Issam Khalidi
Behind every Palestinian there is a great general fact: that
he once - and not so long ago - lived in a land his own called Palestine, which
no longer his homeland.
Edward Said.[1]
Throughout decades sports reflected the
Palestinian reality; it portrayed this reality with all its details throughout
different historical stages. By 1948, there were some 65 athletic clubs in
Palestine; approximately 55 of them were members of the Arab Palestine Sports
Federation (APSF). These clubs had a tremendous impact on the lives of Palestinian
young people (members were mostly, but not exclusively, male), shaping their
character and preparing them for social and political involvement.[2].
The dispersion of the Palestinians was not
a fact of nature but a result of specific force and strategies. [3]
"Other dispossessed people in history cannot be compared, except in a few
obvious ways, with the twentieth-century Palestinians. This is not a matter of who suffered more,
or who lost more; such comparisons are fundamentally indecent. What I mean is
that no people - for bad or for good - is so freighted with multiple, and yet
unreachable or indigestible, significance as the Palestinians," wrote Edward
Said.[4]
Nakba (or catastrophe
of 1948) is the Arabic word for the displacement and dispossession of the
Palestinian people immediately before, during, and after the founding of the
State of Israel. The case of Palestine
stands out as one of the more extreme cases of displacement, one in which the
fleeing of the indigenous population was not incidental, but was necessary for
the creation of a Jewish state in historic Palestine.[5] In human
terms, the year 1948 saw the mass deportation of a million Palestinians from
their cities and villages, massacres of civilians, and the razing to the ground
of hundreds of Palestinian villages. In the first decade after the Nakba, political
impotence and the failure to construct meaningful public institutions fueled
the disorientation and petty bickering rife among the Palestinians. But
ground-level activities (charitable,
professional, and cultural) quietly continued. While they did not carry
explicit Palestinian messages or symbols, organizations such as the Jaffa
Muslim Sports Club and the Haifa Cultural Association (in Nablus) had an
exclusively Palestinian membership; they helped both to keep alive the memory
of now inaccessible places and to create new bases of association among West
Bankers in their changed circumstances--often, ironically, with the support of
funds from the government in Amman.[6]
"In the misery of
the camps - in the permanence of temporariness - refugees developed a powerful
new nationalism. Its fuel was longing and injustice, humiliation and
degradation - bitterness and hatred toward Jews, the West, other Arabs, and the
cosmic order itself. At its heart was a vision of returning to a Lost Garden.
The right to do so was perceived as self-evident and a condition for rebuilding
the cosmic order destroyed in al-Nakba," wrote Kimmerling and Migdal
.[7]
With 1948, in the words of Fawas Turki,
"The nation of Palestine ceased to be. Its original in inhabitants, the
Palestinian people, were dubbed Arab refugees, sent regular food rations by the
UN, and forgotten by the world." [8]
The Nakba was almost a fatal blow
for the Palestinian sports. The sports infrastructure was destroyed including
Palestine Sports Federation PSF, schools, scouts, playing grounds, sports
media, etc. Most of the documents in the clubs were confiscated, and many club
buildings fell under the Absentee Property Law. This law is one of the most striking,
as it declares that those who left the country during the fighting of 1948 no
longer have rights to their property if they departed for an “enemy country,”
and that those internally displaced are considered “present absentees;” still
without access to their land and property.
[9]
In the Shitat
(Diaspora), Palestinians carried with them their athletic skills. They
practiced football in the narrow alleys of the refugee camps. Despite their
sufferings, Palestinians found in sports a breather in the refugee camps. It
became a subject of childhood and homeland memories; a means for self-assertion
and existence; a good medium for the recognition of Palestinian rights, and a
way for maintaining national identity. Even then, Palestinians
faced extraordinary hurdles in fashioning their national story -- the narrative
that would connect individual Palestinians to one another in their minds. Many
of these hurdles, of course, were associated with the lack of a state
framework, the statelessness that became their distinctive mark. [10]
Since the early 1960s, then, Palestinians encountered the triple problem
raised by their dispersion: their aspiration to self-determination, absence of
a secure and possible territorial base, and the need to set up a Palestinian
authority which if possible would not get involved in struggles with the local
authority. [11]Despite
the conditions in which Palestinians were living after the Nakba, many
social-athletic clubs were established.
Many of them were in the refugee camps, and these clubs were named after
the cities and villages which were abandoned during the Nakba, or named
after the areas that had been settled.
Establishing new social-athletic clubs helped to promote the growth of
sports. Therefore, the growth of sports increased proportionally with the
increase in the number of clubs. In
addition, the conditions caused by the Nakba also served to cause an
increase in the number of clubs, as people searched for new ways to entertain
themselves in the refugee camps. The
true beginning of the phenomenon of establishing social-athletic clubs in Palestine
can be traced to the early twentieth century, specifically the 1920s. Since this time, sports - especially
football - had become a social tradition and a pivotal part of the Palestinian
culture. Many of these clubs were
established as socio-cultural clubs, where football was the main activity,
though amongst other activities. At the
same time, sports were inseparable from other activities such as national,
socio-cultural, and Scouts activities. Only a few clubs were established solely
as athletic, while the majority emerged as social and later adopted athletic
activities.
As it was mentioned in previous articles, many athletes
sacrificed their lives during the 1948 struggle to defend their homeland. Later, after the migration from the
Palestinian towns and villages, some of the Palestinian athletes stopped for a
while, particularly in the West Bank and Gaza Sector, and then migrated to the
neighboring countries. Jabra al Zaqa and
George Mardini left to Syria. Abed Al
Rahman al-Habab, Ibrahim Nuseibeh and Roushdi Abu Ghazaleh left for
Jordan. Zarqa, who played with the club
Shabab al-Arab in Haifa, left for Jordan and played for the Ahli Club in Amman.
Later he would move to Syria and play for the Syrian Police team. While there, he made an excellent addition to
this team, which stayed in the forefront for a few years.
In April 1950, West
Bank (including East Jerusalem) was annexed with Jordan. Wasef Daher, a sport
editor in Al-Quds newspaper, describes the paralyzed sports conditions
in Jerusalem after 1948:
Young people were longing for the sense of
normalcy that came with sports. There was rarely a football match or any other
sports activity. As people walked the streets of Jerusalem, they combed the
walls and municipal bulletin boards in order to find some mention of an
upcoming football match. The only
available playground was in Sheikh Jarrah, but it was in a state of
disrepair. Some of the local matches
were played there without even a goal net!
That was the sports situation in the early fifties, after which some of
the clubs in Palestine - which was under Jordanian rule - became part
of the Jordanian Football Federation.
These clubs lacked support and real leadership.[12]
Directly after the Nakba, many clubs were
established. In the Gaza Sector: Khadamat Rafah [Rafah Services], Nadi Khadamat
al-Maghazi in 1951, Shabab Rafah in 1953, Shabab Khan Younis in 1960, Khadamat
Khan Younis in 1965 [Khan Younis Services Club]. In Lebanon - Nadi Shabab
al-Arab in Bidawi Camp in 1951, Nadi al-Qarama in Tal-Azza’tar in 1953, Nadi
al-Hilwa in Ein al-Hilwa Camp and Nadi Filastin in Dhibia Camp in 1958. In
Jordan - Nadi al-Wihdat - in 1956 (in al-Wihdat Camp near Amman). In Jerusalem,
the Arab Sports Club (established 1928) and the Nahda Club (established 1932)
merged in 1955 to form the well-known club Nadi al-Muwathafin [employees club].
In al-Bireh (near Ramallah) Shabab al-Bireh - in 1964. Orthodox Beit Sahour
(near Bethlehem) - in 1965. In Nablus, Nadi Shabab Balata - in 1950; Nadi Hittin
and Eibal Sports Club - in 1959. The clubs in the camps were a reflection of
the continuity of life under new conditions.
The UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) made
quite a large contribution in establishing and spreading social service centers
where sport was a main part of their activities. United Nations Relief and
Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is a relief and
human development agency, providing education, health care, social services and
emergency aid to 5 million Palestine refugees living
in
Jordan,
Lebanon and Syria as well as in the West Bank and the Gaza
Strip. The day-to-day workings of Palestinian life in exile,
unlike that inside Israel, have obviously been distributed unevenly between the
host country, the international apparatus for dealing with refugee operations,
and the Palestinians themselves. [13]International
agencies like UNRWA had been set up to help with the specific problem of Palestinian
refugees in their main places of exile, although the main goal has always been
survival for Palestinians just short of political independence; UNRWA policy
has been in harmony with the annual UN General Assembly resolution calling upon
Israel to take back the refugees, but the call has been issued on more or less
neutral humanitarian grounds, again just short of acknowledgement that the
Palestinians and the Israelis are opposed to each other on national, political
grounds.[14] It
is probably true that those Palestinians who worked in UNRWA were important to
the shift that took place in Lebanon and Jordan, countries with the heaviest
concentration of refugee camps. In both countries, Palestinians gradually
assumed responsibility for social services, a transition that was formally
completed (even though UNRWA continues its work) on a political level with the
rise of PLO, a programmatically national organization that took on
quassi-governmental supervision of Palestinians both inside and outside the
camps.[15]
The camps [in Jordan] created a new Jordanian
underclass, only marginally integrated into the national economy at the end of
the 1940s.[16] After
1948, the Jordanian regime began to treat the Palestinians as but one more
group or tribe that would contribute to the process of the Jordanization of the
country.[17]
In
any event, after al-Nakba, he [King Abdallah] declared Jordan the only
legitimate inheritor of Arab Palestine (a policy that the state more or less
maintained until 1988). Abdallah's regime banned the use of the word Palestine
- substituting the tem West Bank in most cases. (There is thus an odd irony to
the present Palestinian insistence on use of this term to confirm national
identity, fighting of the Israeli effort to substitute the biblical "Judea
and Samaria.") Even if Abdallah was not thinking in terms of complete
assimilation - a loss of Palestinian self-definition - at the very least he believed
that bringing the West Bank and its population under his control would not
shake the foundations of his dynasty and his state, its social and political
balance. [18]
Sport
is a tool for building national consciousness. Certainly, national sentiments
are the main factor in stimulating athletic growth. Jordinization, which was
based on the elimination of Palestinian nationalism had negative effects on
sports. The level of sports in the West Bank lagged behind the East Bank. While
on contrary, Sector Gaza witnessed noticeable growth in sports. The Egyptian
administration had no intention to obliterate Palestinian identity. It helped in maintaining the Palestinian
identity which at the end had positive impacts on sports growth. The Jordanian
effort to eliminate Palestinian nationalism played a part in the process, the
effort also ran up against formidable obstacles: A tiny state, scarcely a
society, was attempting to impose itself on a larger, more educated, and urbane
community. From the day of annexation, Palestinians outnumbered the original
Jordanians two to one. [19]
At
times, the refugees even managed to establish public institutions and symbols
to express the reformulation of their identity. Their al-Wahda [Wihdat] soccer
team, for instance, won the Jordanian championship, as well as the avid support
of Palestinians throughout Jordan. Even Arabs in Israel became fans when it
beat the Ramtha team, symbolizing the East Bank and loyalty to the kingdom.
Having a good understanding of the team's significance, the Jordanians
reorganized and renamed it, adding non-Palestinian players to its roster.[20]
Many players, who were members of the
Palestinian teams and clubs prior to 1948, became active members of Jordanian
Clubs. At the same time, Jordan Football Association JFA included Palestinians
officials from different cities in the West Bank such as Jerusalem, Nablus, and
others. The secretary of the Palestine Sports Association Abdel Rahman
al-Habbab became the President of the Jordan Football Association in 1956. Few clubs in the West Bank joined the Jordanian
Football Association which was established in 1948. Prior to JFA establishment,
four championships were held in 1944, 1945, 1946 and 1947. The
population of Jordan consisted of 60% Palestinian and 40% Jordanians while the
championships won only by Jordanian teams.[21]
YMCA
In 1950, when some tools were offered to them by the World Alliance of
YMCAs, the team soon found some men among the refugees who had skills and were
eager to use them. Thus began a small vocational school project in carpentry
and wrought-iron work. This project, which started so simply in a tent, became
the East Jerusalem YMCA Vocational Training Center in Jericho.[22]
In 1950 the YMCA began to provide services to the community in Jerusalem, in a small building that today houses the British Council. The building included a guest house, an evening school to teach languages and accounting, and a game room. In the backyard of the building, Issa al-Tams offered training in weightlifting and body-building, and Nadi Khoury coached gymnastics, basketball, and tennis at the St. George’s School sports field across the street.[23]
In 1965, the new YMCA facilities at 29 Nablus Road were built. The building consisted of a hotel, an auditorium, and the physical department, which housed the first indoor swimming pool and the first squash court in Palestine, as well as an indoor volleyball court, a basketball half-court, a weight room, and a youth lobby for table tennis and indoor games. The outdoor playgrounds at St. George’s School were the foundation of a professional sports infrastructure for the Palestinian community. [24] In 1966 Prince Ra’ed Ben Zeid opened the East Jerusalem-YMCA sports facilities, and in 1966 and 1967, the YMCA organized and hosted the basketball championship games for the Jordanian teams.
In 1950 the YMCA began to provide services to the community in Jerusalem, in a small building that today houses the British Council. The building included a guest house, an evening school to teach languages and accounting, and a game room. In the backyard of the building, Issa al-Tams offered training in weightlifting and body-building, and Nadi Khoury coached gymnastics, basketball, and tennis at the St. George’s School sports field across the street.[23]
In 1965, the new YMCA facilities at 29 Nablus Road were built. The building consisted of a hotel, an auditorium, and the physical department, which housed the first indoor swimming pool and the first squash court in Palestine, as well as an indoor volleyball court, a basketball half-court, a weight room, and a youth lobby for table tennis and indoor games. The outdoor playgrounds at St. George’s School were the foundation of a professional sports infrastructure for the Palestinian community. [24] In 1966 Prince Ra’ed Ben Zeid opened the East Jerusalem-YMCA sports facilities, and in 1966 and 1967, the YMCA organized and hosted the basketball championship games for the Jordanian teams.
It was not until
the mid-1960 that the rebirth of Palestinian nationalism would put the
Palestinians back on the political map of the Middle East. By this time, a new
middle class leadership had emerged at the head of effectively organized
political structures like Fatah and the Movement of Arab Nationalism, eclipsing
the traditional leaders who had failed during the mandate period. [25]
Gaza Sector
Despite the fact that it held become a center
of new Palestinian institution building as a result of Egyptian repression. Its
contribution lay rather in the realm of consciousness and identity. The
character of the society that developed there was unique, weaving memories and
culture from pre-war Palestine with the poverty-stricken, harrowing life in the
camps. Compared to other Arab
countries, Egypt had the prominent athletic prestige. Being currently under this administration
since the early 1950s, the Gaza Sector witnessed a rapid growth in sports. The
Egyptian administration established the “Regional Committee for Youth Care,”
which was headed by the General Governor, and included 25 members, most of whom
were sports leaders. The Supreme Committee of Youth in Cairo supported this
regional committee financially and technically. Several other committees
emerged from the regional committee such as national education and sports
committees. Through these committees, the regional committee organized and supervised
the sports movement, which included fifteen other departments, such as the
Social Services Centers and Youth Care in Gaza, Deir al-Balah, Khan Yunis,
Rafah, YMCA in Gaza, and the al-Awda Club for Arab employees in the UN. Palestinian sport found its way during that
period; the Egyptian authorities provided sufficient support to
Palestinian sports. This support was
shown in Egypt’s assistance in training and preparing qualified coaches, as
well as the exchange of athletic delegations.
Proudly, the Palestinians in the Gaza Sector could represent Palestine
in the international arena. There can be
no doubt that Egypt offered its full support to the Palestinians in order to
achieve this goal. During that time, Palestine participated in the Pan Arab
tournament in Alexandria in 1953, where it won third place. The tournament was attended by the Egyptian
President at that time, Jamal Abdul Naser.
The majority of the players on the team were from Gaza Sector. In 1965 a football team from Gaza and Diaspora
(Syria, Egypt, and Lebanon) participated in the fourth Arab Cup, playing Libya
(0-0), North Yemen (0-7), and Syria (1-3). Palestine also participated in the
2nd Pan Arab Games in Syria, as well as the 3rd in 1956 in Lebanon. In addition, in 1965 it participated in the
4th Pan Arab Games in Cairo. At those
games, the Palestinian football team defeated Egypt (1-2), tied with Iraq
(1-1), won against Yemen (1-0), beat Lebanon (1-0), defeated Sudan (2-1), as
well as Libya (4-2). The goalkeeper was
Marwan Kanafan, while Faek Hinnawi from Gaza was the substitute goalkeeper. The
team also included Ismael al-Masri, Muammar Bsiso, Omar Sheikh Taha, Foad Abu
Ghida, Husam Assamarai, Nabil Shami, Feisal Bibi, Ibrahim al-Mughrabi, Khalil
Istanbuli, Fathi Yusif, Abdul- Qadir Shu’eb, Muhammed al-Sheikh, Khader Qadada,
Ali Abu Hamda, and Munther al-Mazina. The team was led by Zaki Khayyal, Subhi
Farah and Elias Manneh. Palestine also participated in the Arab Cup Championship
in Iraq in 1966. The Palestinian team
tied with Iraq (0-0) and defeated Yemen and Syria. Palestine left the competition in 4th
place. Most of the players were from the
Gaza Sector, except Ahmad Amura from Syria and Ali Ajloni from Lebanon.
The Palestinian
basketball team competed in several tournaments such as The African Tournament in Casablanca in 1963
where Palestine got the third place among 52 countries; Arab Tournament in Tripoli in Libya in 1963
– the fourth place; Fourth Pan Arab Games in Egypt in 1964. Also, few
weightlifter took part in Pan Arab Games. A weightlifter appeared on the scene
such as Muhamad Abu Shahla who won the bronze medal at the third Pan Arab Games
in Morocco in 1961.
In 1966, Palestine participated in the GANEFO
(The Games of the New Emerging Forces) Games in Cambodia, playing against North
Yemen (4-0), North Korea (1-5), China (0-7), North Vietnam (0-7), and Cambodia
(0-4). [26]
The Egyptian administration also brought to
Palestine a Hungarian coach by the name of Sabo, who had previously been the
coach of the famous Hungarian player Ferenc Puskas. Sabo stayed in Gaza and trained for two
consecutive sessions. Furthermore,
competing with the Egyptian teams enabled the citizens of Gaza to improve their
skills and helped them to qualify for international competitions.[27]
It is also difficult to ignore the progressive role of the Egyptian
administration in promoting school education, to include extracurricular
activities and sports. Many of the physical education teachers were graduates
of Egyptian universities and institutes.
In Gaza
many games took place between the clubs in Gaza and the Egyptian teams, such as
the game between Shabab Gaza and the Egyptian Air Force in 1964 (0:1). In this game the Palestinian goal keeper Faek
al-Hinnawi did great, which made the Egyptian players become fascinated with
his performance. Another match was
between the selected team of Gaza Sector and the Egyptian Army. The Palestinian goalkeeper Faek Hinnawi (who
was the best goalkeeper at that time in Gaza Sector) could fend off a penalty.
One of the main
problems that the national football team faced at that time was the
coordination of the regions in the Diaspora and bringing the members together
from Gaza, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq and elsewhere. The Palestinian team,
which was mostly a combination of the teams from Gaza played against Egyptian
teams, such as the Selected Company team.
In addition, the Gaza Selected team played a few games with the Egyptian
military teams, such as the Army and Air Force.
Gaza’s team at that time included: Nadi Gaza al-Riyadi, Nadi Khadamat Rafah,
Nadi Khadamat Khan Yunis, YMCA, Nadi al-Qawmi, Ri’ayat Ashabab, and Al-Awda.[28]
Lebanon
Between 1948 - 1967, about ten clubs (in addition to two
football teams) had been established in the refugee camps in Lebanon. Among
these clubs were: Al-'Amalika (The Giants) was founded in 1966, Palestinian
Scouts - 1955, al-Karameh - 1953, Filastin - 1958, al-Ittihad - 1966, al-Wihdah
(near Saida) - 1956, Shabab al-Arab (Arab Youth)- 1951, Nadi Nojoom Filastin -
in early 1960's, Nadi Al-Ba'ath established by Ba'ath party in Burj al-Barajneh
refugee camp, the team of Al-Qastal - in 1955, and the team of Al-Cabri founded
in 1952. Many football players became
members in the Lebanese clubs. Some of these clubs were affiliated with
political factions such as the Arab Nationalist Movement and the Ba'ath party.
Few club leaders could not avoid being arrested by the Lebanese authorities for
their political orientation.
At that time, other sports such as wrestling started to the
light. As mentioned earlier A'maliqa (Giants) Club was established in 1966 by
the brothers Khalil and Atta Nabilsi. The two brothers worked hard to develop
this sport among the Palestinian community in Lebanon.
Palestine and FIFA
After 1948, the
Palestine Sports Federation PSF continued to exist after 1948.[29] Documents
which were found in FIFA’s archive show that even though the application of the
PSF was rejected before 1948, PSF decided to continue applying for the
affiliation in the FIFA. In March 1951
it sent a letter to the FIFA:
In 1946 and before the termination of the British Mandate
the Palestine Sports Federation applied, in a long memorandum, for registration
in your honourable Association. The
application was then refused on the ground that the rules of the International
Football Association do not sanction the registration of two institutions from
the same state or country, the Palestine Football Association (a Jewish
Sporting Institution) having obtained registration long before the submission
of our application. Towards the end of
1947, however, and after the authentication of the Partition Scheme by the
General Assembly of the United Nations, we were informed by the Lebanese
Football Association that your Committee had finally decided to allow the
registration of our Federation, but due to the state of chaos and turmoil
prevailing in Palestine at that time we could not make further approaches for
effecting registration after payment of the required fees. We hereby affirm our previous application for
the registration of our Federation in your Association and regard ourselves
automatically entitled to such registration.
We shall, therefore, be grateful if we shall be informed of the amount
of fees to be paid. Twenty-one clubs
have so far registered in our Federation and we have twelve playgrounds at our
disposal most of which are fenced and have international dimensions. The rules of our Federation of which you have
a copy still stand without alteration. Hoping to receive a favourable reply as soon as possible.[30]
No further
information about this application was mentioned; however, obviously FIFA
rejected the application.
In the 1950’s and
1960’s sports in Gaza reached a reasonable level. Therefore, in 1962, the
athletic leadership decided to form Al-Ittihad al-Riyadi al-Falastini li
Korat al-Qadam (The Palestine Sports Football Federation - PSFF). The
President was Subhi Farah, the vice president – Ishaq Nashashibi, Secretary
Elias Manneh, treasurer – Abdel Qader Judeh and Yihya Asharif – member. The
affiliation of PSFF with FIFA required that Palestine had to have at least five
federations affiliated with international federations. Boxing, track and field,
volley ball, Basketball, handball, weightlifting, wrestling, shooting, skating
and ice hockey. Some of these
federations have been accepted, while others have been rejected.
In August 1963 a
letter was signed by the secretary of the Arab PSFF Elias Manneh and sent to
the Secretary of FIFA:
May I submit the following for your kind consideration. A Football Federation has been established in
Palestine Gaza Strip in 1962 which was the outcome of a long and fruitful experience. The clubs affiliated to the Federation are 15
in number. The Football players actively
engaged who are above the age of 17 years are 1200 and those who are below that
age are 3000 approximately. So far three
other Federations in Palestine have been accepted in their respective
Federations, name Boxing, Weightlifting and Basketball. I enclose herewith a summary detailing the
information which clarifies our position.
We are ready to fulfill all obligations and we earnestly hope that our
application for affiliation to the F.I.F.A. will be kindly and justly accepted,
for which act of kindness I am to thank you in anticipation.
The Association was constituted from the clubs and sporting
bodies in Gaza Strip. The Board of Directors of the Association were: President
– Subhi Farah, Vice President – Ishaq Nashashibi, General Secretary – Elias
Manneh, Treasurer – Abdel Qader Judah, and Member – Yihya Sharif.
Later the PFA
received a letter from Dr. H. Kaser FIFA’s secretary to Elias Manneh:
With reference to our previous correspondence we should like
to ask you to let us have an up to date statistical information about football
in your area.[31]
Few days later, PFA sent a letter to FIFA, dated the 23rd
of November, 1964:
May I take this opportunity to referee to your letter in
which we have been informed that our request for affiliation of our Federation
to FIFA will be submitted to the Executive Committee at their meeting of
October 6th, 1964 in Tokyo.
Accordingly we have delegated three representatives to attend this
meeting in Tokyo. In spite of the high
expenses occurred for the travel of our representatives to Tokyo, they were
faced with the fact that our request for affiliation to FIFA was not enrolled
on the Agenda as advised in your above referenced letter. It would be highly appreciated if you would
kindly advise us of the reasons for which our request was omitted from the
Agenda although all our documents, statistics, information, etc. were supplied
to you long time ago and we believe that there are noexcuses to prevent
presenting our request in the meeting in Tokyo.”
In this letter the PFA made it clear to FIFA that:
At the termination
of the British Mandate, a Palestinian National Assembly met in September 1948
in the Gaza Strip and set up a Government of all Palestine, which has been
recognized by the League of Arab States, the regional organization in that area
comprising thirteen states, of which twelve are members of the U.N. Not only
does a legal Palestine Government exist, but it is recognized and participated
as a full-fledged member of the League of Arab States. Furthermore in Gaza Strip, which is a part of
the territory of Palestine, there exists an Arab Palestinian administration, a
constitutionally elected legislative Assembly and a national army. As a matter of fact although Gaza constitutes
only part of the Arab State of Palestine it has, nevertheless all the elements
of sovereignty. If the Palestine
Government has chosen not to apply for U. N. membership in protest against the
great injustice that has befallen it, this can never be considered as
invalidating the legal existence of Palestine.
The Palestinian Government however, has been represented continuously in
the U.N. whenever the Palestine issue came up for discussion. In bringing forward these facts to your kind
attention we hope that you would find that the admission of the Palestine
Football Federation to the F.I.F.A. is legal and that you will give our
application further consideration.
FIFA considered
that the status of the Gaza Sector was the main obstacle in the registration of
the PFA. On December 2nd 1964, a letter was
sent from FIFA to the United Nations, which had been forwarded by the European
Office of the United Nations in Geneva, informing the UN that the Palestine
Sports Football Federation, with Headquarters in Gaza, has requested
affiliation with FIFA, and inquired of the UN the legal status of Gaza:
The information which you note in the fourth paragraph of
your letter appears to be substantially correct. So far as the United Nations is concerned the
status of Gaza is governed by the Egyptian-Israeli General Armistice Agreement,
signed at Rhodes on 24 February 1949.
Under this General Armistice Agreement Gaza is a “territory under the
control” of Egypt (now the United Arab Republic). The Agreement specifically provides that it
is not intended to prejudice the rights, claims or interests of a non-military
character in the area of Palestine.
While Israel has
taken the position that the General Armistice Agreement with Egypt is no longer
in force, the United Arab Republic and the United Nations do not accept this
view. In any event, Gaza remains
“territory under the control” of the United Arab Republic and for which the UAR
is internationally responsible. If you
should wish for which the UAR is internationally responsible.
Later PFA received a letter from FIFA dated 24 December,
1964:
With reference to previous correspondence I would like to
inform you that one difficulty has arisen, that is to know the exact status of
your country. As soon as UNO [United
Nations Organization] answers our question we hope to be able to submit your
application to the competent committee but this will not be before the end of
February 1965. If you are able to let us
know your exact political status would you please be so kind as to write to us
again.
In this regard FIFA received a letter from UN on February 9th 1965:
I wish to refer to
your letter of 2 December 1964 which has been forwarding to me by the European
Office of the United Nations in Geneva. Your letter informs us that the
Palestine Sports Football Federation with headquarters in Gaza has requested
affiliation with your Association and you inquire concerning the status of
Gaza.
The information
which you note in the fourth paragraph of your letter appears to be
substantially correct. So far the United
Nations is concerned the status of Gaza is governed by Egyptian Israeli General
Armistice Agreement, signed at Rhodes on 24 February 1949. Under this General Armistice Agreement Gaza
is a “territory under control” of Egypt (now the United Arab Republic). The Agreement specifically provides that it
is not intended to prejudice the rights, claims or interests of a non-military
character in the area of Palestine.
While Israel has
taken the portion that the general Armistice Agreement with Egypt is no longer
in force, the United Arab Republic and the United Nations do not accept this
view. In any event Gaza remains
territory under the control of the United Arab Republic and for which UAR is
internationally responsible. If should
wish detailed information concerning the exercise of governmental territory within
the Gaza area, this could be obtained most authoritatively from the Government
of the United Arab Republic.
Unfortunately, on
the 28th of May, 1965, the PFA received a telegram from FIFA about
the rejection of its application:
We firmly object exepting [sic. accepting] a District called
Gaza as a member of FIFA. There is no
country called Palestine, therefore Gaza cannot be in Palestine. The exeptance [sic. acceptance] of a part of
a country as an independent member is contrary to the FIFA regulations.
Justifying the reasons behind this rejection FIFA sent a letter to PFA dated June 2nd 1965:
At its last
meeting, the Executive Committee of FIFA carefully examined your application
for provisional membership. We are sorry
to inform you that the Executive Committee did not feel itself in a position to
admit your Association to provisional membership because of the status of your
territory, which is a territory under control and not an independent nation,
colony, dominion or protectorate. The
conditions of Article 1, paragraph 3 of the FIFA statutes are not fulfilled.
Later, in a letter
to FIFA, Elias Manneh gave a brief historical explanation about the status of
Gaza, and refuted the claims that Gaza was a “territory under control” of
Egypt.14 FIFA responded that
it was not ignorant of the historical facts the PFA mentioned, but did not wish
to enter into arguments of a political nature.[32]
Conclusion
After 1948, the center of gravity of Palestine
sports movement moved from Jaffa to Gaza. Sports in Sector Gaza - which was
under the Egyptian administration - witnessed a noticeable growth. While sports
developments in the West Bank and the refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan were
slow and spontaneous. Palestinian sports had
the capacity to recover from difficulties, this resilience was due to the
previous experience and the severity of the dispersion and dispossession. The participation
of Palestine in the Pan Arab Games has raised the name of Palestine high and proved
that sports at that period played a pivotal role in maintaining
and demonstrating the Palestinian national identity.
This was also represented in Palestine Football Federation's bid to join the FIFA.
Endnotes:
[1]Edward Said, The Question of Palestine (New
York: Vintage Books, 1980), p. 119.
[2]Issam Khalidi, “Body and Ideology: Early
Athletics in Palestine: 1900-1948,” Jerusalem Quarterly 27 (2007):
44-58.
[3]Edward Said, The Question of Palestine.
[5]Hannah Mermelstein. Overdue Books: Returning
Palestine’s “Abandoned Property” of 1948. Jerusalem Quarterly 47, p. 46- 64.
Due
to Nakba, Palestinians were force to leave to Lebanon, Jordan, Syria, Gaza
Sector, West Bank and other Arab countries such as Egypt, Iraq and Gulf States..
[6] Baruch
Kimmerling, Joel Migdal, The Palestinian People, a history, (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 2003), p. 224-223.
[8] Fawas
Turki, The Disinherited: Journal of Palestine Exile. p 29. Quoted in Baruch
Kimmerling, Joel Migdal, The Palestinian People, a history, (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 2003), 215.
[9]Hannah
Mermelstein. Overdue Books: Returning Palestine’s “Abandoned Property.
[12]Wasef
Daher, Sports History in Palestine, This week in Palestine, August 9,
2010.
http://www.thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=2479&ed=154&edid=154
[16] Baruch
Kimmerling, Joel Migdal, The Palestinian People, a history, , p. 222.
[17] Baruch
Kimmerling, Joel Migdal, The Palestinian People, a history, , p.218
[18] Baruch
Kimmerling, Joel Migdal, The Palestinian People, a history, , p.219
[19] Baruch
Kimmerling, Joel Migdal, The Palestinian People, a history, (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 2003), p. 221
[20] Baruch
Kimmerling, Joel Migdal, The Palestinian People, a history, (Cambridge:
Harvard University Press, 2003), p.223-224.
[21]In 1948
championship was not held. In 1949 the Ahli Club became the champion. (1950 –
Ahli, 1951 –Ahli, 1952 – Faisali, 1954 – was not held, 1955 – Jazira, 1956 –
Jazira, 1957 and 1958 – was not held, 1959 – Faisal, 1960 – Faisali, 1961 –
Faisali, 1962 – Faisali, 1963 – Faisali, 1964 – Faisali, 1965 – Faisali, 1966 –
Faisali, 1967 – was not held).
[22]Michel
W. Asfour. From Humble Beginning
….The East Jerusalem YMCA. This Week in Palestine. June 2008.
http://thisweekinpalestine.com/details.php?id=2480&ed=154&edid=154
[25] Rashid Khalidi, Palestinian Identity: The
Construction of Modern National Consciousness (New York: Columbia
University Press, 1997), p.27 .
[26] The
games set up by Indonesia as a counter to the Olympic Games. Established for
the athletes of the so-called "emerging nations" (mainly newly
independent socialist states), GANEFO was the name given both to the games held
in Jakarta in 1963 and the 36-member sporting federation established the same
year. A second GANEFO scheduled for Cairo in 1967 was cancelled and GANEFO had
only one subsequent event, an "Asian GANEFO" held in Phnom Penh in
1966.
[27] An
interview with Ismail al-Masri a football player in the 1960s from Gaza.
[28]Sector
Gaza had its tournament: Nadi al-Qawmi 1954-1956, YMCA 1963-1964, Ri’ayat
Ashabab 1967.
[29]The Palestine Sports Federation was
located in the current Gaza Sports Club, in the top floor. It was separate
from the other sports federations.
[30] FIFA
Archive. This letter was sent by the
Football Committee which was affiliated to the PSA [al-Ittihad al-Riyadi
al-Falastini – LajnatKurat al-Qadam]. At
the same time a letter by Abdel Rahman al-Habbab the secretary of the PFA was
sent to the FIFA informing it that the functions and authorities of the General
Secretary have been transferred to Mr. Ahmad Z. Afifi, who was the duly
authorized person to represent, communicate and sign on behalf of the
Federation.
[31]FIFA
Archive, November 13 1964.
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