Asian Cup 2015: Palestine ready to make their people proud with deeds at tournament

FOR the Palestinian players lining up alongside Japan on Monday night, their pride will be swollen by the exposure their presence at the Asian Cup affords.

TO GO WITH STORY BY HOSSAM EZZEDINE (FILES) In this picture taken on June 1, 2014, Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas (C) receives, in his office in the West Bank city of Ramallah, the Palestinian national football team which won the AFC Challenge Cup. Palestine's football team's AFC Asian Cup first game against Japan will take place on January 12, 2015 in Newcastle in Australia. AFP PHOTO/ ABBAS MOMANI

SOMETIMES the national anthems before an international game seem almost irrelevant, but those at Hunter Stadium on Tuesday night carry more significance than most.

For the Palestinian players lining up alongside Japan, their pride will be swollen by the exposure their presence at the Asian Cup affords.

Briefly they can forget the daily tribulations of life under occupation, and through sporting means push their dream of Palestinian statehood with every pass and tackle.

Abdelhamid Abuhabib hopes Palestine can make an impression in Australia

Midfielder Abdelhamid Abuhabib knows that among the many thousands watching back home is likely to be his mother and sisters, the family he hasn’t seen for some three years.

They live in the Gaza Strip, the fought-over territory where he was born, some 60km for Nablus in the West Bank — where Abdulhamid now plays.

That’s 60km as the crow flies, but the only way he can see them is to drive to the border crossing with Jordan, wait for hours to advance and then drive to the Jordanian capital, Amman.

Then he must fly to Cairo, drive across Egypt to the border crossing with Gaza’s southern tip and spend hours trying to get through.

All the while he must sweat on being allowed to make the return journey. This extreme example is repeated daily at the checkpoints and border crossings through the Occupied Territories.

“We are under occupation, and that makes life very difficult for us,” Abdelhamid told The Daily Telegraph through a translator.

The Palestinian team meet with president Mahmud Abbas.

“We’re the only nation here at the Asian Cup that is under occupation. I haven’t seen my family for three or four years, just because I am from the Gaza Strip but now I live and play in the West Bank, in Nablus.

“It can take more than 48 hours, and sometimes I don’t even get the permission. In Gaza they close all the routes, for goods, for water, everything. They have no electricity, no water, no life.

“But all Palestinians are watching the team and they just want to be happy. So we are here to do our best for the Palestinian people and make them proud. When we won the Challenge Cup they went to the streets for dancing and singing.”

Winning the AFC Challenge Cup, in the face of substantial odds, allowed Palestine to grab the 16th and final spot at the Asian Cup, an astonishing achievement for a side that struggles even to train together consistently.

Admitted to FIFA in 1998, the national team carries huge status as a tool to advance the Palestinian people’s cause.

“The best moment for us will be when the national anthem is played in Australia at the Asian Cup,” Abdelhamid said.

The Palestinian warm up before last year’s Asian Games.

“That moment will show we are one of the best 16 teams in Asia.

“We are very proud that our national anthem will be played at the Asian Cup and it will be a strong message to the world. Sometimes sport is better than politics to make a point; we can use the Asian Cup to tell the world something, better than the political way.

“So we will do our best to win games, and maybe to make the next round.

“We’re going to meet some of the best teams in Asia, and Japan is the best. All of them are better than us, good in world terms not just Asia.

“But we will fight against them 100 per cent, or 200 per cent, and maybe we can win – and most of all maybe we can make Palestinian football popular all over the world.”

Originally published as Asian Cup 2015: Palestine ready to make their people proud with deeds at tournament