DOROT KIBBUTZ: After a traumatic summer of war and death, Israeli and Palestinian children squared off yesterday for games of football, just kilometres away from the devastated Gaza Strip.
Some 80 boys aged between 6 and 16 met for the tournament at the playing fields of the Dorot kibbutz in southern Israel.
The Israeli children came from villages surrounding Gaza while the Palestinians were bused in from Yatta in the southern West Bank. Initial apprehension was obvious on both sides, but the young players’ enthusiasm for the game soon took over.
Palestinian children had travelled for three hours by bus, and were stopped by an Israeli army checkpoint and searched by soldiers. For some it was their first such experience. But any feelings of animosity appeared to evaporate as they put on their football boots and ran out on to the pitch.
AFP
