West Bank to attend the first Palestinian national soccer team match played on home soil. Palestine has been affiliated to FIFA since 1998 even though still under Israeli occupation.
But that's not the end of the dream. Although thousands watched the friendly game against Jordan, and the crowd roared as the Palestinians scored several minutes after kickoff (match result at bottom), however problems are still haunting sports in Palestine.
Professional players are not the only problem the team is facing (except for Robert Bishara, who plays for Palestine in Chile), Israel and occupation remains a nightmare. While they say that sport unites people, Israel has chosen to separate them. The Palestinian team includes players from Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, however, several players are unable to join team mates for training, let alone matches, because they are barred from traveling freely between Gaza and the West Bank by Israel. In fact for today's match the team's captain, Saeb Jundiyeh, was not allowed to travel to the West Bank and was forced to miss a historical moment. Another example is the World Cup, where the Palestine team could not travel to play for qualification matches in Singapore because many of its players and officials were banned from traveling by Israel.
Not to forget another powerful symbol of the ongoing problems the team faces traveling to games is the new stadium itself, which is only yards from a stretch of Israel's apartheid wall. The new stadium is at al-Ram near occupied Jerusalem.
Anyway, this is a historical day and we should build upon it. As Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said, we urge more foreign teams to play in the occupied Palestinian territories. "This is a sign of solidarity, it's a message of solidarity with the Palestinian people during a time of hardship.â€
Match result: 1 Palestine - 1 Jordan
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