(From Christian Peacemakers Team)

In Hebron, Palestine, two local community activists Issa Amro and Zleekha Muhtaseb, along with Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT) and Terres des hommes (Tdh) (Hebron Community Mental Health Program) are supporting a new “Sports for Kids” initiative in Hebron Old City. Participants in the newly formed football/soccer team are boys aged between 10 and 12 years old from the Old City. Tdh provided funding for the team’s uniforms.

In February 2007, the team met for their first training session, which included a game against young adult visitors from “Jews for Israeli-Palestinian Peace” and “Palestinian Association in Stockholm.” The team has been meeting once a week for training with coach Amro. They hope that they will have opportunities in the future to play other youth teams.

CPT sees this initiative as part of its work of peacemaking and violence prevention. Many young people, particularly in the Old City, are at risk because of the violence and ever-increasing oppressiveness of the Israeli occupation. They have few safe places available for them to play, and they witness daily acts of violence by the Israeli occupation forces.

The goal of the sports program is to provide a healthy outlet for the excess energy and youth’s feelings of frustration and anger. Amro and Muhtaseb hope that participation in the sports activities will increase feelings of self-esteem, give the youth a sense of belonging and ownership and teach them good sportsmanship. They and the other organizers plan to increase the number of children involved in the program.

For more photos of the first match, see: http://www.cpt.org/gallery/album81.

For further information about Terres des Hommes’ work in Palestine, see: http://www.tdh.ch/website/tdhch.nsf/pages/palestineeE