“They are required to get re-entry permits to Israel,” said UK Visas spokesperson John Neill, “or another country can give them entry and exit permits.”

None of the Under 19 Palestinian team could satisfy the requirements of the British government that visas require entry and re-entry permits to Israel or another country – a requirement that is at the behest of a foreign government. The Israeli military did not even answer the properly constituted request. “They are required to get re-entry permits to Israel,” said UK Visas spokesperson John Neill, “or another country can give them entry and exit permits.” Even if Jordan, for example agreed to do give them such permits, they would still have to travel through Israel to get there, meaning that all Palestinian sporting fixtures still require the permission of the Israelis to facilitate them. “Palestinians who wish to leave Gaza through the North Ares exit use only one method, which is by getting approval [of the Israelis],” says tour sponsor Tayseer Barakat.

No other country links the issues of granting visas with permission to travel through Israel, especially in what appears to be a rather disingenuous fashion. Permission to enter or re-enter any other country is meaningless if they cannot get to that country in the first place. The English FA and Blackburn Rovers supported the tour. That should have been enough to prove that this tour was genuine, especially as the Palestinian FA depended on it as an essential part of its preparation for an international competition. “It is very disappointing that the authorities have not seen fit to grant the necessary visas for the young Palestinian players. It is without question that football can help to remove barriers and heal communities and I feel that this decision has hindered that process,” says Bobby Barnes the Assistant Chief Executive of the Professional Footballers’ Association. “One need only look at the amazing scenes in Iraq when that war-torn country achieved success in the Asian Cup competition. These scenes illustrate the power of football when one saw Iraqis of all backgrounds celebrating together. It is to be hoped that in the future governments will acknowledge such effects and look more favourably on future visa applications.”

This tour would have contributed to the development of the skills of these young footballers. It could and should have assisted them to become sporting ambassadors for their country. That should not have depended on the wishes of any other country under any circumstances. .

If developing sporting ties with Palestinians is truly of paramount importance to Britain, then it must recognise that sport is a special case. Britain must not allow its immigration rules to prevent those ties being made. Palestinians sportsmen and women cannot give the undertakings of unfettered travel through Israel that Britain apparently wanted, nor should they be expected to give them. Only Israel can give such assurances and despite such assurances being requested in this case the Palestinian Under 19 team did not even receive an answer. Plainly it was not their fault. Had the visas been granted, the Israelis could have been shown that all the participants were going to travel to Britain via Jordan and back again. The failure to give an answer is Israel’s responsibility, yet the Palestinians were expected to provide proof that a foreign government would let them travel through their country. Only the Israelis could provide that, so the issues should not have been linked, as to do otherwise could allow a nation to be starved of sporting opportunities because the government of a foreign country will not respond to requests for travel documents?

Palestinian sport cannot develop under such conditions. The governments of all member nations of FIFA have a duty to facilitate the free and fair development of Palestinian football. Visa requirements should not even consider placing demands on them that depend on the national policies of another country’s government. And nor is this situation fair to Israel. If Britain demands guarantees from Israel in any form, then such requests should be made directly by Britain and if they are not forthcoming then representations should be made directly to the Israeli authorities protesting about it. So how did relations between Britain and Palestine and Israel become so complicated? As with much else the seeds of misunderstanding and distrust were sown in the past – unfortunately a dishonourable one for Britain that contributed in no small measure to the problems of today.

“The contradiction between the letter of the Covenant is even more flagrant in the case of the independent nation of Palestine than in that of the independent nation of Syria,” said Lord Balfour in 1919. “For in Palestine we do not propose even to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country, though the American Commission has been going through the forms of asking what they are. The four great powers are committed to Zionism and Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long tradition, in present needs, in future hopes, of far profounder importance than the desire and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land. In my opinion, that is right.”

The land is holy to both Jews and Palestinians. It has been disputed for centuries. To detail the history of this conflict would require volumes. Suffice to say, it is a conflict with deep roots that has lasted centuries.

Eighty-five years after the Balfour Declaration – which was probably drafted by Lord Milner – Jack Straw, the then Foreign Secretary, acknowledged in an interview with the New Statesman that Britain’s imperial past contributed to many of the world’s conflicts. Mr Straw said, “A lot of the problems we are dealing with now – I have to deal with now – are a consequence of our colonial past.” Included in this was the question of the conflict between the Jewish and Palestinian people and the role of the Balfour Declaration in it. Straw continued: “The Balfour Declaration and the contradictory assurances which were being given to Palestinians in private at the same time as they were being given to the Israelis – again, an interesting history for us, but not an honourable one.”

Britain’s role in this conflict is indeed a shameful legacy of colonial interests. In 1919 Balfour said: “The contradiction between the letter of the Covenant is even more flagrant in the case of the independent nation of Palestine than in that of the independent nation of Syria. For in Palestine we do not propose even to go through the form of consulting the wishes of the present inhabitants of the country, though the American Commission has been going through the forms of asking what they are. The four great powers are committed to Zionism and Zionism, be it right or wrong, good or bad, is rooted in age-long tradition, in present needs, in future hopes, of far profounder importance than the desire and prejudices of the 700,000 Arabs who now inhabit that ancient land. In my opinion, that is right.” This is indeed a gravely dishonourable sentiment and history. It is an act of betrayal to the Palestinian people that made further conflict inevitable – a legacy that is still with us, but how does this impact upon the present and what has it to do with football?

“In the case of the Palestinian-Israeli issue, we are extremely lucky that the leadership of the Israeli FA in the past ten years is a leadership which is convinced that football can do a lot,” says the Delegate to the FIFA President for Special Affairs, Jérôme Champagne. “We are not in a blame game. FIFA is not about punishing Israeli football for what the Israeli government is doing. We are very lucky because the leadership and everyone in the Israeli Football Association is convinced that football should be left to football people. FIFA can’t punish the Israeli FA for whatever its government does, in particular because the Israeli Football Association is helping to find solutions for the Palestinian FA. Our policy is not to punish any government regarding their deeds, because we are a non-political organisation. However, we are convinced that we should use all the means we have including the local FA – in this case the Israeli FA – to find solutions. Now we cannot punish a federation for the misdeeds of a government. It is impossible. We don’t do that. We are just trying to find solutions.”

Both Israeli football and Palestinian football have to operate in this climate of mutual distrust and hostility. Both sides have their horror stories, but sport and especially football, offers the chance to heal ancient wounds and look to a brighter future in the whole of the Middle East – a future that must involve sharing the land with two separate states and the development of close sporting ties. Football can play an important part in this process. Indeed, it already has. The Israeli FA understands this far better than the Middle East Desk of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office.

“In the case of the Palestinian-Israeli issue, we are extremely lucky that the leadership of the Israeli FA in the past ten years is a leadership which is convinced that football can do a lot,” says the Delegate to the FIFA President for Special Affairs, Jérôme Champagne. “We are not in a blame game. FIFA is not about punishing Israeli football for what the Israeli government is doing. We are very lucky because the leadership and everyone in the Israeli Football Association is convinced that football should be left to football people. FIFA can’t punish the Israeli FA for whatever its government does, in particular because the Israeli Football Association is helping to find solutions for the Palestinian FA. Our policy is not to punish any government regarding their deeds, because we are a non-political organisation. However, we are convinced that we should use all the means we have including the local FA – in this case the Israeli FA – to find solutions. Now we cannot punish a federation for the misdeeds of a government. It is impossible. We don’t do that. We are just trying to find solutions.”

Israeli football embraces Arab-Israelis. Some have represented their country. Two of them – Abbas Suan and Walid Badir – achieved hero-status.³ On March 30^th 2005 Israel proved that its 0-0 draw in the French capital was no fluke by earning another draw against France in Tel Aviv. Israel’s goal in the 83^rd minute was scored by Badir. Four days earlier Israel played the Republic of Ireland in Tel Aviv. It also ended 1-1. This time the goal-scorer was Suan, who left it until the 90^th minute to save Israel from defeat.

“In Israeli football there are a lot of Arab-Israelis,” says Mr Champagne. “You have great players – Arab-Israeli players playing in the national team. During the qualification of the latest World Cup Israel played against Ireland and four days later they played against France. In both matches the goals were scored by Arab-Israelis. I’m telling you that because the following day a newspaper said: ‘No Arabs, No Goals!’”

Both Badir and Suan became instant heroes to most if not all Israelis. At the time Suan played for Bnei Sakhnin,⁴ having previously played for Hapoel Sakhnin – the team that developed him. Suan was born in the city. However, even scoring a goal that helped to keep his country’s dream of qualification for the World Cup in Germany alive was not enough to endear him to some Israelis. Less than two weeks after his historic goal Bnei played against Betar Jerusalem. The announcer asked for Suan to be given a warm welcome. Betar fans responded with the racist chant of ‘No Arabs; no terror!’ Bnei fans responded with a chant of ‘No Arabs; No World Cup!’

Walid Badir may be an Israeli hero now, but he cannot bring himself to sing the national anthem because its lyrics make him uncomfortable. He believes that it excludes him. He wants a national anthem that embraces his Arab-Israeli heritage. Then he can sing it too rather than just stand to attention. And his family has not been untouched by tragedy during the bitter conflict. In 1956 Badir’s grandfather was killed by Israeli border police at the town of Kafr Kassem. The Israelis describe this incident, which resulted in the deaths of approximately fifty people as a ‘terrible mishap.’ Arabs call it a massacre. Yet sport unites where politics divides. As Suan said at the time: “I think we [athletes] get along better than politicians do.”⁵ So what is being done to tap this reservoir of hope?

“We have a policy to try to negotiate solutions,” says Mr Champagne. “FIFA – unfortunately or fortunately – is not a government. We are the government of football, but we are not a state, even though some people think that we are stronger than a state. We cannot force a government to change their rules. In June 2003 the Israeli Football Association was celebrating its 75^th anniversary. Mr Blatter visited Tel Aviv and I had the privilege to accompany him. At that time the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Israel was Stephen Shalom. We discussed the participation of Israel in international competition, but Mr Blatter also said, ‘Okay FIFA wants Israel to participate, but we want also the Palestinians to be able to participate,’ so we are absolutely convinced that we should continue that and our policy is to solve the problems.”

The Palestinian Football Association was accepted into FIFA in 1998. Problems over visas and travel through Israel to fulfil sporting fixtures are not new issues. It has happened several times over many years.

“For the past ten years we have intervened when we were asked to for exit visas and other things. We have a long, long record of supporting Palestinian football. For example, there was a match where some players from Gaza were supposed to be at a training camp in Egypt. We intervened at the last moment and we have done that many times,” says Jérôme Champagne. “We also intervene when these players are returning. We have had a case recently of a match in Asia where the players could not come back. We intervened. I personally sent the letters to the Israeli Federation. They were living in Amman and the Jordanian FA very graciously paid for their accommodation and so on. Apparently the position had been solved. We know the situation perfectly.”

And FIFA developed a policy to deal with such issues. “In September 2000 we developed a system,” explains Mr Champagne. “When some Palestinian players needed to go outside of the Palestinian territories the Palestinian FA was sending to FIFA and by the way to me the list of the players’ names, their dates of birth and all the details. We send that to the Israeli General Secretary and to the Israeli FA and we obtain the visas like that. In the past years we have had some difficulties in particular when there were some closures of the Rafah border point between Gaza Strip and Egypt. I remember a match – the last match of the qualifying group for the Asian Cup of Nations – could not take place because we were in the middle of a very tense situation and the Gaza Strip was completely sealed off. We had cases of the players going to the border point and being rejected. They came back the second day to cross the border, but overall we absolutely know the situation and have developed good co-operation with the Israeli FA to overcome the difficulties. Since 2000 we are working hand in hand with the Israeli FA to solve the problems when we can.”

FIFA has good relations with both the Israeli FA and the Palestinian FA and it is committed to helping Palestinian football develop.⁶ But what can it do in practice? “We are perfectly aware of the situation and what we are doing is to obtain the visas and we obtain them,” says Mr Champagne. “We have a policy to try to negotiate solutions. FIFA – unfortunately or fortunately – is not a government. We are the government of football, but we are not a state, even though some people think that we are stronger than a state. We cannot force a government to change their rules. In June 2003 the Israeli Football Association was celebrating its 75^th anniversary. Mr Blatter visited Tel Aviv and I had the privilege to accompany him. At that time the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Israel was Stephen Shalom. We discussed the participation of Israel in international competition, but Mr Blatter also said, ‘Okay FIFA wants Israel to participate, but we want also the Palestinians to be able to participate,’ so we are absolutely convinced that we should continue that and our policy is to solve the problems.”

Such are the problems Palestinian footballers face when they try to represent their country, so what about the Olympic Games? Will Palestinian athletes have similar difficulties coming to Britain for the 2012 Olympics as the Under 19 team faced? “There are separate rules for Olympians coming to take part in sporting events in the UK and UK Visas are working with other government departments to ensure the success of the Olympics,” said Mr Neill. We could therefore have the absurd situation of several members of this team representing Palestine at the 2012 Olympics having no problems getting visas for that, but a tour designed to develop their skills and enable them to compete to their best of their abilities for their country being cancelled because British officials refused to give them visas.

So why don’t these rules apply to all sporting events? After all, UK Visas insists that it considers the development of sporting ties between Britain and Palestine to be of paramount importance. Sadly the question was not really answered. “All countries adopted these rules for the Olympics,” said Mr Neill. The question remains, why if sporting ties are so important do these rules not apply for all sporting events?

“All music carries the message of peace,” says Tivoli’s Music Director Nikolaj Koppel. “A concert like this also has a message of peace and harmony.”

While football was denied the opportunity to build bridges between the Israelis and Palestinians, the arts have fared better. The famous Tivoli Gardens Amusement Park in Copenhagen was established in the 1840s. It has many attractions including music concerts. “All music carries the message of peace,” says Tivoli’s Music Director Nikolaj Koppel. “A lot of top international symphony orchestras have during recent history played in the Tivoli Concert Hall and it is a pleasure that Israel Philharmonic Orchestra (IPO) are back after 20 years. The concert has been on its way for two years.”

The concert will be conducted by the Israeli maestro Zubin Mehta. The soloist – the renowned pianist – Saleem Abboud Ashkar is a Palestinian, born in Nazareth. “The soloist was proposed by the IPO,” says Mr Koppel. “A concert like this also has a message of peace and harmony.”

Thankfully Ashkar did not face any problems gaining entry to Denmark. If only British officials had shown the same courtesy to talented young Palestinian footballers whose only wish was to spread the same message of peace and harmony that graced the Tivoli Concert Hall on September 15th, albeit through different skills.