Palestinian football team held to draw, but scores a victory

A home advantage was never something the Palestinian national football team could count on, given that even their home games were played away. Yesterday's international friendly against Jordan in a West Bank stadium changed all that, and while the boost from their first outing on home soil might not have been reflected in the final scoreline, it was writ large on the faces of the Palestinian players and their fans.

"When you are playing here, in front of your own people, in your land it makes a huge difference," the stand-in captain Ayman Hindi said before kick-off. "We will play better."

For a nation whose statehood drive is stalling amid apparently fruitless peace negotiations with Israel and a devastating internal split between its two main political groups -- Fatah and Hamas – hosting the match was something to cheer about.

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"Our national team, in our stadium, means we exist no less than any other nation in the world," said Mohammed Suhsa, a 45-year old mechanic who was in the 6,500-strong crowd, with his 11-year-old son, Mustafa.

Forming a circle and momentarily praying on the pitch in their white and green strip, the Palestinian national football team briefly injected a degree of normality and hope into morose Palestinian life by doing what in any other country would seem routine. "Filastin [Palestine], Filastin, Filastin", roared the crowd to drumbeats after Ahmed Kashkash's 10th-minute goal edged the home side in front. "God willing, another one," they chanted. It was not to be – the team is ranked 180 out of 207 by Fifa, after all – and Jordan equalised for a 1-1 draw.

The much-anticipated fixture marked the end of years of athletic homelessness. The Palestinian national team's matches had until now been played in Jordan or the Gulf because there was no home stadium that met Fifa standards. And training was in Egypt because the team was split between the West Bank and Gaza, and Israeli travel restrictions made it difficult to gather in either part of their fragmented homeland.

The venue for yesterday's match was a newly refurbished stadium, on the edge of the east Jerusalem area the Palestinian Authority envisions as the capital of a future state. Fifa had stumped up some of the cash for the $4m renovation, and its president, Sepp Blatter, deemed the match a "historic event" and the realisation of a Palestinian dream.

But reminders of the tense political situation hovered at the edge of the celebrations. Yards from the stadium lies the daunting wall of the separation barrier Israel has erected ostensibly to keep out suicide bombers. And although Israeli authorities allowed 11 players to travel from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, the Palestinian captain, Saeb Jundiya, was barred from leaving the Strip, with the Israeli authorities citing "security concerns".

He said: "I've waited all my life for this. Imagine what it's like. The whole world is coming. The head of Fifa is coming; it is the first match on Palestinian land. I'm the captain and I can't play." He said he would watch the match on TV with family and friends. He denied he was a security threat. "All of my life has been devoted to sports." The West Bank government affiliated to President Mahmoud Abbas, and the chairman of the Palestinian Football Association, Jibril Rajoub, had worked hard to bring football home for the Palestinians fans. And at a pre-match press conference, the Prime Minister Salam Fayyad urged more foreign teams to come and play. "This is a sign of solidarity, it's a message of solidarity with the Palestinian people during a time of hardship," he said.

The match also had the blessing of Hamas, the militant Islamic movement based in Gaza that is engaged in bitter infighting with Mr Abbas's Fatah movement. Fawzi Barhoum, a Hamas spokesman, termed the hosting of Jordan "a good step", adding that such ties with Arab countries "should be encouraged".

Ismail Abu Sura, a goalkeeper for a local team near Bethlehem, who was among the spectators, said he hoped the match would generate international funding for Palestinian football so that players could devote their energies to the sport. "We do not have specialty professional players in Palestine," he said. "I work in construction and after I finish my job I play football."

In his opinion, the future of Palestinian football depends on stability and security, two variables that appear elusive. Four members of his team were wounded during the second intifada and three imprisoned, he said. "If there is intifada and clashes, sports don't develop. If your brother is martyred, you won't feel like playing."

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