No Clichés Needed: The Jerusalem Pitch Bringing Everyone Together
In partnership with the European Union, Jerusalem is a city of contrasts, but when they step onto the pitch, everyone comes together and differences stay outside. In Hapoel Jerusalem’s Neighborhood League, Jewish and Arab, religious and secular children meet every week for matches in which friendships are formed across communities. Once a year, however, there is a cross-continental match between the league’s coaches and staff and the ambassadors of the European Union. Watch the full report: Football, the European Union (Photo: Shahar Gross)
“We decided to support this amazing program, Hapoel Jerusalem’s Neighborhood League, because it is simply so inspiring. It connects children from different neighborhoods in Jerusalem, who come from different backgrounds and religions,” said Michael Mann, the European Union ambassador to Israel, who shares the league’s vision of coexistence. About two years ago, the European Union began supporting the Neighborhood League, allowing the club to run the project on a broad scale, funding certified coaches, purchasing sports equipment, renting pitches and operating the weekly learning centers for hundreds of boys and girls in Jerusalem.
3 Gallery view European Union ambassador to Israel Michael Mann in the opening remarks to the participants (Photo: Benjamin Weissman)
Beyond the financial grants, European Union ambassadors come every year to show their support in person on the pitch. The latest tournament, held in mid-May in Emek HaArazim, brought diplomats from the Netherlands, Bulgaria, Portugal, Germany, Poland, Slovenia, Cyprus, Slovakia and Greece onto the grass to face the home team, the coaches and staff of the Neighborhood League.
“The main meaning of this day for me is partnership. Peaceful coexistence, tolerance and, of course, a love of football,” said Maya Solomo, Greece’s ambassador to Israel, who was among the participants at the event and absorbed the unique energy of the Neighborhood League. On that moving day, a festive tournament was also held to conclude this season’s activity for the league’s boys and girls. Wassem, one of the league’s players, said, “I’m very excited. There is a pleasant atmosphere and we are friends.” Ethan, a player on another team in the league, declared, “We came today to bring home the cup, play and enjoy ourselves. I like meeting children I don’t know, and it’s fun to play football with them too.”
3 Gallery view European Union ambassadors who came to the “Neighborhood League” match (Photo: Benjamin Weissman)
Not just sport, an educational and social framework
The Neighborhood League is the brainchild of Hapoel Jerusalem fans, one of the few clubs in the country owned by its supporters. It began as an idea to run football programs with added value and grew into a true Jerusalem institution. Today, the Neighborhood League has about 600 boys and girls from 17 different schools, and it encourages children from every sector equally, 14 of the 37 teams in the league are girls’ teams. These are not standard youth teams. Alongside each team operates a learning center, where the children receive pedagogical support from volunteer students, through programs such as Perach, who also serve as role models. Indeed, from this environment have emerged sporting talents who have achieved notable success, such as Awuka Asta and Lior Kassa in the senior teams, and Adva Buchholtz in Israel’s girls’ national team.
The annual cross-continental match of the Neighborhood League (Photo: Benjamin Weissman)
“This is truly a unique opportunity for these children, an opportunity to get to know one another in a relaxed atmosphere, where they do not have to think about who they are or where they come from, and just enjoy themselves and make new friends,” Mann explained. The European Union’s support aligns with the league’s values. “We are always looking for an organization that believes in our values, in the values that everyone is equal, everyone should be equal, to play on the same pitch and with the same ball. We are very happy that the European Union has joined our system,” said Mohammed Basha, who is responsible for the Arab sector at Hapoel Jerusalem.
Lior Huga, Hapoel Jerusalem’s social activities manager, summed up the project’s guiding philosophy: “This is the agenda that Hapoel Jerusalem believes in. It is a shared life, coexistence in the city of Jerusalem. This message is without clichés, it is a unifying message that comes down when you see Jewish and Arab, secular and religious children on a football pitch.”
3 Gallery view Michael Mann, the European Union ambassador to Israel, handing out prizes to the winners (Photo: Benjamin Weissman)
The league’s influence is visible and continues beyond the club’s operating hours. “In the long run, they begin to create some kind of social connection between them, and it continues, whether at school, later in their studies, and in some cases also at work. We also have players who went on to coach with us at the club,” Basha noted. “It doesn’t matter whether you know the language or not, it doesn’t matter whether you have all the tools. Find one thing that connects the two people and continue with it, and we are here, we have the ball that connects all the teams.”
In partnership with the European Union
