Issam Khalidi
Examining
history of Palestinian sports, we find that boxing had become part of the
athletic traditions in Palestine. Many high-skilled and famous boxers appeared
on the arena to make this sport one of the most popular in Palestine. We don’t
exaggerate by saying that boxing went beyond the regional borders. Abu Aj-Jibin noted that “In
spite, that football had big popularity; however, boxing reached the peak
through a long path. The popularity of boxing exceeded any other sport.”[i]
Palestinian
boxing goes back to the twenties of twentieth century when the Orthodox Club in Jaffa (established in 1924) adopted boxing beside
football. At that time, Adib Kamal or Adib Bek Cemal (originally from Turkey)
appeared on the boxing arena and became the most famous boxer at that time. He
matched with Arab and Jewish boxers in Palestine and the region. In 1932, in
Haifa, the Society of Refinement and Charity [Jam’yyat at-Tahthib wal Muwasa]
was founded. It was the first boxing club in Palestine. It adopted boxing since the first days, and
promoted boxing by making it the second among other sports after football. It
is not surprising that the name of this club was always linked to boxing. In
September 1933, the ‘Club of Boxing and Sports’ [Nadi al-Mulakamawal-Riyada]
was established. Later, officially, its name was changed to al-Nadi al Ghazi
after King Ghazi of Iraq.
In general, boxing in Palestine
was spread among four cities in Palestine: Jaffa, Haifa, Jerusalem and Ramla.
Haifa included Arab Workers Organization, Club of Boxing and Sports, Nadi Ansar
al-Fadila, Society of Refinement and Charity [Jami’yyat al-Tahthib wal-Muwasah],
the Orthodox Club, Shabab al-Arab and the Islamic Sport Club. Jaffa included
Nadi al-Ikha’, The Orthodox Club, the Olympic Institute and Islamic Sport Club.
Ramla: Youth Sport Institute. In Jerusalem boxing was confined on Armenian
athletes as Nobar Kibril and Mardos Bokrashian.
Born in 1919 in Bethlehem, his real name is
Aziz Abdallah. When he was thirteen he started practicing boxing with his coach
Adib Kamal in Haifa.
Under the title “Syrian Champion Beaten”, the Jewish newspaper
Palestine Post brought this news about Saliba. Obviously, it ignored his
national identity and place of birth:
The Maccabi Hall was filled to capacity by a fine sporting crowd to
witness the contests between local and Arab boxers. There was disappointment
among the spectators that only two "proper" fights were contested,
the rest of the programme being matches between boxers of various clubs. The
crowd, however, was repaid with the last fight in which Emile Avinari, a local
favourite beat Sinharib Salliba, champion of Syria and Lebanon in a six round
contest. Although the Syrian weighed only a couple of pounds more than his
opponent he appeared to belong to the heavy weight rather than the welterweight
class. Emile lived up to his reputation, winning four of the six rounds, but
not too easily. As predicted it was a match of technique against physical
strength. In the opening round the local man fought continuously and in the
second round used a fast right to the face which cut the Syrian's lip and
caused his nose to bleed freely. This did not subdue Salliba, but only angered
him and during his ferocious moments he repeatedly made the error of opening
his guard which Emile used to his
advantage. The Syrian was not so impressive after this. He hit often enough to the body but without effect. The referee
separated both boxers on various occasions. It was not a surprise to see the
Syrian champion revive in the last round. He had things his own way and had he
combined strength with judgment in the earlier rounds he would have fared a lot
better. Mr. Effrandi, a member of the control Egyptian Boxing Board of Control
refereed the fight.[ii]
In 1935, he
defeated the Egyptian Champion Abdo Kibrit. In 1936, Sanharib traveled to
Lebanon, where he defeated the Lebanese champion Mustafa al-Arna’ut. Leaving
Lebanon, he went to Italy and matched with an Italian boxer (Bernati) under the
auspices of the Duce Mussolini and won the
match by knocking down his opponent in the seventh round. Then he moved to Paris where he lost his
first match by points. Then he had a contract to compete in eight matches. In
one of them he defeated a famous boxer (Ganzelle) by knocking him in the second
round. Later, he went to Czechoslovakia where he played one match with one of
the champions there, and knocked him down. In 1939, he returned to Lebanon,
then to Palestine. During the WWII he was sent by the British authorities to
work as a translator in one of the Turkish islands near Syria. There, he felt
great passion for boxing, so he decided to visit Aleppo where he defeated the
Syrian champion Muhammad Kheir (the Lion of the East) by knockdown. In Beirut the brothers Khalil and Ibrahim
Mahjoub organized the revenge match between Saliba and Muhammad Kheir. However,
Saliba defeated Kheir by knocking him down in the fourteenth round. After 1948,
Saliba moved to Lebanon, where in 1950 he matched with the Armenian-Lebanese
champion Hrant Gazarian. Sanharib died in Beirut in 1993.[iii]
Until the end of 1947, many
matches in boxing were held between Sanharib Saliba, Adib Dasuqi, Nobar Kibril,
and Mardos Bokreshian.[iv]The
sport’s column in Filastin describes one of the rival matchs between
Adib Dasoqi and Sanharib Saliba which was organized by the Arab Labor Union in
Haifa [Jam’iat al Ummal al-Arabia]:
After the end of the first
match, music of the Arab Sports Club has been started, then Sanharib Saliba
ascended to the ring followed by al-Dasuqi.
Applause and chanting filled the hall. The British referees took their
places around the ring”. This match ended with 172 points to Adib, 169.5 to
Sanharib. [v]
[i]Ijjawi Khalid,al-Haraka
al-Riyadiya al-Falastinia fi al-Shatat.[Palestinian Sports Movement in the
Diaspora], Damascus, 2001. P.29.
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