History of Palestine Sports: Boxing in Palestine 1920’s

Issam Khalidi

Investigating the depth of history of sports in Palestine before 1948, one can make a conclusion that the level of boxing went beyond what is imagined. The number of clubs which their members practiced boxing and the emergence of well skilled athletes were behind this success. Boxing became a popular sport to the extent that it had become part of the athletic traditions that youth exercised. Comparing between the most popular two sports in Palestine at that time football and boxing, it will be difficult to determine which sport was more advanced. It is right that the number of football players was higher; however, obviously the level of performance and skills of Palestinian boxers were remarkable and extraordinary that they could exceed beyond the regional level. It is not surprising that about seventy percent of the sporting competitions and events in 1940’s between Palestine and Egypt were in boxing. The reason behind this was high skilled individual level of the Palestinian boxers. Not to mention that boxing distinguished for its excellent organization, discipline and sportsmanship. This does not mean that Palestinian footballers lacked high level of skill as individuals; rather they lacked the high skills as teams comparing to their Egyptian and Jewish counterparts. Abu Aj-Jibin noted that “Although football had big popularity; however, boxing reached the peak through a long time. The popularity of boxing exceeded any other sport."

In general boxing 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, 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.

Boxing in Palestine started in the twenties of the past century, when some clubs adopted this kind of sports which was mostly brought to Palestine by the British especially when they established Jerusalem Sports Club in 1920. Also, there is scarce and no exact information about when and how boxing entered Palestine. Presumably, the British brought their culture to Palestine which contained a variety of sports. In the early 1920's Filastin brought some news about boxing stating that the Orthodox Club in Jaffa (established in 1924) was one of the first to adopt boxing. Boxers of this club could match and defeat some of the Jewish boxers from the Maccabi (Jewish sports organization). In January 1927 this club defeated the Maccabi two to one.^{^[1]} In July 1927 it held a competition for Palestine’s championship between Adib Kamal Turk and the Jewish champion Frixman. ^{^[2]}

In the mid 1933’s a match was held between the Palestinian champion Adib Kamal (his name was mentioned often as Adib Turki or Adib Bek Cemal – originally form Turkey) and the Egyptian champion Ali Afandi Sadiq.^{^[3]} Later a Syrian champion by the name Mustafa Qabumi came to Palestine to compete with Palestinian boxers, he was on his way to Egypt to compete with the champions there such as Mukhtar Husein and Ibrahim Kamel.

Sports became a social phenomenon in the Palestinian society. It became recognized by wide sector of the population. At the same time, the number of athletic clubs constantly increased. Establishing Palestine Sports Federation in 1931 was the first step in institutionalization football in Palestine. However, this federation focused only on football.
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 immediately adopted boxing as a one of its major sports activities and promoted it to be the second 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-Mulakama wal-Riyada] was established. Later, officially, its name was changed to al-Nadi al Ghazi after King Ghazi of Iraq. Adib Kamal- president, Judah Turk – secretary and Wakim Nofi - treasurer, Towfiq Alya’qub, Sharif Hibeishi and Naim Abu Annasr -members, Amin Mirsal (later an activist in the Arab Workers organization in Haifa) – for secretary. A special ceremony was held for the opening. Among the attendees were dignitaries from Haifa, heads of the Christian and Islamic societies and clubs’ leaders.^{^[4]}

One of Difa’s newspaper’s correspondents visited this club in October he 1934 wrote:

In this club I met with an elite of young men. I heard many praising the Ghazi Club of Boxing and Sports; I conveyed with the president of the club Adib Kamal whom I found full of enthusiasm and concerned about the progress of the club. People were fascinated with the match between Kamal and the Romanian champion Khawaja Kransisco, in which Kamal won. People were pleased with the winning of Haidar Hamid over the champion of Palestine Police (Fish). He defeated him with the first blow. Also, Fawzi Ahmed competed with Salim Azzam and defeated him. While Ali Fakhr Eddin won over Khawaja Salmon, Majd Turki over the Jewish Libert, [not mentioned the first name] the win of Wakim Nofi over Khawaja David Aqiba. In general we were told that this ceremony represented a pride for the Arabs in Haifa."[[5

In 1934, the Arab Youth Club [Nadi Shabab al-Arab] was established in Haifa. It was emerged from the Salesian Club (Roman Catholic Salesian Congregation of St. John Bosco), which was established in the twenties and had made significant progress in sports. It made boxing one of its main sports activities beside football. Nadeem al-Zamarli was the main coach of boxing of this club. At that time, boxing had big part in promoting sports activities in the Islamic Sports Club in Jaffa. Dr. Haqqi Mazin was the main coach of this club. Under his supervision in March 1935 the first championship of boxing was organized in Palestine for light weight between Anton Boutaji and Adib Kamal (Cemal) Turki from the Ghazi Club in Haifa on the stage of Qahwat al-Sharq (Cafe of the East) of in Jaffa.^{^[6]} In July (1935), this club held a competition in boxing. Champions from Syria, Turkey and Palestine took part. In December 1935 the athletic committee in the Islamic Sport Club decided to assign Dr. Haqqi Mazin as a supervisor for all its athletic activities. In November, this club made an announcement calling all boxers, wrestlers and weight lifters to attend a meeting aimed to manage a championship in these sports. However, this championship was not held due to the break out of 1936 Revolt.

Palestine Sport Federation PSF (established in 1931 as a response to the Jewish-dominated Palestine Football Association) did not include boxing in its activities (football was its main concern), however it included clubs that practiced football and boxing - which was their minor sport.

In the mid-thirties a young boxer Adib Dasuqi (born in 1914) appeared on the sports arena. He started practicing boxing in the Islamic Club in Jaffa and trained by his coach at that time Dr. Haqqi Mazin – the chief of the athletic committee at this club.^{^[7]} In 1941, both Dasuqi and Mazin decided to establish a boxing club in Jaffa they called the ‘Olympic Institute’. It was famous for promoting boxing, It included few well-known boxers from Jaffa. It also included wrestling and weight lifting as major sports in addition to soccer team that did not achieve high results at that time. Olympic Institute was considered to be the main club for preparing boxers such as Adib Dasuqi, Shawqi Aghabi, Ya’coub Samara, Wakim Nofi and others. It organized many matches with Jewish and British athletes.

Expressing his admiration for this club (Olympic Institute), a board member of Jaffa’s Municipality wrote in Filastin in 1941:

“I was invited yesterday with a group of friends to visit the Jaffa Olympic Institute. It is an institute which specializes in teaching the youth the principles of boxing. It is obvious that the popularity of Mr. Adib al-Dasuqi in boxing went beyond Palestine and reached all neighboring Arab countries. We still remember his trip a month ago to Egypt where he was invited by the boxing clubs there to compete with the Egyptian champion Abdo Kibrit (who was defeated by Dasuqi previously). This achievement deserves appreciation and gratitude. By itself, it is a service which Dasuqi offers to his country; volunteering to raise its name and to promote its progress.

As we noticed yesterday that al-Dasoqi is a successful coach. He took the responsibility to train tens of young men in his institute the principles of boxing with new styles and methods. Actually, he could make of them a strong active team. Everyone of this team practices his own exercises such as rope jump, hanging balls boxing, facing each other as a successful training. This club raises the name of Palestine among all the Arab countries. We have a request that al-Yafiyyoon (the citizens of Jaffa) will appreciate the efforts of this club, and will motivate the youth to participate in its activities, so they can win in the future and raise the name of Palestine.”[8]

In March 1941 by the initiative of Dr. Haqqi Mazin the head of the Olympic Institute in Jaffa, a match in boxing was organized in order to support the British Red Cross, it was under the auspices of the mayor of Jaffa Abdel Raouf al-Bitar. Twenty four athletes took part in this occasion Arabs, British and Jewish. Dasuqi could defeat the Maccabi champion and the Polish- Jewish champion. [9]

Also at that time, few boxers appeared on the arena such as Sanharib Saliba from Haifa and Mardos Bokreshian from the Armenian Homentmen Club in Jerusalem.^{^[10]} Armenians were particularly strong in boxing. All Armenian matches were covered by the local press. Among the outstanding Armenian boxers, the most famous was Mardo Gozukutchukian, whose fights were attended by large enthusiastic crowds made up of all communities and even British soldiers. In 1940, “Boxer Mardo” won the title of the Near East Heavy Weight Champion after defeating the Egyptian champion, ‘Abdo Kibrit. [11]

Until, the end of 1947 many matches in boxing were held between Dasuqi, Saliba and Mardos Bokreshian.^{^[12]} The sport’s column in Filastin described a rival match between Adib Dasoqi and Sanhareeb Saliba which was organized by Arab Labor Union [Jamiat al Ummal al-Arabia] in Haifa:

After the end of the first match, and after music of the Arab Sports Club had been played, Sanharib Saliba appeared on the ring followed by al-Dasuqi, an atmosphere of applauding and chanting filled the hall. The British referees took their places around the ring”. This match ended 172 points to Adeeb, 169.5 to Sanhareeb. ^{^[13]}

After the 1936 Revolt, the sport movement was passing through a state of stagnancy especially in the field of soccer. The 1936 Revolt gave the Jewish sports organizations the opportunity to sustain their relations with the British athletes, while at the same time, especially in late 1930’s due to the absence of the PSF these organizations had the ability to polarize the Arab teams to their side. However, the games in boxing increased; many matches took place with the British and Jewish teams.^{^[14]}

In March 1941, on the stage of Cinema al-Hamra in Jaffa matches in boxing took place for the benefit of the Red Cross (WWII). Among the Arab boxers were Adib al-Dasuqi, Shawqi Aghabi, Hindawi, Shami, Fahil. Boxers representing the British Army, Palestinian Police, Jewish Maccabee and Hapoel took part also.

It is worth mentioning, that the first boxing association was organized in late 1930's. The British army and police made boxing one of their sports priorities. Not to mention that the Jewish Maccabee and Hapoel organizations made noticeable progress in this field. Many of their members’ coaches and boxer immigrated to Palestine from civilized industrial countries. Before 1944, many friendly matches were held between Arabs and Jews. However, the escalation of political conditions and Zionists continuous attempts to politicize sports by using it for their political goals and ignoring the existence of the indigenous people where among the essential reasons that the Arabs refused to hold any match with the Jewish counterpart after the re-establishment of PSF in September 1944.
PSF included boxing in a committee with wrestling and weight lifting. In 1946 it changed its name to (Committee of Heavy Games). In 1947, boxing was separated from wrestling and weight lifting. At the same time as Abu al-Jibeen mentions that there was another Professional Boxing Association existed at that time in which famous athletes took part as Adib al-Dasooqi, Mardo, Sanhareeb Saliba and others. [15]

In 1945 the Palestinian athletic leadership attempted to attract the British Mandate teams to its side after the relation between the British Mandate and the Zionist establishment became tense (in fall 1945)^{^[16]}. Unfortunately, Arab sports leadership did not differ from the traditional leadership who in general viewed British Mandate as a friend more than an opponent. However, Palestinian athletes saw in competing with the British teams a good training opportunity which could help them in achieving better performance and results. The statutes of the PSF did not prohibit competitions with British Mandate teams. Although many athletes and clubs violated the rules by taking part in competitions with their Jewish counterpart, however there is no information about penalizing those violators. In May 1945, the secretary of PSF responded to the claims which were published in Filastin about a match between Palestinian and Jewish athletes: “I have no knowledge about any agreement between the PSF and any other associations [Jewish] in Palestine regarding boxing or other sport.^{^[17]}

Since the 1920’s, the Jewish athletic organizations and teams sought to compete with their Egyptian counterpart because, first: the "Maccabee" organization (Zionist sports organization founded in late nineteenth century in Europe, later Maccabee World Organization moved to Palestine in mid 1920's) was seeking to strengthening the bonds of cooperation between all its branches wherever they existed, especially between the Maccabee in Palestine and Egypt. Second: in addition to their close cooperation with the British army teams in Palestine, the Jews sought to gain more cooperation with the British army teams in Egypt. Third: Sports in Egypt had made remarkable development. It became qualified to attract all sports teams in the region to compete and cooperate with it. Not to mention that some Egyptian athletes participated in Olympic Games and won medals.

After its re-establishment in 1944, one of PSF’s main concerns was to introduce the Arab sports federations to its presence, and to make them aware about the essence of the conflict in sports between the Arabs and Zionists in the athletic field. Always, Palestinians looked at Egypt as a big brother. They admired its cultural achievements including sports. The Egyptians completely realized the feelings and aspirations of their brothers in Palestine; they comprehended the nature of the conflict between Arabs and Zionists in Palestine. Therefore their competitions with the Jewish teams have been decreased, while at the same time the convergence between Palestinian and Egyptian athletes had been increased.

In May1944, just few months before the re-establishment of the PSF Dasuqi matched Mohammed Faraj the Egyptian champion in Mukhtar Club in Cairo the result was tie. At the same time, the Palestinian boxer Yousef Ma’rufah lost by points to his Egyptian counterpart Fahhar. In July the Palestinian boxers had few matches with the athletes of the Egyptian Moslem Brotherhood Organization. In August 1945, an Egyptian team of boxers, wrestlers and weight lifters visited Palestine. Among them were famous champions such as Mukhtar Hussein, Mohammed J’eisa, Khader al-Tuni (Olympic gold medalist) and Attiah Mohammed. The Egyptian team matched Haifa's selected team. The total result was the win of the Egyptian selected team 5-1. At that month also, under the auspices of the Egyptian Consul in Haifa, a competition in boxing was held between the Egyptian Railways selected team of Cairo and Haifa's selected team, ended with 5-1 for the former.

The Palestinian boxers visited Egypt and participated in the Butulat al-Sharq (Tournament of the Near East) . In 1945 Al-Dasuqi matched twice with the Egyptian champion Arafah al-Sayyed. Regarding the third match Dasuqi suggested that al-Sayyid could make a visit to Palestine, Dasuqi offered him three times [money] more than he [Dasuqi] got in Egypt. The newspaper al-Ahram accused Dasuqi of evading competing with al-Sayyed. Responding to al-Ahram’s (Egyptian main newspaper) commentary in January 1946, al-Dasuqi sent a letter to Filastin, mentioning that he invited al-Sayyed to Palestine, confirming that he went to Egypt twice. Therefore, now he invites his rival [al-Sayyed] to Palestine. He offers him money three times more than he got in Egypt, therefore, this is a generous offer. So there is no justification to accuse him [al-Dasuqi] in “evading”. Al-Dasoqi states that, the Palestinian fans welcome and would like to have this kind of matches in Palestine. ^{^[18]}

Despite what happened, Dasuqi agreed to travel to Egypt in June 1946 for winning the (Tournament of the Near East). He matched with Arafa Al-Sayyed the Egyptian champion who defeated al-Dasuqi on points. Adib fell down twice in the last round, therefore, Arafa al-Sayyed has been considered the winner. Commenting on Dasuqi’a performance the athletic commentator stated that Dasuqi’s performance went well, however, he frequently used his head. Also, he never used his left hand. If he can improve these negatives, certainly, he will be a great boxer. The game was composed of 12 rounds, every round was three minutes. Adib could endure the fight throughout the entire match.^{^[19]}

Filastin published news by its correspondent in Cairo:

The match in which Arafa al-Sayyed and Adib al-Dasoqi took part in order to win the title of the “Championship of the Near East” [Botoolet al-Sharq], that was one of the greatest matches in boxing ever held. Due to the intensive efforts, stress and endurance that Dasuqi showed, he made people who are interested in professional boxing thinking of organizing another match between Arafa al-Sayyed and Adib al-Dasuqi on the next August 13^th. This match will be held in Alexandria or Port Said. Until in Palestine a professional federation will be established, he will be officially granted the title (The Champion of Palestine) by the Egyptian Boxing Federation.”^{^[20]}

In mid May 1946 the Moslem Brotherhood invited Dasuqi and his colleagues to Cairo to compete with its teams in different Egyptians cities. Unfortunately, the Egyptian government gave visas only to half of the Palestinian teams. Dasuqi agreed to travel with four of his colleagues. This had a negative impact on the results. [The team] won two and lost two matches in Mansoura; three losses and one win in Alexandria; a tie in Port Said. These results were honorable for the Palestinian team, due to its humble abilities.

Husein Husni- a teacher of physical education (from Egypt) had criticized Dasuqi in his competition in Egypt, stating that Dasuqi spent most of his time moving between Egyptian cities, neither he nor his colleagues could get enough rest. Also, he did not follow a rational schedule for competition. He had four matches in one week in different cities.^{^[21]} Dasuqi won one in Cairo while his three colleagues lost all their matches. Also, in Alexandria, only one boxer won, and the other three lost. However, in Mansura, the result was very bad, the four boxers were defeated. In Port Said the result was the same. A kind of organization and management was missed in these matches.^{^[22]} Dasuqi refuted these results saying: “As it is known that my team was competing with the champions of the Egyptian Kingdom, with a population of 18 million, not to forget that it has a powerful ministry that can finance sports clubs, while my team can not be supported by any ministry.“^{^[23]}

The committee of boxing (affiliated with PSF) held a numerous of matches, such as the one which was held the in August 1946 at the Olympic Institute in Jaffa. Many athletes with different weights took part in this event; it lasted for few consequent days. Other matches were held between the clubs as the one which held between the Ikha’ (a team of Moslem Brotherhood Association) and the Arab Workers Association [Jamiat as-Umal al-Arabia], it was organized and conducted by Dr. Haqqi Mazin.^{^[24]}

The committee of heavy games [al-ala’ab al-thaqila] pursued to promote boxing. In one of its meetings in November 1946 it urged all athletic clubs to promote boxing, weight lifting and wrestling among their members. It encouraged the regional committees (Jerusalem, Jaffa, Gaza, Nablus, Haifa, and Galilee) of PSF to find new branch committees of heavy weight games in order to promote these games. In order to participate in Olympic Games which were to be held in Berlin in 1948, this committee through the support of PSF called for the registration of boxing in the International Association of Boxing. This committee also asked the athletes to buy the book of Hessein Husni about physical training. It asked the athletes to use the instructions as a mean for training.^{^[25]}

In 1947, boxing was separated from wrestling and weight lifting; it became an independent committee affiliated to the PSF. In order to assure the progress of boxing, this committee decided to delegate Abdel Karim al-Shawwa and Ali Talab to Gaza district; Livon Kashishian, Ghalib Abu Saoud and Ali Talaba to Jerusalem District; Ali Talab and George Najjar to Jaffa and Nablus district; Fadel al-Zayed and Abdel Rahman al-Habbab and Ali Talaba to Haifa Galilee district. In addition, PSF assigned members of this committee to establish branch committees in other regions (PSF divided Palestine into six regions: Jaffa, Jerusalem, Ghaza, Haifa, Nablus and Gallilee). ^{^[26]} The committee assigned the following to coach boxing: Haqqi Mazin, George Najjar, Yousef Ma’rouf, Abdel Karim al-Shawwa, Abdel Rahman Mirsal, Wakim Nofi, Sami Issa, Hassan Shalabi and Ghalib Abu Sauod. The PSF also assigned Haqqi Mazin as a technical consultant to the committee.^{^[27]} The PSF assigned Haqqi Mazin and George Najjar to form a selected team for Jaffa; Abdel Rahman al-Habbab and Fadel al-Zayed to form the Haifa selected team. A match between these two selected teams was held in March 1947.

In 1947 Dasuqi requested the High Arab Committee HAC for a financial support in order to travel to the United States to compete with the athletes there. Later, he received a letter from the Arab Office in Washington expressing its apology for the lack of ability in managing competitions between Dasuqi and American athletes because those who had the decisive power over boxing were Jewish. However, some of the Arab athletes there could overcome this problem, so they decided to set a match between Dasuqi and a Chicago champion. They sent Dasuqi an invitation to the United States. Dasuqi asked the High Arab Committee for financial support. Unfortunately, he received two letters from the Arab Office in Jerusalem and the Bait al-Mal al-Arabi (the Arab Fund) implied the lack of ability to help. Not to mention that Bait al-Mal al-Arabi allocated 25.000 pounds as an annual support to youth affairs such as PSF and scouts' teams. [28] In August 1945, Dasuqi inquired about the participation of Palestine in the Olympic Games; he asked if our concerned bodies started to prepare for the participation in these games.

Palestine Post, 23 December 1933

Endnotes

[1] Before 1948 there were three Jewish youth-athletic organizations: Maccabi, Hapoel and Beitar. The Maccabi organization was established in Palestine in the beginning of the twentieth century, the headquarters of the Maccabi World Organization was moved to Palestine in 1925. The ha-Poel was established in 1926; it was affiliated to the Histadrut (Jewish Working Association), and Beitar Movement is a Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. Beitar has been traditionally linked to the original Herut and then Likud political parties, and was closely affiliated with the Revisionist Zionist splinter group Irgun Zevai Leumi (well-known with its terrorist acts). Beitar paramilitary activities were disguised under sports and scouts activities.

[2] The last name appeared in Filastin without the first name.

Some sports news mentioned the last name without the first name.

[3] The author has been informed by one of Adib Kamal’s grandsons from Haifa that he was an officer in the Turkish Army. He remained in Haifa after WWI.

[4] Filastin, August 31, 1933

[5] Difa’ , October 21, 1934. Khawaja is a title used in the Middle East, South Asia, and Central Asia. It means Master or Lord. Originally and honorific, it later became common as a surname.

[6] Haqqi Mazin, a dentist originally from Turkey, his father was an officer in the Turkish army.

[7] Khair Addin Abu al-Jibin [Qissat Hayati fi Filastin Wal-Kuwait] My Life in Palestine and Kuwait, Dar al-Shorook, Amman, 2002. P. 453.

[8] Filastin, March 25^th, 1941

[9] Difa March 6^th, 1941.

[10] Khalid Ijawi. ‘Palestinian Sport Movement in Diaspora’, [al-Haraka al-Riyadia al-Falastinia fi al-Shatat], Damascus, 2001. P. 20-21.

[11] Armenian Sports Bedrosian: The Armenians of Palestine 1918-48, Journal of Palestine Studies Vol. XLI, No. 1 (Automn 2011), pp. 24-44.

In this reference the last name of Mardo is (Gozukutchukian), while in Filastin and Difa’ his name was often mentioned as (Bokreshian).

[12] Difa’March 22, 1942

Sanharib Saliba: (1919 – 1993) Born in Bethlehem, his real name was Aziz Abdallah. When he was thirteen he started practicing boxing with his coach Adib Kamal in Haifa. In 1935 he competed with the Egyptian Champion Abdo Kibrit. In 1936 he traveled to Lebanon, there he defeated the Lebanese champion Mustafa al-Arna’ot. Leaving Lebanon, he went to Italy and met with Bernati in a match under the auspices of the Duchy Mousseline 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 by the name Ganzelle with a knock down in the second round. Then he went to Czechoslovakia where he played one match with a champion 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 brother Khalil and Ibrahim Mahjoub organized the revenge match between Saliba and Muhammad Kheir. However, Saliba defeated Kheir by knockdown in the fourteenth round. After 1948, Saliba moved to Lebanon, he died in Beirut in 1993.

[13] Filastin, September 1, 1946.

[14] Khalidi, Issam, al-Haraka al-Riyadiyya al-Falastiniyya 1900-1948[Palestine Sports Movement 1900-1948], see: www.hpalestinesports.net

[15] Abu al-Jibin, p. 455-456.

[16] The tense in relations continued until the summer of 1946. It was due to the rejection of the British Authorities to allow the Jewish immigration (the Holocaust refugees) to Palestine.

[17] In November 1944 a competition was held between al-Dasooqi and the champion of the Palestine Police at the stage of Cinema al-Farooq in Jaffa. In August, some boxers of the Olympic Institute met with boxers from the Maccabi, two Arab boxers won.

[18] Filastin January 30 , 1946

[19] Filastin June 22, 1946

[20] Filastin June 24, 1946

[21] Husein Husni, An Egyptian Athletic Pioneer in Palestine [Raed Misri Lilriyada fi Falastin], Hawliyyat al-Quds, No. 5, p. 99-104 http://www.jerusalemquarterly.org/images/HPdf/5_husain.pdf

[22] Filastin May 26, 1946

[23] Filastin May 30, 1946

[24] Dr. Haqqi Mazin continued coaching the Islamic Sports Club in Jaffa. At the same time, he was very active in the boxing committee which was affiliated with the PSF. He took part in organizing and managing tens of games in boxing. He was a zeal fan of boxing for which he dedicated his time. Palestine is always grateful for all his efforts and dedication. After 1948, he moved to Turkey where he became a coach for the Turkish national boxing team.

[25] Difa’ November 3, 1946

[26] Filastin March 23, 1947

[27] Difa’ May 20, 1947

[28] During the fight between Arabs and the Jews in Palestine, Dasoqi was a member of a Palestinian battalion affiliated with the Egyptian army. During the blockade of Fallouja, he took part in several matches in Cairo. The revenue of these matches was allocated to support the martyrs’ families. In November 1949 Dasoqi worked as a physical education teacher and a coach at the Teachers College in Baghdad. Later, he was assigned an adviser to the Iraqi department of education and a coach for the Royal Club in Baghdad. Dasoqi took part in the preparation of the Iraqi national boxing team which could win many competitions. In 1953 Dasoqi moved to Syria, he had been assigned a coach for the ministry of defense there. He worked hard in preparing a team that could defeat the Lebanese selected team and tied with the Egyptian selected team in 1955. Settling in Amman Jordan, Dasoqi started again in forming his boxing club; he trained many famous boxers such as Fahd al-Tanbour who later became Jordan’s champion. In 1961 Dasoqi announced his challenge to the American champion Floyd Patterson aiming to win the world championship in boxing. In the 1970’s Dasoqi left to Quwait and worked as a coach for the Kuwaiti army. In the beginning of 1980’s he returned to Jordan where he died.