The Palestine Cup final between Shabab Khan Younis, the Gazan cup winners, and Ahli Al-Khaleel, the West Bank cup holders, took place yesterday at Al-Yarmouk stadium in Gaza City.
Ahli won 1-0 thanks to a great solo goal by Islam Al-Bitran, which gave them an important lead for the second leg that will take place on Saturday at Hussein bin Ali Stadium in Hebron. The winner of this competition will continue to the AFC Cup qualifiers in February.
After the historical clash last year between Ittihad Shujaiya and Ahli Al-Khaleel, the second-year in-a-row for this kind of meeting saw teams from Gaza and the West Bank playing each other for the first time in 15 years.
Like many things in Palestinian football, the Palestine Cup event has tremendous political meaning and weight. As the Palestinian territories are divided between the Fatah controlled West Bank and the Hamas reign in Gaza, with Israel between them, it is not surprising that the match is known as the “National Wedding” in the various media outlets. The match is seen as a reuniting event in Palestine: reuniting the people of Hamas and Fatah, reuniting Gaza and the West Bank and reuniting Palestine.
Among the players, there are a few who have not travelled out of Gaza since 2007. Some who have never left the Gaza Strip, for whom this trip will be their first time out, travelling through Israel, visiting Al-Aqsa mosque and the West Bank. Jibril Rajoub, as the head of the Palestinian Association, could not reject this kind of political symbolism – he’s the man who brought the Gaza and the West Bank together through football.
Another political aspect of this match was the crossing and movement permits of both delegations, Gazan and Hebronite. The IDF and the COGAT control movement between the West Bank and Gaza and vice versa. Four Ahli Al-Khaleel players who hold Israeli IDs weren’t allowed to enter Gaza and did not play in the game. Abdallah Jaber, Ahmed Harbi, Mahmoud Deif Allah and Ayman Kharbat are all key first-team players left out for the first leg. Besides, another five Palestinians from the delegation weren’t allowed to go through.
At first, Ahli chairman Kifah Al-Sharif decided not to play the match without his star players. Eventually, having the Gaza match was more important than the actual sportsmanship conditions, and the schedule went ahead as planned.
This gives the Palestinian Association strong evidence to claim that the Israeli authorities are limiting Palestinian and Arab football players' movement, harming the development of Palestinian sports and violating the free movement of Palestinians.
This match was a huge celebration for the Gazan football fans, as 14,000 people gathered among the 10,000 seater Al-Yarmouk stadium. For them, watching the players of Ahli Al-Khaleel is like hosting a European team in terms of the players' quality, level of professionalism, and organisation.
For the fans in the West Bank, the match on Saturday will also be a remarkable event. However, most of them will support Khan Younis, as the Gazan people are viewed as heroes due to their rejection and standing against Israeli attacks once every few years, the Hamas regime and the blockade. Gaza is the symbol of the ‘Sumoud’ – a strong resistance in time of war. Ahli Al-Khaleel is a small club in the West Bank, so it doesn’t have so many fans.
Last year’s Palestine Cup was a historical double-header encounter that gained worldwide attention. This year, it is less anticipated, but it has its important social and political impact on the Palestinians in Gaza, in the West Bank and Israel, as a sign of hope, of a united Palestinian identity, despite the circumstances, through football.