Real Madrid coaches Palestinian children in West Bank
500 Gaza teenagers arrive from the coastal enclave to meet soccer players in project organized by UN
Hundreds of Palestinian children on Monday attended a soccer training session given by Spanish giants Real Madrid in the West Bank, as part of a charitable project organized through the UN.
The Real Madrid Foundation sent professional coaches to the Palestinian territories for three days of training with children at schools run by the United Nations Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA.
Suma Abdelrahman, a young teenager, was enthralled after taking part in a session organized in Ramallah.
Having been granted permission by Israel to come from the blockaded Gaza Strip for training, she proudly sported her black Real Madrid replica shirt, with the name of Spanish defender Sergio Ramos on the back.
“In Gaza we live in a restricted society, and girls don’t really play soccer. But the Real Madrid Foundation and their program have allowed girls to get more involved,” she said.
“I will take what I’ve learned in the West Bank back to Gaza.”
But in a reminder of the daily struggle experienced by Gaza’s residents, a number of Suma’s teachers who wanted to take part were not allowed to leave the Palestinian coastal territory.
Israel controls two of Gaza’s crossings and Egypt controls a third. They seek to prevent the import of weapons to the strip, which is controlled by the Hamas terror group.
Some 500 children from Gaza traveled for the Real Madrid training, UNRWA said.
“This second edition of the Social Sports Schools program will welcome 1,100 students — 600 in the West Bank and 500 in Gaza — expanding its impact to more children who do not have access to out-of-school activities,” it said in a statement.
The Real Madrid Foundation provided them “an alternative leisure activity, and… a space where they can escape the reality of poverty and violence in their lives,” UNRWA said.