Then the Palestinian boys suggested a novel resolution - a football game between themselves and the Israeli soldiers. Already a few soldiers were kicking the ball around, laughing and jostling with the Palestinians teenagers who, after all, are only a few years younger than they are. And, there it was. That brief moment when supposed enemies met as human beings.
Jan Benvie. Christian Peacemaker Teams. 20/07/07. Tonight I was reminded of the story about Christmas Day in the trenches of World War I. The story tells about enemy soldiers coming together, as human beings, in no-man's land to celebrate Christmas.
I glimpsed such a moment tonight.
Regular readers of our updates may recall the establishment of an Old City Football (soccer) Team in February of this year, a joint venture between CPT, our neighbor Zleekha Muhtaseb and a Palestinian NGO.
It has been difficult to find a safe and suitable place to play, so, Zleekha suggested playing in the street outside the CPT apartment. Closures, curfews and military occupation have driven all of the residents away, only CPT and Zleekha live here now. The street ends with a high metal fence, designed to prevent access from the Old City to Shuhada Street, where some Israeli settlers live. It seemed an ideal flat, open space where the children could train and play. There were some problems with settler children throwing stones over the fence, but we thought that finally we had a 'home ground' for our football team.
It was disappointing, therefore, when a patrol of soldiers came into the street tonight and said that the children could not play football there. The older boys, including some who help train the younger children, were playing. The soldiers cited the two recent fires in the street, close to their military base, as a reason for banning the street football.
We protested saying that children are less likely to set fires if they are involved in worthwhile activities like the football team. "You accuse us of teaching children terrorism. Here we are teaching them football, and you stop us!" Zleekha told the patrol leader.
The soldiers insisted it was their 'orders' and suggested another area nearby. We continued to protest, the other area is smaller and sloping. Not an even playing field, I thought. The soldiers told us, "The boys are willing to move." I thought: It is not an even playing field with heavily armed Israeli soldiers 'suggesting' to unarmed, teenage Palestinians that they move.
Then the Palestinian boys suggested a novel resolution - a football game between themselves and the Israeli soldiers. Already a few soldiers were kicking the ball around, laughing and jostling with the Palestinians teenagers who, after all, are only a few years younger than they are.
And, there it was. That brief moment when supposed enemies met as human beings.
The commander, looking down from the occupied rooftop above, refused to allow the match to go ahead, but, perhaps intrigued by what was happening below, then came down to talk.
And so, a compromise was reached. The commander, who gave his name as Israel, agreed that the children can play football in the street from four until seven pm each afternoon and the soldiers will prevent settler children from throwing stones.
It felt a little more like a level playing field.
Christian Peacemaker Teams is an ecumenical initiative to support violence reduction efforts around the world. To learn more about CPT's peacemaking work, visit our website www.cpt.org Photos of our projects are at www.cpt.org/
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