Al-Mashtal U-16 Girls team plays the Tokyo Tournament final without both its coach and captain.

Allowing players to move from Gaza has long become the exception to the rule that they are not to move out at all.

This reality was sadly displayed yet again last month when the Al-Mashtal club from Gaza tried to get permits to play the final match of the "Tokyo U-16 tournament" against the Ramallah first Group Club in Bethlehem.

Despite the efforts of the Palestine Football Association and UNDP to obtain permits for a delegation of 16 persons to enable them to be in Bethlehem on Monday,  May 16, only 7 persons got their permits before their departure. The team had to wait at the Erez checkpoint for the rest of the permits, and when these finally came, the team found out that it will have to play without its Captain, and its coach.

The Tournament, jointly organized by the UNDP and the Japanese Representative Office in Palestine, ended in Al-Mashtal losing the match. Tears of frustration turned into tears of joy when the winning team, in an admirable show of sportsmanship,  gifted the cup to the losing one. 

Israeli occupation executes yet another young player in AlKhader

 On Friday, May 27, 15-year-old player Zeid Mohammad Ghneim, a young football talent in AlKhader Academy was shot to death by Israeli occupation soldiers in his hometown of Alkhader.

Zeid was protesting the upcoming Israeli "Flag March", an annual parade marking the illegal Israeli annexation of Eastern Jerusalem, and is attended by thousands of far-right Israelis and seen by many to be racist, anti-Palestinian, and violent. Eyewitnesses reported that Zeid, who had joined his townfolk in an un-armed demonstration, was cornered in an alley and shot in the back and neck by the Israeli soldiers. 

Young footballer lost to Israeli occupation violence

 Mohammad Ali Ahmad AlGhneim, 19 years old player in Al-Khadr Football club was supposed to play a match today, April 11, 2022, with his  3rd division team, when an Israeli soldier's bullet ended both his career and his life.

Mohammad,  number 19 on the official team's list was in his family's house, near the separation wall as a demonstration protesting  Israeli army field executions was taking place in the area.  He got shot in the back and died immediately.

Israeli Occupation authorities issue a confiscation order against "Hilal Al-Quds" Club

 On the dawn of Thursday, 24 March 2022, an Israeli occupation Intelligence force, accompanied by Municipality representatives, broke into the headquarters of "Hilal Al Quds", a premier league club located in occupied east Jerusalem. The force was in the process of the break-in when some club board members arrived and demanded a reason for the violent attempt. The force handed the board members a "property confiscation order” stating that if the administration fails to pay a fine of about 10,000,000 NIS, all property of the club will be confiscated. The administration was informed that they have ten days before the club headquartered will be closed, permanently.

The occupation municipality said that the amount is an accumulated “Arnona” [land] tax the club has not been paying for 30-40 years! The board maintains that it is an absurd claim, since the club, a nonprofit “Sports institution”, has not been able for decades to get registration as such in the Israeli occupation municipal records, which could have entitled it to a 66% Arnona tax reduction.

Hilal Al-Quds, yet to celebrate its golden jubilee, was established back in 1972. It has been providing a cultural and sports refuge for decades to thousands of youth and children in occupied east Jerusalem. It also has a Scouts division that does a lot of voluntary work in service of the community. 

Israeli forces break into the club HQ:

Israeli Occupation Authorities issue the 4th Demolition order against the Sur Baher club

The new year did not start with joy and hope for the staff, fans, and community of the Sur Baher club, located in east Jerusalem. For, just before 2021 ended, on the 27th of December, The Israeli occupation authorities handed the club the 4th notification for that past year, informing them that their facilities will be demolished for lack of  "proper building license", which is the term used for almost every other demolition in the densely populated Palestinian town.

Two years ago, the Club administration had made the legal paperwork to have their 8 dunums (8000 Sq meters) of Waqf land registered with the Islamic Awqaf, in the hope this will put an end to the repeated Israeli attempts to seize the land. This registration allowed the club to renovate the facilities, and install artificial turf for their home pitch.

Their relief was short-lived, for the Israeli authorities, as documented in many other instances in Sur Baher and the surrounding areas, will almost always find an instrument to de-legalize any measures taken to enable Palestinian communities to retain their property.

The club, which was established as far back as 1978, serves a community of over 25,000 people, providing youth with a chance to play football while also providing social, health, and cultural services to the community. It has a scouts division and is run by a general assembly of 636 people who elect its board. Its football team reached the 1st division in 1996 and won 2nd place in the Palestine Cup back in 1999

The Israeli Municipal authorities have been trying for years to take over the premises of the club, in return for some projects run by the occupation as compensation, but the community has rejected these offers every time, preferring to keep their club, whose facilities lie now in real danger of being lost.