Israel Football League: A bridge to understanding
A league of their own...
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“American Football” is no longer uniquely American. The Tel-Aviv Sabres, Haifa Underdogs, Sharon Pioneers, Herzlia Hammers, Jerusalem Lions, Beer Sheva Black Swarm. Jerusalem Kings and last, but not least, the new league champions, the Judean Rebels, are proving that peace can come only in one-on-one contact between the sides.
Sport as a means of promoting peace isn’t a new idea—but the idea that one of the most violent sports around can be a platform for understanding and cooperation between foes seems strange, at least.
With two new expansion teams being formed, the league will have teams from the Galilee and Petah Tikva next season, as well.
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Israelis, Palestinians play as one
Only a week after the Itamar massacre, the championship game of American football league in Israel again brings together people from opposites sides of political spectrum - this time in celebration
Associated Press
The cheers from the skullcapped settlers and armed soldiers filled the air. Jewish and Palestinian teammates worked in collaboration. And the Judean Rebels walked away as champions of Israel Bowl IV.
Only a week after five members of a Jewish West Bank settler family were killed in a knife attack, the championship game of the American football league in Israel again brought together people from opposites sides of the political spectrum.
This time in celebration.
“We play as a team and leave our personal stuff on the side. If they can do it, I can, too,” said Musa Elayyan, a 21-year-old Rebels defensive lineman from the West Bank city of Ramallah who grew up in the United States and goes by the nickname “Moose.” “Once you've played together you create a bond, especially on a successful team.”
The Rebels held off a late charge to beat the Tel Aviv-Jaffa Sabres 32-30 on Friday at Kraft Stadium, the venue named for New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
It’s not the Super Bowl – the level of play is more akin to high school football but on a smaller field and with only eight players per side. And it's definitely not the World Cup – although the shofar, a traditional ram's horn, can give the vuvuzela a run for its money when its blast is heard around the stadium. But it is a chance for Jews and Palestinians to put aside their political beliefs and lock heads on the football field.
“We are the only Israeli league of any kind that has any Palestinian players and I’m proud of that fact,” said Steve Leibowitz, the founder of the four-year-old league. “We were concerned about the politics but it just hasn't been an issue.”
‘Terrific tool of creating a bridge’
Even in the stands, the camaraderie stood out. Ultra-Orthodox Jews and children wearing costumes for the Jewish festival of Purim cheered and waved Israeli flags when Rebels linebacker Ayoub Elayyan, Musa's brother, intercepted a pass to set up the first touchdown of the game.
Although American football is still an afterthought on the Israeli sporting scene, it has steadily gained ground in recent years. This year’s Israel Bowl attracted more than 1,000 fans and was broadcast live on the Israeli sports channel.
The Rebels are a team made up of mostly Jewish settlers with American backgrounds. They wear orange jerseys and helmets, adopting the color that symbolized the Jewish settlers in Gaza who were removed in 2005.
And although the coach kicked out a few players who had reservations about playing with Palestinians, Musa Elayyan said the team quickly gelled and captured the crown in the eight-team local league in only their second year together. He now considers his teammates to be among his best friends.
“A lot of their views changed after we joined,” said Musa Elayyan, who played high school football in Colorado Springs, Colorado. “You can never fully drop the politics but the football field is a haven.”
The Sabres, who won Israel Bowl III last year, are also a mixed Israeli-Arab team.
Leibowitz calls the concept of the league “peace under the helmet,” and Jerusalem Lions quarterback Itay Ashkenazi said the nature of the game is what breeds the intimacy between the players.
“The essence of the game brings players together in such a close and intimate nature that you can't help but rely on each other,” said Ashkenazi, a 31-year-old player who is the son of Israel's recently retired military chief, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi. “Football is a terrific tool of creating a bridge, creating a dialogue between people.”
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Robert Kraft, the owner of the New England Patriots should be thanked for his sponsorship and encouragement of the IFL.
About half the players are ex-US Americans and Canadians or Israelis, both Arab and Jewish, as well as a small number of Palestinian Arabs who lived in the US for a time, like the Elyyan brothers. The remaining players are home-grown players who never touched a football before they joined one of the teams.
Most of the teams are mixed, with North American immigrants, native Israelis, both Arab and Jewish, with a few Palestinian Arabs on the Judean Rebels. As far as I know, there have been no “nationalist” incidents anywhere in the league.
Greater understanding between Jews and Arabs can be achieved by meeting in as many areas as possible—thanks to Yasser Arafat and his Intifadas, the generations of Arabs from the territories who knew and worked with Jews is older and entire generations have grown without knowing each other as people.
Sport could help bridge the gap—soccer, basketball, any sport the two groups have in common can be a meeting ground to get younger people to know each other, rather than reading about them in newspapers and hearing incitement from radical elders.
On a personal note, as the defensive coordinator of the Herzlia Hammers, I’d like to congratulate the Judean Rebels on their win over the reigning champion, the Tel-Aviv Sabres, in Israel Bowl IV last week.
I’d also like to extend my congratulations also to Musa and Ayoub Elyyan, two brothers from Ramallah and members of the Judean Rebels, who are bound for the IFL All-Star Game in a couple of weeks.
KOL HAKAVOD!
