One Hundred Years of Football in PalestineFootball is a mirror that reflects political and social processes. It was not, and still is not, separated from the political conditions that Palestine went through and still going through tens of decades later. Football was not isolated from the British-imposed mandate on Palestine, Zionist settlements, immigration and dreams in building the national home, Nakba (the catastrophe of 1948), and Diaspora that still occur to this day. In addition, it has been subjected to Israeli restrictions throughout the longest occupation in modern history. Football helped in shaping the Palestinian national identity. Palestinians expressed themselves in sports. In fact, football was not, and still is not, a tool of achieving big results; rather, it represented a way for pride and national expression. Through the last one hundred years, current Palestinian sport was based on national-ideological, cultural, organizational and health principles. It has a historical characteristic through this period because it was attached to the political conditions in which the Palestinians went through. In some cases, Palestinian people could achieve better results for change through football than by political means. Many believe that football could be a significant tool for building an independent state. Descriptor(s): SPORTS | BALL GAMES | FOOTBALL | PALESTINE |
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