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| Palestinian National Football Team, 2019 Roster. |
October 9, 2019
By Faris K. Barhoum
The Palestinian National Football [Soccer] Team is slated to compete against the Saudi National Football team in Ramallah on October 15. Yet, many are voicing their displeasure and many in Palestine would prefer that the Palestinian Club not play Saudi Arabia. The match will qualify either club to play in the 2022 Asian World Cup. The match is supposed to take place at the Faisal Husseini Stadium in A-Ram, which is a town outside of Ramallah in the occupied West Bank.
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| The Palestinian National Association Emblem |
Several Palestinians, in particular Palestinian political activists believe the move allows for "normalization" between Israel and Saudi Arabia. As stated by Khaled Abu Toameh, "Palestinian activists on Wednesday [October, 9] launched a campaign to voice their opposition to a soccer game between the Palestinians and Saudi Arabia" (Abu Toameh, 1). Prince Abdul Aziz Bin Turki Al-Faisal, the chairman of the Saudi General Sport Authority claimed "the decision was in response to the request of the Palestinian Football Association." In general most Arab countries avoid playing in Palestine because most Arab countries do not have a formal peace accord with Israel, beside Jordan and Egypt who signed formal peace accords with the Jewish State. According to Abu Toameh of
The Jerusalem Post: "Some Arab clubs and national teams have traditionally refused to play in the West Bank because it required them to apply for entry permits from Israel" (Ibid, 1).
Jibril Rajoub, who is the head of the Palestinian Football Association stressed the "historic importance," of the Saudi Club coming to Palestine to play for the qualifier. The campaign that some Palestinians launched in response to the slated qualifier was started online. The campaign was titled "Sports Normalization" and "Normalization is Treason" (Ibid, 1). There is quite a bit of anger and it remains to be seen if the match will be played as originally planned. This story is ongoing.
Article,
Abu Toameh, Khaled. The Jerusalem Post, "Palestinian-Saudi Soccer Match 'Normalization' With Israel - Activists."
https://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Palestinian-Saudi-soccer-match-normalization-with-Israel-
activists-604085. 10/9/19.
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