By Andrew Warshaw
August 4 – Israeli and Palestinian leaders have hailed Barcelona’s “peace tour” to the region as a vitally symbolic breakthrough but the visit also highlighted the deep-rooted distrust as Palestinian FA boss Jibril Rajoub, not for the first time, denounced Israel’s conduct towards his country’s athletes.
Barca were originally due to stage an exhibition match against a joint Israeli-Palestinian team to try and heal the wounds between the two sides but the plans were ditched after no agreement could be reached. Instead, the Catalan giants held a series of separate training clinics in the West Bank and Israel at the weekend.
Some 25,000 spectators, many clad in Barca shirts, packed every corner of a new stadium in the town of Dura in the southern West Bank on Saturday as the Barca players held an hour-long clinic with some 40 youngsters.
The streets of Bethlehem, where the team visited the traditional birthplace of Jesus, and the city of Hebron were adorned with Barcelona flags as fans lined the route to catch a glimpse of their heroes and the team bus.
On Sunday Barca visited Jerusalem’s walled Old City to stand at the Western Wall before giving a coaching session to Israeli youngsters in Tel Aviv.
The Palestinians have long complained that Israel’s security forces prevent athletes travelling freely between the Gaza Strip and West Bank, where the Palestinians have limited self rule but over which Israel maintains security control.
The West Bank is controlled by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas but the Gaza Strip is ruled by the Islamist Hamas faction which calls for Israel’s destruction. Israel cites security concerns but says it has eased travel restrictions.
Rajoub hailed Barca’s visit as “the most important event in the history of Palestinian sport” but also said sport was the best means to combat racism and that Israel should be punished for “inciting against anything Arab.”
He dubbed the peace initiative as “the first breach in history by the Palestinian sports movement of the siege laid on it by Israel” and hoped that if Barcelona visited again in the future, it would be in “an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel. Sport is the best way to overcome hate and hostility.”
Lionel Messi and newly signed Brazilian star Neymar were among the luminaries who took part in the clinics, just as political authorities on both sides of the Israeli-Palestinian divide were holding high-profile talks to try to find a solution to the Middle East issue.
“You came just on time,” said Israeli President Shimon Peres, who helped organise the visit. “Our prime minister and his government began a ‘tour of peace’ between us and the Palestinians, which is an important and timely decision. I want to thank Barca for making the dreams of the children come true. Israeli and Palestinian children dream of two goals – scoring the winning goal at Camp Nou and the great goal of peace.”
“Messi, Xavi, Iniesta, you and the whole team can teach us and the Palestinians to play Tiki-Taka so we can score the goal we all hope for – the goal of peace.”
Barcelona president Sandro Rosell said the visit was intended to help “both Israelis and Palestinians, to find meeting points to help you along the road to peace.”
Rajoub explained why the Palestinians had vetoed the exhibition game, explaining that Israel had blocked free movement of players and administrators and prevented the establishment of Palestinian sports facilities.
“All these issues… made it impossible for us to permit any joint activities,” he was quoted as saying.
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