Finding an Escape Through Football

“Playing for my country was the greatest feeling I’ve ever had in my life”

Waking up in Gaza City every day, immediately the worrying begins. We Gazans worry about many things. Mainly for the children of our poorest families, where life is getting harder and harder. 

For 13 years, we have lived under a siege without an end in sight and the situation is only getting worse. My generation had all hope taken away from us along with our childhood. Yet, young Gazans have spent their entire lives fenced off from the world. For them, hope never existed.

My name is Mohammad Abu Aita and in football I found a form of escape. My obsession in life was to win, the rest didn’t matter. I thought only from one game to the next, nothing else mattered, I just had to win.

My passion has taken me far in a game I have always loved but the further I went, the more the game’s meaning changed. More than needing to win, I realised, we need more than ever to be able to play.

Protests are a normal part of life here in Gaza. What they don’t tell you is how many will return with Israeli bullets in their bodies or needing amputations or metal rods attached to limbs in order to keep living.

While some people wait at the border and throw rocks at Israeli armed forces, others will be demonstrating against rising taxes and the terrible living conditions across the strip.

The Gazan youth protest because they are frustrated and desperate. They study for degrees that will not lead to jobs, as there is no work here. They live knowing they can’t leave and they protest because they don’t know what to do apart from go there even with the risk they might be shot.

They risk losing a part of their body, one of the only things we Gazans have, just to have something to do. Our bodies are our only instrument and we need them in our physical environment.

Our inability to travel means we must stay on our feet. We live in narrow spaces, inside a small city. So we walk, everywhere we can. Life here is in the streets.

This is also where we play sport. It is one of the only places that’s ours, somewhere we can afford to be. No one can stop us from using it or take it away. It’s where we can connect with our neighbours and friends.

Football is one of the few things that allows us to forget, even if it’s only for a moment. Unfortunately, ways to escape our situation are limited. If you ask people in Gaza how they spend their time, they will tell you: ‘Meeting in cafes to watch football with friends’.

I was spotted playing in the streets by Al-Hilal Gaza. Through this club, I got the opportunity to play for my national team for three years and participate outside the walls of this prison.

Playing for my country was the greatest feeling I’ve ever had in my life and something I’m so proud and honoured to have done. It’s hard, even now, to describe what it means to fly the flag of my country where so many remain trapped.

Yet, I wish I knew then, what I know now. The methods I learned at Palestine Sports For Life have totally changed my understanding and mentality towards sport and how it can be used. When I was a player, I was selfish. I wanted it to be only me in the picture but now I want a totally different photo.

I was greatly affected by my training, and the response to methods from fellow Palestinians. The reality is that not everyone can be a professional sports person. Sport also has so much more to offer than only winning - there are higher goals and objectives that mean much more than any title or award.

I’ve seen young people, the same ones damaged by the three wars in 11 years, begin to find their self-confidence and start making decisions with one another based upon team discussion. I’ve received feedback from parents, telling me that the training is having a positive impact on life at school and at home.

Defeat used to be a dirty word. It felt like the end of the world, a place I never wanted to go. Now I believe otherwise, it is by no means the end of the story. In defeat, we can learn, it gives us hope to try again.

Whether with the Palestinian Olympic Committee, Asian Football Confederation, Ministry of Sport and Health or as technical director of Al-Hilal Gaza’s academy I take the Sport for Development methodologies, such as football3, with me, spreading its values to my fellow coaches.

As important as allowing my players to be the best footballers possible, equally important is helping them develop with a more complete character. As I said, not everyone can become a professional footballer, but at least I can help them be the best, most humane, version of themselves.

Three years ago, while holding trials to find new players, I encountered a young footballer who left a lasting impression on me about what the game can and should stand for. His name was Nidal, he was 15 years old and only had one hand, the other had been amputated. Our ignorance meant that my colleagues and I first only saw him through the lens of sympathy.

Though he shocked us, he was an amazing player, a joy to watch and destined for greater things. Yet the rules dictated that due to his disability, he did not qualify as a player. I fought against the rules and negotiated through multiple discussions to make sure he was included.

When I see him play today and witness his passion and confidence in front of so many people it makes me so proud.

Playing abroad has helped me to understand what people think of Palestinians. They hold onto stereotypes that we Palestinians are not nice and don’t deserve to play. But, after playing against us, they found that we are normal people with nice attitudes, who love life, who simply want to live. They were so surprised!

The road to peace is a long one. Competing outside the walls of Gaza is our way of showing people that we Palestinians are not only connected to political problems. Playing with other teams and countries is a way of networking and of uniting as human beings.

Through sport not only can we introduce ourselves to the world but also to each other as new and better people, on one team.