More than a soccer festival

CYNTHIA RAMSAY

The Vancouver International Soccer Festival embodies the adage, “It’s not whether you win or lose, it’s how you play the game.” That being said, VISF is a winner.

This year’s festival, which took place July 9-10 at Andy Livingstone Park in Vancouver, featured more than 48 teams – women’s, men’s and co-ed – competing in a World Cup-style seven-versus-seven tournament. With myriad other activities and amenities at the site, including wide-screen TVs to broadcast FIFA 2011 Women’s World Cup tournaments, VISF brought thousands out to see the more than 700 local and international soccer players compete in the event that was organized with the help of some 100 staff and volunteers.

The nonprofit One Team United for Development and Peace Soccer Society, founded by its current executive director, Adri Hamael, runs four programs: VISF, an annual soccer camp for women from war-torn regions, an international soccer-equipment program and a feed-the-athlete program, which primarily helps local homeless and new immigrant athletes. According to its website (oneteamunited.ca), One Team “exists to promote social change and global peace through soccer (football)” because soccer is one of the most popular games in the world: “The game transcends borders and barriers, and is among the most powerful tools for creating awareness about issues of global interest.”

On a more personal level, soccer is the game that Hamael says changed his life.

Hamael has focused his work on projects dedicated to social concerns and global peace, including having been a co-founder with Jewish community member Reena Lazar of Peace it Together (peaceittogether.ca), a B.C.-based program that brings Palestinian, Israeli and Canadian youth together “to promote peace through filmmaking and dialogue.” He also has volunteered extensively since moving to Canada from Jordan 16 years ago. In 2010, he spoke at a Global Civic Policy Society forum, “where he was selected as one of the 15 most interesting contributors to the cultural life of Vancouver.”

A Canadian citizen, Hamael was born and raised in the Middle East. On the One Team website, he shares his story:

“My Palestinian parents were forced to leave their homeland near the city of Ramallah, Palestine, after the 1967 war between the Jewish and Arab armies. After the war, my family became displaced refugees in Jordan.

“My father (an illiterate soldier) and my mother (an illiterate housewife) struggled to provide for me and my siblings. As a soldier in the Jordanian army, my father made less than $30 a month. My mother refused to accept help from the United Nations Refugee Food Program, which made our life more challenging.

“Then, I did not understand my mother’s position; however, that position shaped my entire life. By refusing to be victims and working hard, my parents inspired me to do the same. My illiterate parents taught me by example that if you work and study hard anything is possible.”

Six years old when he discovered his love of soccer, Hamael writes, “Playing soccer gave me comfort and much-needed escape from life’s cruelty. My favorite hours of the day were spent playing soccer with my friends on a rundown gravel field. When I played soccer, l felt free! Soccer gave me hope, and allowed me to dream of better days to come.” Hamael went on to graduate from the Al-Arabi Football Club Soccer Academy in Jordan, earning a spot on the Al-Arabi Football Club premier team. In Canada, he played for Westward United FC, which won the North Shore Men’s Soccer League five years in a row.

At 39, about the only place you won’t find Hamael at VISF is playing on the field, though he’s there beside it, overseeing everything. At an exhibition game last week, he and his wife, Melanie – who is also on the One Team board of directors – were cheering on all the players. Expecting their first child in less than a month wasn’t going to keep either Hamael from the game and, from speaking with a couple of the women on the Israel/Palestine team, it is easy to see why.

The Independent spoke briefly with Noor Daoud and Liraz Cohen, who were visibly eager, having just played a game and done a TV interview, to rejoin their fellow players and enjoy the rest of their night.

Daoud, 21, who is from the West Bank, said she recently completed her studies at Miami University; she has taken a year-long program in criminal justice and two years of fitness training. She is now working at a gym, in addition to playing soccer with an Israeli team. She played on the Palestinian national team, which took her to competitions in places like the United Arab Emirates, Germany and London, but had to change teams because she reached the de facto age-limit of the Palestinian team, which focuses on younger players.

Cohen, 22, is one of the Israelis on the VISF Palestine/Israel team. She said she had just finished a six-month vacation in the United States. She currently lives in Eilat, where she is a bartender, as well as a soccer player.

About the potential impact of VISF, Daoud said, “I think it will really, really help, because we’ve never gone out as both teams [together] like this, we never tried it, it’s our first time, and I’m really enjoying it because it’s been a long time [that] I wished this moment would happen. We’re here now and I’m really happy because we can show the world and everybody here that Israelis and Palestinians can mix and we can become one team. I hope one day we will have huge team in Israel and it will be mixed, Palestinians and Israelis.”

While Daoud was speaking, Cohen put her arm around Daoud’s shoulder in a show of camaraderie. “It’s good for peace, for the future,” said Cohen about VISF. “I think all people are the same and we need peace. That’s it,” she concluded.

The players for the Israel/Palestine team were recruited by regional director Miriam Abu Raya, explained Hamael in an e-mail interview with the Independent. The selection criteria were “skilled soccer player, team player, wholeheartedly believe in equality between Arabs and Jews/Israelis and Palestinians, willing to play under Israel-Palestine united, supportive of peace and social change and willingness to advance the values of ‘the beautiful game.’ Tryouts were held on monthly basis in Israel and Palestine until we found the right people. Eleven women and six men were selected from Israel-Palestine. Team coaching staff are Canadians Adam Kahnamelli and Cassandra Sammarco.”

In addition to soccer, there were several other activities arranged for the players while they were in Vancouver, including touring, social dinners and movie nights, said Hamael.

“They are getting along nicely,” he said about the team members. “My personal observation, and from past experience, is that they move from blame and comparison of suffering to understanding that we, Arabs and Jews, share the same values and share the same goal to live in peace and dignity.”

While the Palestine/Israel team receives a lot of the press, VISF competitors come from around the world. The almost 50 teams include Ireland, Afghanistan, Bermuda, Japan, Lil’wat, Musqueam, Canada, Philippines, Scotland, Djibouti, England, Fiji, Germany, Thailand, Holland and the United States.

“We are promoting cross-cultural understanding,” explained Hamael about VISF. “Some team [members] are from the same countries, others are not. We also encourage teams to participate under the banner of their favorite international teams, not only their own country. Our endgame is to promote equality and unity on and off the field. The majority of our teams believe in the same message and goals and they are accepted to the tournament based on this belief. The only tension we ever experienced in the past was between a couple of local Arab and Jewish teams.”

Overall, however, the experience of Daoud and Cohen is representative of the attitude and atmosphere of VISF, as well as the intention of the program.

“The hope is that lessons learned on the field, i.e. respect and equality, will stay with them when they go home and that great friendships will last forever,” said Hamael. “The best way to get rid of your enemies is to make them your friend!”

The Palestine/Israel women’s team also took home a trophy from the soccer festival. Their three weeks of hard training together in Vancouver helped them take first place in their division.

As for what soccer enthusiasts can offer to ensure that the team has another chance to play in the competition, there are several ways in which one can become involved in One Team: through sponsorships (oneteamunited.ca/festival_sponsors.php), volunteering (e-mail [email protected]) and spreading the word (through Facebook, attending the next VISF, even entering a soccer team, for example). Projects such as VISF are not cheap and, shared Hamael, “This has been the most challenging year for us: financially, due to lack of funding, and politically, due to the political situation in Palestine and Israel.

“Each player cost us $3,000 Cdn, with plane tickets, accommodation, training facility, tournament fees, clothing, food, etc.,” he explained. “I donated my entire salary to the society this year to make it work. I did this because I wholeheartedly believe that our youth (Jewish and Arab), especially women, deserve to live in an inclusive world free of all types of discrimination. As my favorite Jewish man said, ‘We cannot solve today’s problems with same thinking that created them.’ Change the youth, you will change the world. Change is coming to the Middle East and change starts and ends with the youth!

“My name is Adri,” he concluded. “I am a Palestinian – and I do care and I do love your children.”

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