Issam
Khalidi
School
sport played a pivotal role in the Palestinian sports movement throughout its
history. It was at the core of this movement from the very beginning. As
schools in Palestine existed before clubs, sports activities were generally
practiced in schools before clubs were established. Schools formed their
own football teams and competed against one another. They met with teams from
social-athletic clubs and the British military. At the same time school
graduates formed their own teams and clubs that competed with Palestinian clubs
in sporting activities. Annual field day has been held by all public and
private schools in Palestine since the early 1920s. School physical activities
and competitions strengthened the bonds between Palestinians in different
villages and cities.
However, pupils’
physical development was not significantly affected by schools' sports
programs. Public education presented many obstacles to school sports in
Palestine. As part of British policy in Palestine, school sports weren't
designed to help younger generations develop their physical abilities and
skills. Furthermore, they sought to erase their national spirit as
Palestinians. Despite the colonial administration’s
repeated attempts to stifle nationalism in schools by a variety of means,
students and teachers played significant roles as both participants and leaders
of the Arab Revolt. For, by the 1930s, many Palestinians had come to feel that
what the Mandate government sought was to create a minimally educated
generation that would acquiesce to British rule and its support of Zionism. [1]
Palestinian educators had to function in an
environment in which they lacked any autonomy over their own education, while
at the same time they perceived the advancements being made by the Zionist
movement toward the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine as a real threat
to Palestinian Arab national aspirations, identity, and unity. According to
Tibawi (1956), Dr. Khalil Totah, a Palestinian educator during the British
Mandatory period, stated:
“The major grievances of the Arabs as regards
education is that they have no control over it.” He explained that because of
this lack of control education was not national enough in policy, personnel,
curricula and general tone. “It would seem that Arab [Palestinian] education,”
he said, “is either designed to reconcile the Arabs to this policy (of
establishing a Jewish national home) or to make that education so colourless as
to make it harmless and not endanger the carrying out of that policy." [2]
The education ethic among Palestinian Arabs is
very strong, and as a result on a per capita basis Palestinian Arabs have a
tradition of literacy and scholastic attainment at all levels. In 1914 there
were 379 private Muslim schools, 95 elementary schools and three secondary
schools in Palestine. [3]
In 1947-48 there were 868 schools for Arab students in Palestine: 555 Arab
schools, 131 Muslim Arab private non-governmental schools and 182 Christian
private non-governmental schools. There was a total of 146,883 Arab students
and 4,600 Arab teachers. [4]
The
private schools in Palestine reflected the flavor of international interest in
the Holy Land. A Christian Orthodox Girls' School in Beit Jala, near Bethlehem,
was founded in 1858 by a Russian benefactress. Jerusalem's De La Salle College
(Frères) was founded in 1875, followed by Bishop St. George British Anglican
School for Boys in 1899, the Friends School in Ramallah in 1890, and the
Salesians in Bethlehem in 1891. Physical activity was promoted in these
missionary schools. [5] As a matter of fact, most missionary schools
paid special attention to physical education and made it an integral part of
their curriculum. As a result, new types of sports were introduced in Palestine
and the region that were not known before. It was part of the modernity that
invaded Palestine during this period.
The first football team in
Palestine was formed at Bishop St. George's in Jerusalem in 1908. It defeated
American University of Beirut, which was considered to be one of the strongest
teams in the region, in their home stadium in 1909. It included Izzat Tannous,
who later became a member of the Arab Higher Committee. In the same period, Rawdat
Al Maaref College of Knowledge (established in 1906) formed a football
team. [6]
As early as 1909, Khalil Al-Sakakini
established the Constitutional School Al-Madrasa Adusturiyah in
Jerusalem. His education method eliminated grades, prohibited punishments, and
emphasized music and sports. It is primarily because he believed sports and
physical exercise are important for the mind and body. He practiced them daily
and incorporated them into his lifestyle. As Sakakini pointed out, Al-Madrasa
Al-Dustouriya emphasized sports and military movements. In order to accomplish this,
he assigned an officer to the task. [7]
Sports in Arab schools lagged behind those
in Jewish schools. It is well known that Jews came to Palestine from advanced
industrial societies. They brought with them physical culture, sports, and sports
planning and administrative culture. The disparity in education in particular,
and in human capital in general, was not simply a function of the fact that as
time went on, immigration during the Mandate had the effect of swelling the Yishuv
with a growing literate population. Beyond this, a high proportion of these
newcomers were young and active, with a generally high level of education, and
a relatively high and widespread level of technical aptitude. [8]
All the gauges of the economic, social, and political advancement of the Yishuv
– the massive import of capital, the inflow of highly skilled human capital,
the community’s predominantly urban nature, its high degree of ideological
homogeneity, its unique social makeup and governing structures – when taken
together, indicate its capacity for generating considerable state power. [9]
There was a total dependence on the mandatory
government as the authority and the provider of services in the country. Thus,
whereas the Jews had already established independent education and health
systems, the Palestinians continued to depend on the government’s respective
departments. These departments were staffed by colonial officials whose career
in the past had taken them to India, Egypt and Africa, and who treated the
‘native population’ with typical British paternalism. The policy of the
Education Department is particularly illuminating as it shows a clear British
intent not to go beyond providing an elementary school system in Palestine. [10]
It was a manifestation of Palestinian
dissatisfaction and injustices that have accumulated in recent years. Indeed,
the Arab Revolt (known in Arabic as al-thawra al-kubra, or the Great
Revolt) was the manifestation of escalating nationalist grievances,
foremost among them the unprecedented rates of Jewish immigration --doubling
the Jewish population from 185,000 in 1932
to 375,000 in 1935 - and ever-increasing land purchases, which the British
continued to facilitate and encourage throughout the 1930s. [11]
Physical Education in the Curricula
It is stated in the Palestinian Encyclopedia
that physical education classes were included in the general curriculum of
Palestinian schools. Although there were fourteen Arabic classes in first grade
and eleven classes in second grade, physical education classes were not included
in the general curriculum. There were three physical education hours in third
grade, which was approximately 8.57 percent of the total number of classes in
this grade level. From the fourth through the eleventh grade, there was only
one physical education class offered. Physical education classes were not
offered in the 12th and 13th grades of the school. [12]
Clearly, this program was not based on educational principles. It was very evident in the outdated
educational system that there was a misunderstanding of the importance of this subject. There is no clear indication in this program that physical education was
a priority. First and second grade students did not have physical education classes in
primary school, while third graders had three classes. Apparently, the students
in the first and second grades did not need physical education, while students in the third grade did. Physical education from fourth to tenth grade was not sufficient to meet the demands
of the students' physical growth. An antiquated traditional system
influenced this program.
In addition to teaching
physical education and overseeing sports activities, sports teachers also
taught other subjects. The reason for this is that each school doesn't have
enough sports classes to cover teachers’ work hours. Each grade had one
physical education class per week. Teachers of physical education included
Ibrahim Murad, Jamil Al-Qaddoumi, and Rashad Arafa from Jaffa, Ibrahim Salim
Nusseibeh from Jerusalem, and Mahmoud Al-Khawaja from Nablus. Physical
education and sports in Palestine's schools were supervised by Robert
Kaflaktni, who also taught at the Arab College of Jerusalem. It was this
college (now known as Dar
Al-Muallimeen Teachers College) that graduated Palestine's
teachers. Fakhri al-Khatib was in charge of sports at this college. [13]
There were some schools that excelled in
sports, such as Rawdat al-Ma’aref the Garden of Knowledge in Jerusalem and Kulliyyat
Athaqafa the College of Culture in Jaffa, where a strong football team won
several matches and did well, as well as a strong table tennis team. Besides sports and Swedish exercises, the college held annual sports festivals, where
everyone saw the splendor and order. Hussein Husni, a well-known sports coach,
supervised the college's sports affairs.[14]
Hussein
Husni is a graduate of one of Egypt's institutes of physical education. In
Jerusalem, he worked as a teacher at Rawdat Al-Maaref College. He was
appointed to observe physical education in the schools of Alawqaf al Islamiyyah Islamic Endowments.
Additionally, he was appointed as a supervisor for the Egyptian Scout
Association teams in Palestine. In the sports media, he was highly regarded for
his articles that stimulated public interest in sports. Furthermore, he
supported the (Arab) Palestine Sports Federation and the Palestinian sports
movement in general. His whereabouts were unknown after 1948.
Husni also criticized the status of sports in schools:
“Our schools, both public and private, don't pay enough
attention to this crucial component of physical education. The impact on young
people is profound. However, they're more interested in geography, languages,
and math.”[15]
Few physical education courses were offered by the Department of Education. Al-Jamia’a al-Islamiyya Islamic League reported in a news article titled (Physical Sports and Government School Teachers):
"Today is the first day of primary training for the schools of
the government of Palestine. The training was attended by 28 teachers from
Palestine and East Jordan. His Excellency the Director of the Department of
Education, Mr. Bowman, inaugurated this course.”[16]
Husni wrote in Filastin that there were 85,000 students in the Department of Education in
Palestine, and there was only one specialized professor (Mr. Hussein Husni).
Scholarships for this subject weren't considered.
In this highly politicized context, nationalists also became increasingly frustrated with the colonial education system, which gave Palestinians very limited access to education, enforced a Eurocentric history curriculum, and reserved upper-echelon positions from British citizens appointed by the high commissioner so as to ensure their control of the Education Department. [18] The British appointed Humphrey Bowman Director of Palestine's Education Department. Additionally, he was in charge of the Mandate administration's sports program. Furthermore, he was the board chairman for the Jerusalem YMCA.
“Nationalists from the
Department of Education submitted opinions and suggestions about advancing
sports. They didn't get a response, though, because supervisors played into
colonial politics. This deprived us of growth and advancement in this vital
field, and misled the minds, deceiving the simple people into thinking science
stuffs information into people's brains and stuffs scientific theories into
their minds. If this policy was right in the past, it's no longer acceptable
even in the minds of young people .......
We hope the Department of Education and Sports Affairs will have a national
sports curriculum and that the students will direct the righteous direction
without turning around. So will you do what you promised in this area," wrote Husni. [19]
There was a tendency to promote school sports
after many education employees noticed this shortcoming on the part of
administrators in the Education Department. Many of these criticisms were
reported in Filastin. Some of them were by Hussein Husni who stated that
he and his colleague (teachers of physical education) realized how important
sport is to preparing young people to defend their country. “It's important to
remember that history tells us to mobilize an army of educated, healthy people,
so we can fight off the usurpers and defend our country.” [20]
School sports days (Field Day) started in
1922 and were held by each school individually or by a group of schools within
the region or most of the schools in Palestine from different provinces. On
July 2, 1947, in Jerusalem, the sports parade of the Amiriyya (public) school
teams in the Palestinian provinces ended with distinction at Al-Rashidiya
School in Jerusalem and Al-Ameriya Secondary School in Jaffa. These sports days
were attended by the city's notables. They were hosted by the High
Commissioner, the district governor, the education director, the mayor, or the
consuls. There used to be army or Scout music there, like at the Dar
al-Aitam al-Islamiyya Islamic Orphanage. During the sports days, there were
processions, physical exercises, sports games, cups, decorations, prizes, and
donations from celebrities. Games and exercises included 100m, 200m, 400m, 800m
races, long jump, discus throw, tug-of-war, and potato-carrying, bun-biting,
leg-binding, bag-walking, etc. [21]
In
each district, Field Day was held once a year. It was held in the biggest city
in the province. This day was preceded by qualifiers between the cities of the
district, so the champions of each game in each city got to play with his
fellow champions in the distict's sports hall. You can also find qualifiers in
the villages around the city, and the winners of each game get to play in the district's
finals. A Swedish exercise show was part of the sports day. There was also high
jump, broad jump, 100-meter run, 200-meter run, 400-meter run, one-mile run,
and relay races. Jerusalem hosted Palestine field day every year. Attendees
included senior officials from the Jerusalem Department of Education, district education
inspectors, and general secretaries. Each game has a champion from each
district. [22]
Private
missionary schools, according to Abu al-Jabeen, had a clear interest in
physical education, as some hired qualified teachers from outside and inside
the country to oversee sports activities. Hussein Husni, who specializes in
physical education, was brought to Kulliyyat Athaqafa College of Culture
in Jaffa from Egypt. In Nablus, the College of An-Najah brought two sports
teachers from Lebanon, Munir Naga and Abdel-Wadoud Ramadan, who was one of the
country's sports champions. For instance, Mounir Naja introduced the sport of
pole vaulting to Al-Najah College by training its students and refining their
athletic abilities. At the Kulliyyat Athaqafa, Hussein Husni introduced
the game of frisbee. The presence of these trainers and the
desire to show the activity of its students prompted each college to organize a
sports day. Students’ parents, Palestinian dignitaries, and Arab consuls in
Palestine were included. In that day's competitions, several sports were
played. There were a number of Swedish sports exercises presented by the
college team, as well as games such as pyramids and others. In addition, since
the emergence of the Arab and Rashidia colleges, there has been an annual
football tournament in which teams from secondary schools in Jerusalem
participate, including missionary and civil schools. Moreover, since the end of
the Mandate, sports field days have been organized at most missionary schools.[23]
Several bodies, such as
municipalities, social organizations, and dignitaries, helped make these field days a success. According to Filastin,
Ali Al-Mustaqim, acting head of the Jaffa Municipal Committee, donated 35 pounds
on behalf of the Jaffa Municipality to go towards the major sports event for
the princely schools in Lod. On
June 5, Al-Bassa Stadium in Jaffa will host this event. Additionally, he
donated five pounds for party prizes.[24]
Government schools usually have friendly school meetings as part of
tournaments organized by the Education Department or Awqaf Department
that include Al-Nahda School, Dar Al-U'loom in Jaffa, the Islamic Orphanage in
Jerusalem, the Abbasiyyah School in Ramla, and Al Falah School in Gaza. School
teams competed with clubs’ teams, Scout teams, and British governmental and
military teams.
Since the early 1920s, school
sports performances have been held in government and private schools without
modification. Sports in private schools lacked national spirit. “... our
schools can't hold their own parties, even though they're manifestations of
activities their students compete in. We'll be a field of strength and courage
for them, and for their families, proof of their kids’ progress in heroism.”
Wrote Husni. [25]
Filastin criticized some educational bodies and
institutes for entrusting school field day to British officials since 1922. “We
present our article today in pain for what has been done to our national
dignity when some educational bodies and institutes intentionally entrusted the
sponsorship of their field day to a non-Arab who led them, which is what
happened. It's been there for a long time in this country. As long as we live
in an Arab land, in an Arab environment, and among Arabs, isn't it a disgrace
to have a non-Arab preside over our field days?"[26]
In conclusion, despite
this negligence on the part of the British's attempt to give school sport a
colonial character, and the relative growth of school sport, it is difficult to
ignore the importance of school sports as an important component of the sports
movement in Palestine. The development
Notes and references
[1]
Khalil Totah, “Education in Palestine,” Annals of the American Academy of
Political and Social Science 164(Nov. 1932), p. 155. Also, see Susan Boyle,
Betrayal of Palestine: The Story of George Antonius (Boulder: Westview
Press, 2001) for Antonius’s experience of the glass ceiling that British
officials constructed.
[2]
A.L. Tibawi: Arab education in mandatory Palestine: a study of three decades of
British adminīstion. 282 pp. London: Luzac & Co., Ltd., 1956.
35s. Quoted from Ismael
Abu-Saad, Duane Champagne, A History Context of Palestinian Arab Education,
American Behavioral Scientist, Volume 49 Number 8.
(PDF) A Historical Context of Palestinian Arab Education
(researchgate.net)
[3] Khalidi, Walid. Before Their Diaspora (Washington, D.C.: Institute for Palestine Studies,
1984), pp. 28-29.
[4]
Issa Nakhleh. Encyclopedia of
Palestine Problem, (New York: International Books,1991), p
[5] Khalidi, Walid. Before their Diaspora, p 74.
[6] Khalidi, Walid. Before their Diaspora,
p 74
It's
worth pointing out one of the news items in Filastin on April 13, 1912,
about the football match between the visiting team from Lebanon and the schools
in Palestine: "On Monday of this week, betting started on the game of
football ball, which the young men of the college school in Beirut attended with
some of their teachers. At 4 o'clock, young men from the college, the Israeli
young men, gathered in a large hall on the field. Young men from the Jerusalem
Youth School took the field, and the college boys won. As for Wednesday, the
game was with the Bishop's School students, and the game ended without either
party winning."
[7] Khalil Sakakini, Such Am I, O World, (Beirut, 1982) p.189 – 190.
[8] Rashid Khalidi, The Iron Cage:
The Story of the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood (Boston:
Beacon Press, 2007), p 15.
[9] Rashid Khalidi, The Iron, p
21
[10] Ilan Pappe, The Making of the Arab-Israeli Conflict, 1947-1951, (I.B. Taurus 2014) p. 60.
[11]
Howar Sachar, A History of Israel: From the Rise of Zionism to Our Time, 3rd
ed. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2007), p. 189.
Quoted from Elizabeth Brownson, Colonialism, Nationalism, and
the Politics of Teaching History in Mandate Palestine, Journal of Palestine Studies
[12]Al-Mawsoo’a
al-Falastiniyyah, Encyclopedia of Palestine, Education in Palestine, Part II,
Volume III, (Beirut 1990) p 512 – 538.
[13]
Khairudin Abu Aljibeen, Qissat Hayati fi Filastin wal Kuwait, My Life in Palestine and Kuwait, (Amman:
Dal-Al Shorook, 2002), p 458.
[15]
Filastin, 25 July
1947.
[16]
Al-Jami’a al-Islamiyyah, 23 August 1932.
[17]
Filastin, 2 July
1945
[18]
Elizabeth Brownson, Colonialism,
Nationalism, and the Politics of Teaching History in Mandate Palestine, Journal
of Palestine Studies
[19]
Filastin, 21 February
1947.
[20]
Filastin, 25
October 1945
[21] Khairudin
Abu Aljibeen, Qissat Hayati fi Filastin wal-Kuwait, p 60 – 61.
[22] Khairudin
Abu Aljibeen, Qissat Hayati fi Filastin wal-Kuwait, p 61.
[23] Khairudin Abu Aljibeen, Qissat Hayati fi
Filastin wal-Kuwait, p 462.
[24]
Filastin, 22 May
1941
[25]
Filastin, 7 February
1945.
[26]
Filastin, 27 June
1946
No comments:
Post a Comment