Putting Palestine on football’s world map

Palestine gets a chance to take the world stage this month when the Palestinian National Football team plays in the Asian Cup, hosted by Australia. “We want to send a message to the world, to tell them that the Palestinian people exist despite all the Israeli obstacles”, captain and goalkeeper Ramzi Saleh told Agence France-Presse last year.

This is the team’s first major international tournament after years of Israeli sabotage. Palestinian football players face obstacles unlike other teams. Training is cancelled regularly due to players being held at checkpoints littered throughout the West Bank. Players are imprisoned or denied exit visas to leave the country to attend major tournaments and World Cup qualifying matches.

Mahmoud Sarsak played for the Palestinian Olympic team and twice for the national team. In 2009, he was detained for three years without charge or trial. He was released only after a 60-day hunger strike made persecution of Palestinian footballers a major issue among FIFA members.

In January 2014, two promising young players – Jawhar Nasser Jawhar, 19, and Adam Abd al-Raouf Halabiya, 17 – were shot in the feet by Israeli soldiers. They will never play again.

Three players lost their lives during Israel’s Operation Cast Lead assault on Gaza in 2009 and the stadium in Rafah was bombed twice.

Qualifying for the Asian Cup despite all of this is a major source of pride and inspiration to Palestinians. The Guardian quoted one student, Ibrahim Alyan, as saying, “It still is important for us, even if it won’t change our situation. It shows that most of the world – those who live in Asia – recognises Palestine.”

After making it this far, the odds are still stacked against the team. It will likely only have 22 players in the squad, after Chilean-born Matias Jadue was ruled out due to a delay in FIFA recognising his right to play for Palestine, the nationality of his father. Defender Haitham Dheeb was also ruled out through injury.

His replacement, Sameh Mara’ba, was set to join the team ahead of its debut against Japan in Newcastle, only to be denied an exit visa by Israel.

With matches against Jordan, and previous winners Japan and Iraq, the Palestinians have little chance of advancing beyond the group stage.

In the face of Israel’s attempts to deny the players even the chance to raise their flag above a football pitch, they have qualified and put Palestine on the football world map.

[Palestine plays Jordan tonight in Melbourne.]