Palestinians launch first national football team for amputees in Gaza | Israel-Palestine Conflict News

Gaza City – The first Palestinian football team was launched in Gaza on Friday, coinciding with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

The international team of the Palestinian Amputees’ Football Association is supported by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). The group of 20 is made up of young Palestinians who lost body parts in previous wars or accidents with Israel.

Players used crutches and prosthetic legs to play football while training at a stadium in Gaza City.

The team’s goal is to take part in next year’s World Cup in Turkey.

My life has changed tremendously

Ahmed Alkhodari, 23, lost his leg in March 2019 Great Return March three years ago. There were hundreds of Palestinians hil, and tens of thousands were wounded in Israeli shootings as they tried to cross the fence to return to the villages and towns within Israel, where their ancestors were ethnically cleansed in 1948.

At least 156 of the injured suffered amputations.

Alkhodari has said Al Jazeera wants to take part in tournaments outside the Palestinian expanse, home to nearly 2 million people, who have been under Israeli blockade for nearly 15 years, and that joining the national team has given “value to my life.” .

The team believes it will succeed in international tournaments around the world. The team wants to represent Palestine at the 2022 World Cup in Istanbul, Turkey in March.

Footballer Ibrahim Madi says he helped with the mental and physical pain he suffered after losing his leg. [File: Mohammed Salem/ Al Jazeera]

Ibrahim Madi, 30, expressed his excitement at being part of the team.

“Being here means a lot to me. It made up for all the mental and physical pain I suffered after losing my leg, ”he told Al Jazeera.

Madik recalled “the darkest days of his life”: the time when a bullet fired by Israeli soldiers at a border demonstration in Gaza hit 2018.

“I spent 11 days in the hospital with unbearable pain,” he said. “The doctors decided to cut his leg.”

The amputation had a profound effect on Madi’s life, until she met the football team of the amputees.

Simon Baker is an ICRC consultant who traveled to Gaza in 2019 for the first time to work on the amputee football project. [File: Mohammed Salem/ Al Jazeera]

“Positive story from Gaza”

Simon Baker, Secretary General of the European Football Federation, has been working with players in Gaza for three years, helping to increase skills and provide high-level training.

Baker, the same amputee, first traveled to Gaza in 2019 to work on the amputee football project as an ICRC consultant. In the Gaza Strip, he has since coached 15 coaches, 12 referees and 80 amputated players, 20 of whom were selected for the final team presented on Friday.

“The project went through several stages to select the top 20 players to launch the national team,” Baker told Al Jazeera.

“At the end of March, we expect the national team to compete in the Asian Cup, which will qualify them for the 2022 World Cup in Istanbul,” he said.

Baker wants people to respect the team. “We don’t want people to feel sorry for them and feel sorry for them because they live in Gaza. It’s a happy and positive story coming out of Gaza. “

People with disabilities can be valuable members of society, he said.

The Gaza Strip is home to about 1,600 amputees, according to the Ministry of Health. [File: Mohammed Salem/ Al Jazeera]

This group “makes history”

Gaza ICRC spokesman Suhair Zaqout said the team was “making history” by becoming the first Palestinian national football team.

Zaqout has highlighted the role of his organization in assisting people with disabilities, especially in the Gaza Strip, which has experienced cycles of conflict and violence.

“We recognize the sport of amputees as a window to social and psychological integration,” he said.

Zaqout said the ICRC supports five other sports for those in Gaza, including basketball, athletics, cycling and table tennis.

The Gaza Strip is home to about 1,600 amputees, according to the Palestinian Ministry of Health.