Issam Khalidi
Examining Arab-Jewish athletic relations in
Mandate Palestine one will find a number of athletic meetings - mostly in
football and boxing - that took place between the two communities. In general, these relations were limited, they were not based on administrative-organizational foundations and
close friendly cooperation. Obviously, they have been subject to
Political conditions. It is quite clear that
the main
purpose of the Jewish immigration to Palestine was focused on building the
National Home. Co-existence and cooperation with the Arabs were not part of the
Zionist agenda. On the contrary, the exclusion and marginalization of Arab
population was on the top of the Zionist priorities, especially after encountering an
unexpected strong resistance by the Arabs.
The
intention to create the Jewish National Home is to cause the disappearance or
subordination of the Arabic population, culture and language. [1]
Yosef Weitz, the director of the Jewish National Land Fund on December 19,
1940, wrote: It must be clear that there is no room for both peoples in this
country. [2]
Zionist
and Israeli anxiety has always centred on two questions: the Arab environment
and world opinion. In building the Jewish state, the Zionists constructed in
their own minds a dehumanized image of the Arabs as politically and socially
unworthy. This helped them to dismiss the ethical problem of displacement and
to justify the transformation of Palestine into a Jewish state. [3]
As early as 1907 Dr. Yitzhak Epstein (1862 - 1943)warned his fellow Zionists of this oversight:
Among the grave questions linked with the concept of our people's renaissance on its soil, there is one question which is more weighty than all the others put together. This is the question of our relations with the Arabs. Our own national aspirations depend upon the correct solution of this question. It has not been eliminated. It simply has been forgotten by the Zionists and is hardly referred to at all in its true from in Zionist literature. (quoted in Aharon Cohen, Israel and the Arab World (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1970), p. 60.) At the same time, Arabs did not show the desire to cooperate with the Zionists. They were critical to see that athletes and teams who were competing with them were Jewish immigrants seeking to replace them in their homeland. "It is important to understand in this regard that Palestinians did not see Jewish immigrants to Palestine primarily as refugees from persecution, as they were seen by most of the rest of the world. They saw them instead as arrogant European interlopers who did not accept that the Palestinians were a people or had national rights in their own country, believed that Palestine instead belonged to them, and were coldly determined to make that belief into reality. There was further a stubborn insistence on the part of most Arabs on seeing Jews as members of a religious rather than a national group (this attitude was to linger on among Arabs generally for several decades). Thus while an attempt to come to some sort of accommodation with Zionism might have been diplomatically wise, it was most probably doomed to fail because of both the drive of the Zionist movement for supremacy in Palestine, and the natural resistance to this drive of the indigenous population." wrote Khalidi.[4] The fact also that no Palestinian, regardless of his political stripe, has been able to reconcile himself to Zionism suggests the extent to which, for the Palestinians, Zionism has appeared to be an uncompromisingly exclusionary, discriminatory, colonialist praxis. [5] Migdal and Kimmerling point out that the ancient conflict between two great civilizations, the Arab and the Israelite, and two great religions, Islam and Judaism, only amplified the political conflict of the century. [6]
As early as 1907 Dr. Yitzhak Epstein (1862 - 1943)warned his fellow Zionists of this oversight:
Among the grave questions linked with the concept of our people's renaissance on its soil, there is one question which is more weighty than all the others put together. This is the question of our relations with the Arabs. Our own national aspirations depend upon the correct solution of this question. It has not been eliminated. It simply has been forgotten by the Zionists and is hardly referred to at all in its true from in Zionist literature. (quoted in Aharon Cohen, Israel and the Arab World (New York: Funk and Wagnalls, 1970), p. 60.) At the same time, Arabs did not show the desire to cooperate with the Zionists. They were critical to see that athletes and teams who were competing with them were Jewish immigrants seeking to replace them in their homeland. "It is important to understand in this regard that Palestinians did not see Jewish immigrants to Palestine primarily as refugees from persecution, as they were seen by most of the rest of the world. They saw them instead as arrogant European interlopers who did not accept that the Palestinians were a people or had national rights in their own country, believed that Palestine instead belonged to them, and were coldly determined to make that belief into reality. There was further a stubborn insistence on the part of most Arabs on seeing Jews as members of a religious rather than a national group (this attitude was to linger on among Arabs generally for several decades). Thus while an attempt to come to some sort of accommodation with Zionism might have been diplomatically wise, it was most probably doomed to fail because of both the drive of the Zionist movement for supremacy in Palestine, and the natural resistance to this drive of the indigenous population." wrote Khalidi.[4] The fact also that no Palestinian, regardless of his political stripe, has been able to reconcile himself to Zionism suggests the extent to which, for the Palestinians, Zionism has appeared to be an uncompromisingly exclusionary, discriminatory, colonialist praxis. [5] Migdal and Kimmerling point out that the ancient conflict between two great civilizations, the Arab and the Israelite, and two great religions, Islam and Judaism, only amplified the political conflict of the century. [6]
It’s a matter of fact, that Arab sports
lagged behind Jewish sports. The awareness of the
Zionist leadership about the benefits of sports was higher than among the
Arabs. The Jews came to Palestine from developed
industrial societies. Definitely, they brought with them physical culture and
the culture of sports. The yishuv, and the Zionist movement that
represented it, in consequence received powerful external support, both from
many of its coreligionist elsewhere and from the greatest imperial power of the
day, as well as from the League of Nations. [7]
All the gauges of the economic, social, and political advancement of the yishuv
– the massive import of capital, the inflow of highly skilled human capital,
the community’s predominantly urban nature, its high degree of ideological
homogeneity, its unique social makeup and governing structures – when taken
together, indicate its capacity for generating considerable state power.[8] There is
no doubt that the contest in Palestine has been between an advanced (and
advancing) culture and relatively backward, more or less traditional
one. But we need to try to understand what the instruments of the contest were,
and how appears to confirm the validity of the Zionist claims to
Palestine, thereby denigrating the Palestinian claims. In other words, we must
understand the struggle between Palestinian and Zionism as a struggle
between a presence and an interpretation, the former constantly
appearing to be overpowered and eradicated by the latter. What was this
presence? No matter how backward, uncivilized, and silent they were, the
Palestinian Arabs were on the land.[9]
While the Zionists regarded sports as
another means to strengthen the military effort, the Arabs saw it as part of an enhanced national identity and
consciousness. The Zionist leadership viewed
establishing athletic federations and committees as a means of achieving
overall Zionist goals of establishing and legitimating Zionist claims to
Palestine. These official organizations helped represent Palestine as
"Jewish," both regionally and internationally, and were seen as
instrumental in achieving the leadership's national and political goals. For
example, in 1924, the leadership of the Jewish Maccabi athletic organization
attempted to gain membership in the International Amateur Athletic Federation.
This initiative ended in failure as it was determined that Maccabi did not
represent Arab, British and Jewish sportsmen in Palestine equally.
However, this unsuccessful attempt did not discourage Maccabi leader Josef Yekutieli, who in the beginning of 1925 attempted to gain Maccabi membership in the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Yekutieli decided to employ a different tactic this time: he first established the Palestine Football Association PFA. [10]The federation's inaugural meeting was convened in the summer of 1928. Immediately, after being accepted in FIFA, the Jewish leadership started to dominate the Palestine Football Association by ensuring that Jews were the majority in it. This was accomplished by such strategies as imposing the Hebrew language and incorporating the Jewish flag in the federation's logo. [11]
However, this unsuccessful attempt did not discourage Maccabi leader Josef Yekutieli, who in the beginning of 1925 attempted to gain Maccabi membership in the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). Yekutieli decided to employ a different tactic this time: he first established the Palestine Football Association PFA. [10]The federation's inaugural meeting was convened in the summer of 1928. Immediately, after being accepted in FIFA, the Jewish leadership started to dominate the Palestine Football Association by ensuring that Jews were the majority in it. This was accomplished by such strategies as imposing the Hebrew language and incorporating the Jewish flag in the federation's logo. [11]
The Zionist attention
was focused on the collaboration with the British. Since
the outbreak of these events [Revolt of 1936], an intensive effort was made in
the Jewish Yishuv to hold sporting contests in football, swimming, water polo
and hockey against the army units, in an attempt to bring British soldiers
closer to the Zionist settlement in Palestine. ‘The scope of interest of most
army and navy personnel is limited to two: women and sports’, Nachum Chet, one
of the heads of Maccabi, maintained in a memorandum he wrote in September 1936.
Chet concluded that ‘The first field is not for us, therefore sport is in fact
the only field where we could find a common language and ground between our
youth and most of the army and navy’. Chet wished to build good relations with
the military because, in the face of the ‘Arab Revolt’, ‘the life of the Yishuv
and all its material property were given to these forces for protection and
defense. [12]
At the time when the Zionists dominated
sports and marginalized Arabs and
cultivated cooperation with the British at any price. In a paradoxical manner, Jewish journalist Shimon
Samet in April 1936 wrote: "Perhaps at first a small group of Arab
sportsmen would be found, a group that would listen to our voice and claims
that sport and politics should not be mixed and that the good and mutual
relationship between sportsmen of both nations could bring about the
improvement in the friendship in general."[13]
Harrif and Galili mentioned that the Zionists exploited the 1936 Revolt in order
to sustain their relations with the British. Since the outbreak of these
events, intensive effort was made in the Jewish Yishuv to hold sporting
contests in football, swimming, water polo and hockey against the army units,
in attempt to bring British soldiers closer to the Zionist settlement in
Palestine.[14]
It’s a matter of fact, that Palestine has
always been represented by Jewish athletes teams and federations such as the Palestine
Football Association and federations of other sports. They did not represent Palestine as Palestinians,
rather as “Jewish”, from "Eretz Israel" Land of Israel. The international
orientation of the leaders of the Jewish Sports Movement in Palestine was
expressed in their attempts to nurture sporting relations with sports bodies in
neighboring Arab – Egypt, Lebanon, Syria and Trans-Jordan. An interesting
episode which emphasizes the importance they attributed to the symbols of
national uniqueness in the sport arena, as part of the ethos of a nation
striving to achieve its independence, took place in 1930: a team of Palestine
football players comprising six Jewish and nine British players toured Egypt.
The team, which was named the ‘Land of Israel Select Team’ had the letter ‘P’
(short for ‘Palestine’) on its uniform, while ‘LD’ (the initials of the Hebrew
name of Palestine – Land of Israel) was written in small letters. Due to this
fact, as well as to the playing failure of the team in its three games, against
the Cairo team (5-0), the Alexandria team (2-0) and a military team from Cairo
( 2-0) and a military team from Cairo (5-2), the trip was sharply criticized in
the Hebrew press:
We highly regard the friendly relations between our
country and the neighboring countries; indeed, sport can produce such
relations. Again, a team from the Land of Israel went to compete in Egypt.
Their uniform is not blue and white but black and white and their symbol is not
a Hebrew one but a big P and only small LD on its side…the team had to comprise
the country – only the inhabitants of the country and not military people who
travel here and there, and due to their temporary status in the land they
cannot be representatives of the country.[15]
As a reaction to this domination and to the
increase of Jewish immigration, some Arab young men established the Arab
Palestine Sports Federation APSF in 1931. Apart from anti-Semitism, it prevented
Arab teams from meeting with their Jewish counterparts. The anti-Zionist
newspaper Al-Karmil openly criticized the Adabi Club in Haifa for
competing with Ha-poel of Tel Aviv:
We have been upset to find that this club had violated the agreement
among the Arab clubs which states that it is shame to any Arab team to compete
with Zionist teams. We were informed that the Zionist teams have defeated the
Arab team in two matches. In this case, the administrative board has to be
blamed. We were surprised how it [Adabi Club] got involved in an act that
brought only failure and defeat. Anyway, we hope that this defeat will be a
lesson for the future.[16]
Repeatedly, after its
re-establishment in 1944, APSF’s statutes included a clause that prevented Arab
athletes and teams from meeting with their Jewish counterparts. In its internal
report APSF indicated that "it [APSF] combines from Arab (non-Jewish)
clubs and committees. No [Arab] team has to include any Jewish player. One of
the financial sources [of APSF] are
donations and grants from dignitaries or (non-Jewish) organizations." The
federation called the Arab teams to choose the referee they want, but not a Jewish one. YMCA which
was member of the this federation was exempted from the rules.[17]
Later, the central committee had been informed that
some Arab clubs received letters from the Jewish-dominated PFA offering them to
join PFA.[18] After the
re-establishment of the APSF there were two Arab federations for boxing: the
amateur which was affiliated with APSF and the professional which was
independent. The former continued meeting with the Jewish boxers until late
1945.
The Arabs opposed and warned about the
Jewish Maccabiad (Maccabiah) which was held in 1932 and 1935 in Tel Aviv. Also,
they put pressure on the YMCA and forced it not to withdrew its participation
in this event. Filastin published articles which confronted the Maccabiah
event. The Maccabiah Games became a good example of how athletic events (with
marches and flags) were exploited in order to achieve political goals. Hosting
thousands of Jews from dozens of countries, the event stirred Jewish
nationalism and provided a means of introducing Jews to the future homeland. [19]
Due to the
1936-39 Revolt, the activities of the (Arab) Palestine Sports Federation were
suspended. Some clubs had to join the Zionist-dominated PFA and took part in
its leagues. Among the teams were Shabab al-Arab (Haifa), Tirsana (Haifa),
Islamic Sports Club (Haifa), ISC (Jaffa), Orthodox Club and Christians Club (Jerusalem),
with other two Armenian teams Hoychmen in Haifa and Homentmen in Jerusalem. Shabab El Arab easily collected the full points
in their Palestine League, Haifa Division game with Haifa Maccabi, scoring ten
goals without any reply from Maccabi.[20]
After the re-establishment of (Arab) Palestine
Sports Federation PSF in September 1944, a noticeable growth in Arab sports
occurred especially on the organizations level.
Since the twenties until 1943, meetings in
boxing were held between Jewish and Arab boxers. Under the title “Syrian
Champion Beaten”, Palestine Post
brought this news about this boxer. Obviously, it intentionally ignored his Palestinian
identity, while mentioning the Jewish as a local:[21]
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.[22]
At the same time, because of the political atmosphere
these meetings were not devoid of feuds and frictions. Constantly chanting
enthusiastic cheers and raising the Zionist flags provoked the feelings of the
Arabs. Al-Difa’ brought this news in November
1934, which constituted the degree of hostility between
the two communities when students of the
Scottish College team in Sarafand and the Arab Sports Club from one side fought
with the players of the second Maccabi and Hapoel teams in Tiberias because the
former refused to stand a minute of silence for the death of the Baron Rotchild
before a game between the Scottish College and the second Maccabi-Hapoel team.[23]
Most of this news was characterized with nationalistic tendency, intentionally
directed to reveal the sentiments of rejection toward the Zionist immigration
and colonization in Palestine.
In December 1945, the Arab League announced
that its seven member States would boycott all Jewish-produced goods from
Palestine beginning Jan. 1. The league’s secretary-general, Abdul Rahman Azzam Bey,
said the boycott was ordered because Jewish industry in Palestine was “based on
Zionist funds, collected in foreign countries, to serve a political purpose:
the establishments of a Jewish national home and State in Palestine.” Arab
groups in Palestine are represented in its councils. [24]
Responding to this “Boycott”, Palestine Post published the
following news: Problems created by the anti-Zionist boycott are dealt with in
a leading article in the Christian daily "L'Orient" by its political
by editor, M. Labake, in connection with the Tel Aviv Ski Club's decision no
longer to visit the Lebanon.A letter from the Club had explained that in view
of the anti-Zionist boycott they preferred to ski in Cyprus. M. Labake goes on
to say that his article was written specially for consideration in Cairo,
Baghdad and Damascus, that they might know that the boycott had harmed the
Lebanon more than Palestine. The Lebanon was never a large client of Palestinian
industry, but Palestine was an important supplier, and in certain cases an
exclusive supplier.The Lebanon ceased obtaining from Palestine chemical and
pharmaceutical products which could not be had from Europe or America, and
Palestine had stopped buying Lebanese farm produce, which was now being
destroyed.The smuggling of Palestinian goods was continuing however, and indeed
becoming a kind of national institution. It was an expensive enterprise doomed
to failure. The article demands that the Arab league should consider the
payment of compensation to cover Lebanese losses, and concludes by asking why
Lebanese obedience to the Arab League was so poorly repaid. It is understood
that the "L'Orient" 's viewpoint is widely shared.[25]
The Zionist-oriented newspaper Palestine
Post tried to refute the allegations that the boycott had positive effect
in general by reporting that the Friends Boys School in Ramallah held their
Annual Field Day over the weekend and once again the meeting was full of
interest, with the track and field events being run off with the usual
keenness. The "boycott" reported to have been proclaimed against the
sports appeared to have an opposite effect, as quite a number of people turned
up to see how the boycott affected the sports. As a consequence there seemed to
be more people present than usual.[26]
Far from
politics and Zionist dreams in
Palestine, it is worth mentioning that in many cases Arabs and Jews showed
desire for sportsmanship, friendship and
good intentions in competing with each other, especially in football and
boxing. Palestine Bulletin and Palestine Post reported a number of news
about matches between Arabs and Jewish teams: A football match which was played
between an Eleven of the three Spanish battleship in the Haifa harbor, and a
selected team of Arab and Jewish players of Haifa resulted in a decisive
victory by 6 goals to nil."[27]
The match between “Kadimah” and a selected Arab team yesterday resulted in a
victory of 3 to 1 in favour of “Kadima."[28]
The Arab Sporting Club will meet the Hashmonai Football Team on the latter's
grounds tomorrow afternoon. Kick-off at 3.[29]
Haifa - The football match between the "Maccabi" and the Arab team on
Saturday afternoon resulted in a win of a 2 to 1 in favour of the Arabs.[30]
For the first time in Palestine a Jewish and Arab hockey match was played when
the Tel Aviv Police crossed sticks with the Amiria School, Jaffa, on the Bassa
Ground, the Police winning by 2 goals to 1.[31] The Jaffa Arab Sports Club visited Rehovoth
last Saturday for a game with the local Maccabi team and after an interesting
and lively game the score stood at three goals apiece. Playing with the wind at
their backs, the Arabs had more of the play in the opening half thank their
opponents and went into the second period with a lead of three to nil, Zaki
having netted all three. In the second half the Maccabi had the wind behind
them and succeeded in netting three goals to level the score. Zaki and Samara
were outstanding in the Arabs forward line, while for Maccabi, Liverman and
Madhalla excelled. [32] The football match between the “Maccabi” and the Arab
team on Saturday afternoon resulted in a win of 2 to 1 in favour of the Arabs.[33]
Filastin
and Difa’ often published news about athletic competitions between Arabs and
Jews from the end of 1920's until the Revolt of 1936, and when Arab clubs have
been members of the Jewish-dominated PFA 1939- 43. In basketball the Orthodox Club in Jaffa took
part in the tournament that was organized by the Federation of Amateur Sports
Clubs in Palestine FASCP in 1941/42 along with YMCA, Armenian Homentmen and
Hoychmen. In boxing most of the
well-known (Arab) Palestinian boxers (Adib Kamal, Adib Dasuqi, Sanharib Saliba,
George Najjar and others) met with Jewish boxers such as Ovadia Leniado.
Most of the leagues were affiliated with
associations except the Municipal League, Governmental League and the Flower
League. They were not affiliated with any Association and were open to any Club
who cared to compete irrespective of creed or nationality they therefore
escaped the political influence that were so predominant amongst Association
Leagues and Competitions and the games were played with perfect goodwill and
freedom. [34] Also, the YMCA in Jerusalem could
bring Arabs and Jews together. Its staff
and athletes consisted of British, Arabs, Jews, Armenians and others. They all
worked together for implementing the organization's mission.
Conclusion
Arab-Jewish athletic relations were
submitted to the Political conditions in Palestine. Zionist goals and Arab reaction to these
goals were main reasons behind the case of non-cooperation. Jewish-Arab
cooperation in general was not among the Zionist strategy in Palestine. Sport as other cultural element was used as an effective means for building the National
Jewish Home. The period 1944- 1948 was characterized with the lack of any cooperation between the two
sides. The application of APSF to join the FIFA (in order to represent Palestine and break the PFA's domination) was an indicator of the increasing competition and noncooperation between APSF and PFA.
Endnotes:
[1] David
Waines, "The Failure of the Nationalist Resistance," in The
Transformation of Palestine, ed. Ibrahim Abu-Lughod (Evanston, Ill.:
Northwestern University Press, 1971), p. 220.
[2]Edward Said, The Question of Palestine (New
York: Vintage Books, 1980), p99. From 1932 on, in 1965 his diaries and papers, My
Diary, and Letters to the Children, were published in Israel.
[3] Alan
R. Taylor, The Zionist Mind, (Beirut: The Institute For Palestine
Studies, 1974). p. 197
[4]Rashid Khalidi, The Iron Cage: The Story of
the Palestinian Struggle for Statehood(Boston: Beacon Press, 2007) 120.
[5]Edward Said, The Question of Palestine, p. 69.
[6] Baruch Kimmerling, Joel
Migdal, The Palestinian People, a history, (Cambridge: Harvard
University Press, 2003) 415.
[7] Rashid
Khalidi,The Iron Cage, p. 9.
[8] Rashid
Khalidi, The Iron Cage, p.21.
[9] Edward
Said, The Question of Palestine, 8-9.
[10] Kaufman, Haim. Jewish Sports in the Diaspora, Yishuv, and Israel:
Between Nationalism and Politics Israel Studies - Volume 10, Number 2, Summer
2005, pp. 147-167
[12]
Harif, H; Galily, Y. “Sport and
Politics in Palestine, 1918-1948: Football as a Mirror Reflecting the Relations between Jews
and Britons” . Soccer and Society, Vol. 4, no. 1, (Spring 2003), p. 41-56.
[13] Shimon
Samet, Ha'aretz, April 17, 1936. Quoted in Haggai, Harrif, Galily, Yair, “Sport and Politics in Palestine, 1918-48: Football as a mirror
reflecting the Relations
between Jews and Briton”. Soccer and Society, Vol. 4, No.1, Spring,
2003, pp.41-56
[14] Harif, H; Galily, Y. “Sport and Politics in
Palestine, 1918-1948: Football as a
Mirror Reflecting the Relations between Jews and Britons” . Soccer
and Society, Vol. 4, no. 1, (Spring
2003), p. 41-56.
[16] Al-Carmel,
10 October 1932.
[19] Issam Khalidi “Al-Maccabiad, al-Sahyooniya wa Istighlat
al-Riyada, al-Arabi Monthly No. 548, (Kuwait).
[24] NY
Times, December 4 1945.
http://www.israellycool.com/2016/02/11/know-your-history-arab-boycott-1945/
[27] Palestine
Bulletin, 26 August 1927.
[29] Palestine
Bulletin, 24 December 1930.
[30] Palestine
Bulletin, 21 May 1928.
[33] Palestine
Bulletin, 21 May 1928.
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