In the occupied West Bank, a Palestinian children’s football club faces an imminent threat of demolition by Israeli authorities, despite an international campaign to save their pitch. The club, located near the Aida refugee camp on the edge of Bethlehem, provides a rare sporting opportunity for over 200 young players, but it has been deemed illegal by the Israeli government.
The pitch was constructed in 2020 on a small plot of land, nestled against the towering concrete wall that separates Israel from much of the occupied territory. However, the authorities have issued a demolition order, arguing that the club was built without the necessary permits on land that falls under Israeli civil control.
“We don’t have anywhere else to play,” said 10-year-old Naya, wearing a Brazil shirt with the name of football legend Neymar. “We are building our dreams here. If they demolish our field, they will demolish our dreams.”
The community has fought back, posting videos on social media, launching a petition that has garnered hundreds of thousands of signatures, and receiving messages of international support. The club’s owners say they were recently granted a seven-day reprieve, but that extension expired on Monday, leaving them with a difficult choice: either demolish the pitch themselves or wait for the Israeli authorities to do it forcibly, at which point they’ll be presented with the bill.
The looming presence of the wall, which runs along the length of one of the touchlines, is just one of the many complex layers that underpin the Israeli occupation of the West Bank. Militarily, Israel exerts control over the entirety of the territory, while administrative control is divided between a patchwork of Palestinian-run and Israeli-run areas, as per the Oslo Accords signed in the 1990s.
“The Israelis don’t want us to have any kind of hope, they don’t want us to have any opportunity,” said Mohammad Abu Srour, a board member of the Aida Youth Centre. “The moment that we lose hope and opportunity, we are going to leave. This is the only explanation for us.”
As the wider conflict between Israel and the Palestinians grinds on, the future of this small football pitch hangs in the balance, with the children of Aida hoping that the international attention might be enough to sway the authorities’ decision.