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Scores await Palestine football team’s arrival

by Salaamedia

By: Shakirah Thebus

 

Scores of people are anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Burj Al-Luqluq football team from occupied Palestine, at the Cape Town International Airport.

The team hails from the Burj Al-Luqluq Community Center and Society situated in the Old City of Jerusalem. The Burj Al-Luqluq is a non-profit organisation serving the needs of Jerusalemites within the Old City, with a particular focus on the Bab Hutta neighborhood.

Their life changing and dedicated work has continued for 33 years with the establishment of the centre as a result of concerns that the property owned by Palestinian families would be seized for the establishment of a Jewish settlement.

The Burj Al-Luqluq centre provides a space for sports, educational, cultural, and social activities for adults and specifically for children.

Present awaiting the team’s arrival were Palestine solidarity organisations, activists, and the broader public, carrying custom made posters and Palestinian flags, all expressing solidarity and support, as well as lamenting and condemning the ongoing genocide in Gaza, Palestine.

The football tour, while momentous, was not the first of its kind, but one of a few hosted by Sports Stepping Stones (SSS) and Sport 4 Humanity (S4H), adding to South Africa’s tangible expressions of solidarity with Palestine and further cementing support between the two nations.

This was particularly evident during the historic first of two matches when the Palestine National Football team played at the Athlone Stadium in Cape Town in February 2024, with President Cyril Ramaphosa; then Justice and Correctional Services Minister Ronald Lamola; former Sport, Arts and Culture Minister Zizi Kodwa; and former Department of International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor, along with Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis, in attendance.

Following the tour by the Palestine National team, Lajee Celtic, a football team from the Aida Refugee Camp in Bethlehem, visited Cape Town in July 2024 hosted by SSS and S4H.

These football tours do not solely cover sport alone, but allow for community engagement, cultural exchange, and learning more from South Africa’s struggle past and present, and the current struggles in Palestine.

During their visit, the Burj Al-Luqluq team is expected to be taken to Robben Island, Table Mountain, and importantly-interact with various communities and visit the array of Palestine solidarity murals in Salt River and Bo-Kaap.

The team will play their first match this Sunday, January 12, at Garlandale Football Club, 314 Imam Haron Road, Lansdowne at 2pm.

The team will be in Cape Town for five days and then will move on to travel to Benoni, Gauteng for another five day stay.

SSS has for over 20 years worked with youth from underserved communities, providing sporting opportunities and personal development through the medium of sport, while S4H emphasises the role of sport in creating better lives for all people through sport, interconnectedness, and a shared humanity.

 

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