By Katie El Tahchi | Staff Writer

In Politics, a country’s power can be defined in two types: hard and soft. Hard power is generally based on the army and military force, while soft power leans towards the culture and history of a country. Sports can be a relative part of soft power because by asserting itself in different competitions worldwide, a country’s popularity can grow with the attention it gets. In addition, as we’ll notice later on, persistence in the sports field can be used to prove a point, to show a country’s endless fight against oppression.

With the recent horrible events taking place in the region, it is necessary to support all aspects of Palestinian culture, including the athletic one. Palestine has shown some success in weightlifting and rugby, but the most effective sport to send a message is undoubtedly football because of its popularity.

Mohammed Hamada, a 22-year-old Palestinian, is the first Gazan to compete in the weightlifting Olympics. In 2022, he won a Gold medal in the IWF (International Weightlifting Federation) Junior World Championship in Greece for his 102 kg snatch lift (Reuters, 2022). Moreover, Hamada is not the only Palestinian weightlifter to compete, with Subreen Dari also representing Palestine. Subreen is a 37-year-old woman, and although she was born and raised in the United States, she decided to represent her roots during the competition (Bruck.T, 2022). She’s the first woman to represent Palestine on an international level. Despite landing in 14th place, her mere participation was enough of a statement. Mohammed Hamada and Subreen Dari have made their mark in the weightlifting world, and even if the list of Palestinian lifting athletes remains short, it is only the beginning.

However, for the Palestinian rugby team, the story is quite different. A written interview with Ziad Agha, captain and player of the Palestine rugby team, mentions that their base is actually in Lebanon. They have been trying to grow as an independent team, by giving workshops and training sessions and receiving support from Asia Rugby and Afghanistan Federation. Recently, on January 20th, the 9s Tournament of the Lebanon Rugby League took place, and Palestine came in 5th place. In April of last year, the Palestine team even played against the AUB rugby team where AUB won.

Additionally, Ziad Agha mentioned that when the Palestine national team plays internationally, they join forces with Jordanian players too (Agha Z, 2021). This could show how unified certain countries of the Arab world are, even if politically they don’t announce it loud and clear. Sports can be an incredible way for a person, or a country, to deliver a message. Ziad Agha’s answers are quite informative, mentioning how the team joined the West Asia Rugby 7s for the first time in 2021. He accurately describes the feeling of playing for your country, “every small success I have reflects my country’s strength and resilience, and every cooperative step taken by the team shows the unity the country breathes into us” (Agha Z, 2021).  This beautifully expressed extract further attests to how sports are another way of unifying people, strengthening a culture, and even a country. There is no better way to show this than with rugby, as it is a naturally violent sport, if not the most violent. It underlines strength and solidarity, something Palestinians should be proud of.

The national football team, which remains the most popular Palestinian sports team, is the team that the nation can be most proud of. Firstly, the team with various nicknames, “Lions of Canaan”, “The Fedayoon”, and “The Knights”, was established in 1928 but had to wait until 1998 to be recognized by FIFA. Their first match that year was played against Lebanon, and they came out winners, sending a powerful opening statement. In 2018, the team was placed 73rd in the FIFA ranking, its highest yet. Although the history of football in Palestine is quite significant and can date back to the Ottoman Empire, we will focus on a more recent event, the AFC Asian Cup currently taking place. The national team has marked history with its first-ever AFC Asian Cup win to reach knockouts against Hong Kong, with a spectacular 3-0 win (Regan H, 2024). Even if the team isn’t placed highly in the league, their performance will not be overlooked. They are playing with twice as much nationalism as usual, with the flag proudly displayed on their chests and a thirst for success.

Just like any other nation, Palestine has a diverse range of sports teams, other than the three discussed sports, one could shed light on the basketball team that showed impressive performances during the FIBA Asia Cup 2023, as well as the boxing and horse riding team. But it is undeniable that a certain message needs to be spread with the practice of these sports. The teams are coming out strongly even if some hardly have access to gyms and proper training accommodations (Agha Z, 2021). Nevertheless, Palestinian athletes have shown resilience, unity, and discipline, especially with everything they have been going through. Their superhuman mentality was on display to the whole world to see as they represented their country despite the political dangers that they were exposed to, which included getting kidnapped (Beiler R, 2016; K.T, 2023). While the nation was being punished and having its identity almost stripped away, athletes have done an incredible job at keeping their country’s flag up and high. With the use of soft power, they are letting the world know that they are here to stay, forever.

Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_sport_in_Palestine

https://www.haaretz.com/middle-east-news/palestinians/2021-07-21/ty-article/meet-the-first-palestinian-weightlifter-to-compete-in-the-olympics/0000017f-e4ab-d7b2-a77f-e7afda8b0000

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_records_in_Olympic_weightlifting

 https://spectrumnews1.com/oh/columbus/news/2022/03/08/weightlifter-will-be-first-female-to-compete-in-international-competition-for-palestine-

 https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/more-sports/others/gaza-weightlifter-mohammad-hamada-wins-gold-at-greece-junior-world-championships/articleshow/91444613.cms

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weightlifting_at_the_2022_Asian_Games_%E2%80%93_Women%27s_55_kg

 https://www.goal-click.com/football-photography-stories/ziad-agha

 https://www.asia-basket.com/Palestine/basketball-National-Team.aspx#google_vignette

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Palestine_national_football_team

 https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/24/sport/palestinian-soccer-asian-cup-knockouts-gaza-war-intl-hnk/index.html

 https://electronicintifada.net/blogs/ryan-rodrick-beiler/three-palestinian-football-players-arrested-israel

 https://english.wafa.ps/Pages/Details/140090

 https://www.instagram.com/palestinerugbylive?igsh=MTJkcDhyaXFraGIwZg==

 https://www.instagram.com/lebanonrl?igsh=bXEzc3RzZ3o2Y3Vp

 https://www.instagram.com/aubrugby?igsh=MTBwbmc3M3c3OTViNA==