Pro-Palestinian activists in South Africa have described the presence of a youth soccer team from Khan Younis as hugely significant, following the immense challenges faced with planning and travelling out of Israeli-blockaded Gaza Strip. The under19 Palestinian soccer team arrived on Sunday afternoon in Cape Town and missed the first round of the Bay hill Premier Cup, due to visa issues.

For the last 25 years, Israel has imposed increasingly strict restrictions on travel to and from the Gaza Strip. Those restrictions affect nearly every aspect of life in Gaza, including the ability of human rights workers.

“Travel out of Gaza, known as the world’s largest open-air prison, is truly a dream come true and hugely exciting for the boys. The wounds of war don’t end after the bombs are dropped and guns have stopped blazing. There’s been no end to the suffering of the hundreds of thousands of Palestinian children living in Gaza. Families and communities remain torn apart by loss and the struggle to restore all that is repeatedly destroyed and lost to the on-going attacks that surround their existence,” says Shamsaan 2 Suns, a South African organisation that advocates for the rights of Palestinian children.

Despite not being able to play in the competition, the team were not deterred and won their invitational friendly match against Bay Hill FC on Monday. The match drew a massive crowd of Capetonians, waving Palestinian flags and donning their traditional keffiyahs.

Palestinians are avid football fans and in Gaza alone, there are over 60 operational teams. Audiences of over 20 000 turn up to watch league matches in Gaza despite the extraordinary infrastructure limitations.

Since their arrival, there has been a huge public interest, with many organisations eager to host the team.

“For the next two weeks at least, the teens get the brief opportunity to leave behind their many hardships and to do what they love most; play football in a joyful way, have fun exploring and enjoying warm South African hospitality,” said Shamsaan 2 Suns.

Palestine Information Network (PIN) researcher Ebrahim Moosa says by being able to exit Gaza, they have broken a crippling siege on the territory enforced by Israel and Egypt primarily in place for over 10 years.

“The young people are now able to see a world beyond the narrow confines of the open-air prison that is Gaza. It should be appreciated that as an under-19 team, the youth guests would have been born into the turbulent days of the al-Aqsa intifada, have spent all their lives under Occupation and a significant part under siege, and have lived through no less than three major Israeli assaults on their territory,” he explained.

He says the youth are now able to get a taste of freedom and interact with young people from a variety of backgrounds in South Africa. Notably, the visit provides an opportunity for the story of Palestine and its people to reach a wider audience in South Africa through the language and medium of sport and culture.
Palestinian human rights activist Mandla Mandela agrees that the young players’ arrival in Cape Town is important for building ties of sport, culture, trade and brotherhood with the people of Palestine.

“Their presence here reminds us that our struggle is far from over and that we must continue to seek ways and means to fulfill Madiba’s words uttered on his visit to Gaza in 1995 that “our freedom is yet incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinian people.”

“We call on our community to come out in support of these gallant young heroes so that they may take a powerful message back to Gaza and entire occupied Palestine: South Africa is your second home and that ordinary South Africans the children and grandchildren of President Nelson Mandela will stand side by side with you until Palestine is free!”?

He added that the Palestinian struggle and its leadership were a source of immense strength, encouragement and resource during South Africa’s darkest days.

“Now that we enjoy freedom, we shall continue to advocate in every sphere the importance of building ties of sport, culture, trade and brotherhood with the people of Palestine. In the same vein we have a duty to intensify the boycott, divestment and sanctions against apartheid Israel and its illegal occupation.”

Salt River Blackpool FC will be hosting Khanyounis FC on Wednesday 24th April at 7pm in a friendship match at Shelley Road Salt River. The club says it’s a historic moment for the community at large. The community is called on to show support. Entry is free.

VOC