Palestine XIII aim to play games against Lebanon and Morocco

Philip Kingsland - 19/1/2012

Palestine XIII will aim to play against Lebanon later this year, with officials discussing the opportunity to play in the MENA Championship, with the Rugby League European Federation (RLEF) also in talks with Morocco.

The discussions are being led by the MENA Regional Director, Remond Safi, who monitors the progress of Rugby League amongst Palestinians from his office in Lebanon.

Lebanese continue to play a fostering role in assisting the growth of the sport amongst Palestinians in Lebanon, as Remond Safi mentioned, "they share the same training fields, and players from Palestine are playing with the Lebanese Clubs and Universities".

The Palestinian XIII Team, which first played last year, in a United Nations event, is formed by Palestinians playing in the Lebanese domestic competition, the Bank of Beirut Championship, and some who first learned the sport in the United Nations Schools and in the Refugee Camps.

The possible creation of a future Palestinian XIII team can be credited to a concerted effort to spread the game more widely amongst young Palestinians living outside of Palestine.

One person in particular, Rabie Masri has been quite proactive in getting the ball rolling. A former player of the Championship team AUST, Rabie initially drafted a plan for getting the game started in Palestine as part of a project he submitted to University. Rabie has since taken his vision further resulting in the formation of teams being raised from young Palestinians living in Refugee Camps with the assistance of the United Nations. His objective was to give young Palestinians, many of whom lack aspirations and focus, something positive to get involved in.

The future challenge however, will be to grow the sport domestically in Palestine so that they may independently operate without supervision from the RLEF. Only through way of local efforts will the sport ever secure a sense of permanency.

To achieve this, recognition of the sport must be attained by the Government of Palestine, a task which is proving difficult.

Historically, the region of Palestine has been marred by conflict and dispute. The two largest political organizations, Hamas and Fatah are often unable to cooperate with each other all awhile the State of Palestine is yet to be recognized by the United Nations Security Council. Exactly who has the authority to recognise the sport of Rugby League on behalf of the Palestinian people has been the subject of confusion for at least 4 years.

Danny Kazandjian, General Manager of the RLEF has been assisting with the efforts in Palestine. In addition to providing technical training and support for MENA officials, the RLEF has been at the forefront in trying to get the sport recognised in Palestine. Danny was able to comment that this task "has been the hardest association to set up in my experience, due to the inherent politics", also noting that "After four years we still do not have a clear idea about the definitive government agency charged with overseeing sports federations, both within the Territories and throughout the Diaspora".

Some movement may possibly be on the horizon however as Danny acknowledged the recent assistance being provided by a Member of European Parliament (MEP) who sits on a committee dealing with Palestinian Authority and who is liaising with the various political factions in order to find out the official route to take in getting the sport recognised.

In the meantime however, there is still plenty of Rugby League to be played.

With a Palestinian XIII team possibly entering the MENA Championship for the first time this year, the people involved in making this possible make no hesitation in mentioning future World Cup aspirations, much like their soccer-playing compatriots, who play FIFA World Cup Qualifiers as independently recognised Palestine.

Regardless of whether they do compete or not, the joy that the game has helped spread amongst the people living inside Lebanon is a commendable achievement in its own right.

If any readers are interested in sponsoring any part of the Palestinian effort, you can email me at phil.kingsland@rugbyleagueplanet.com and I can forward you the relevant contact details.