By Anil John/Sports Editor
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Most football fans in the Arab world would struggle to name the captain of Palestine’s men’s football squad, but ask them who led the country’s first-ever women’s football team and they would roar out her name in unified pride.
Yes, Honey Thaljieh is no ordinary woman. When she was appointed captain of the Palestinian national team in 2005, she gave aspiring sportswomen in her homeland hope. Now a sports and peace ambassador who works with FIFA and several other organisations, she continues to inspire girls not just in Palestine but also in other parts of the Arab world where gender equality in sport is still a nascent concept.
“Yes I am Arab, Christian and the captain of Palestine’s first-ever women’s national football team. I am proud of all three,” she told Gulf Times
Despite the presence of the biggest crime busters in sport at the conference, there was no doubt who the star of the day was. Reporters and television crews from all over the world scrambled to get sound bytes from her, and by the time she sat down with Gulf Times, she had already given about a dozen interviews – some lasting as long as 45 minutes.
To Thaljieh’s credit though, her trademark smile never left her face, but as the conversation progressed you could sense the deep turmoil in her heart. The brutal Israeli occupation of Palestine and the hardships the people of her homeland face on a day-to-day basis troubles her no end.
“I hope for peace and justice, nothing more,” Thaljieh, who grew up in the narrow streets of Bethlehem, says. “I want to see Palestinians treated as equals.”
Vicious politics and violence have made such simple wishes a big deal. With the Israelis hell-bent on expanding their hold on Palestine by building more and more settlements, nothing has changed from the time she was playing barefoot football on asphalt as a child. Now 28 and retired from active football because of injuries, she despairs at the fact that the Israelis continue to stall all peacemaking efforts.
“They (the Israelis) don’t like it if people talk peace and they also don’t like people like me who are trying to bring a positive change in Palestine through sport. They like to project a negative image of the Palestinians in the media by insisting we are all terrorists who are not educated, all headscarves and can’t eat or speak properly. It is my mission to change that perception.”
Thaljieh says the hardships she endured gave her a perspective and an ambition in life.
“The challenges I faced have made me stronger. They taught me ‘life’. I work with FIFA in Zurich now and when I see happy Swiss children playing or skiing I wonder why children in Palestine and some other parts of the world are constantly missing out on the little joys of growing up because of bad political situations, violence and insecurity. “With no security of life and no guarantee of education, it’s a big challenge to change things, but one should never give up.”
She considers herself lucky to have wonderful parents who saw to it that she pursued her sporting dreams.
“I am from a humble family. My father laid floors in buildings and my mother worked as a baby-sitter at a nursery school, but despite the hardships they faced they ensured that all their five children got good education,” said Thaljieh, herself a business studies graduate.
Thaljieh is enthused by FIFA’s decision to allow Muslim women play football with their headscarves on.
“Surely this decision will encourage more and more women to take up football and we can see the standards of football teams in the region rising dramatically.
“You can’t bar anyone from playing a sport because they have different personal or religious beliefs. Sport is for everyone.”
Does she want to make a comeback as a footballer now?
“Well I had my first injury in 2009 and when I returned to the sport in 2010 I suffered another injury, so I’ve retired from active football.”
But that didn’t stop her from turning out for FIFA in their annual friendly match against UEFA.
“Last year, FIFA beat the UEFA. I didn’t score but one of FIFA’s goals was scored on my pass.
“I can’t wait for this year’s game,” concluded Thaljieh, who was named “Champion for Peace” on International Women’s Day on March 8 by Peace and Sport, an apolitical organisation based in Monaco.