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This coming weekend the FIFA council is set to make a decision regarding the Palestinian FA\u2019s complaint on the Israeli settlement teams. This is our report from the West Bank.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n By H\u00e5vard Meln\u00e6s<\/em> \u201cIt\u2019s a bit chaotic here today because the president of Israel, Reuven Rivlin, is coming to visit in a few hours. Everybody is running around like rabbits. Me too.\u201d<\/p>\n We\u2019re on the football pitch in Ariel with Shay Bernthal, the head of Ironi Ariel Football Club. The first settlers arrived here in 1978, making Ariel among the oldest Israeli settlements on the West Bank. The West Bank is internationally recognised as part of Palestine, but since the \u201cSix-Day War\u201d in 1967 it has been occupied by Israel. For 50 years the 2,5 million inhabitants of the West Bank have lived under occupied rule. The UN Security Council have repeatedly stated that the settlements are illegal. A fact that has not slowed the Israeli authorities\u2019 expansion policies. More than 550 000 Israelis live on illegal settlements, among them many members of the national assembly Knesset and cabinet ministers. The wall dividing the settlements from Palestinian towns and villages stretches 810 kilometres. When construction work began during the 2000s, the aim was to make sure that as many Israelis as possible lived inside and as many Palestinians as possible would be kept outside the wall. According to the UN, the wall is the main reason for the poverty the Palestinian people suffers.<\/p>\n In 2011, the Palestinian FA (PFA) wrote an official complaint to FIFA demanding the Israeli FA-affiliated clubs cease their activity on occupied Palestinian land. One of the clubs included in the complaint is in Ariel. For years FIFA has avoided taking a position on the matter. But during the FIFA congress in Bahrain in May of this year, FIFA president Gianni Infantino promised a decision would be reached by the FIFA council the last weekend in October. As the number of settlements rises, the amount of Israeli football clubs playing on occupied territory grows.<\/p>\n According to FIFA regulations, a national federation cannot organise activity on the jurisdiction belonging to another federation. The Swedish FA, for instance, cannot set up clubs in Norway and admit the clubs into the Swedish football league pyramid.<\/p>\n \u201cFootball is a leisure activity\u201d He\u2019s a jovial character who works as a real estate adviser, but says he spends more time on football than on work.<\/p>\n \u201cI admit it. I\u2019m crazy about football.\u201d<\/p>\n Bernthal smiles again.<\/p>\n The club fields five teams organised under the auspices of the IFA. Four boys\u2019 teams and the men\u2019s side.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have about 250 active players. 40 of them are adults. Football is played here almost daily, but not on Fridays and Saturdays. We are religious people who respect the Sabbath.<\/p>\n \u201cOur ambitions are big and we have two clear goals: Firstly, we want football to be a positive leisure activity for children. Secondly, we want to climb the league pyramid. In time we want to play against the biggest clubs in Israel. I have strong beliefs that we will do that. One of our youth teams played Hapoel Be\u2019er Sheva last year. We lost the match, but it was even and we did very well. It shows that there is not a lack of talent here in Ariel,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Before this season, which runs from October to May, the aim is promotion. Shay Bernthal has signed players whom he believes will lift the level of the team. It currently plays in the 5th Division, Israeli football\u2019s bottom tier.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve come close the last three years. This year we will finally make it. Some very good players have arrived at the club. They don\u2019t get a salary, but we help them out with driving expenses and a few other things,\u201d Shay says and smiles again.<\/p>\n He must leave now. He needs to sort out a few things before the presidential visit.<\/p>\n \u201cCome back tomorrow. The place will be buzzing with activity. You can talk to everyone. The players, the kids, their parents. Everybody. But you cannot ask about politics. Football is a leisure activity,\u201d Bernthal says. For the first time during our conversation, the smile goes away.<\/p>\n Trust in God and FIFA \u201cThe first training session of the season for the first team takes place later tonight. Before training I will address the players. We all have to aim for the same thing: promotion. I have big expectations,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n The sun is scorching. We take refuge in the shade of the substitute\u2019s bench.<\/p>\n \u201cFootball is by far the most popular sport here in Ariel. We are the biggest sporting club in the town. The club\u2019s budget is 700 000 shekels (approximately 200 000 euro). The town sponsors us with 250 000 shekels. The rest comes from training fees, other sponsors and so on. I am really proud of what we have accomplished here. We have several Israeli Arabs in the team, even a Druze and a black man.\u201d<\/p>\n Ariel just celebrated reaching 20 000 inhabitants, he tells us.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been waiting a long time for this day,\u201d Shay Bernthal says and smiles.<\/p>\n We ask him about the complaint from the Palestinian FA and the possible consequences it will have on Ironi Ariel FC if FIFA were to rule in favour of the PFA.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is a desperate measure from the PFA, to mix football and politics. They use football for political gain. They use innocent children. Why do they want our children to suffer, children who only want to have fun in their spare time? If they, in their opinion, have a proper case, they should present it to the UN. We all know of [Palestinian FA president] Jibril Rajoub. He\u2019s a politician, not a football man. He\u2019s not interested in sport. He\u2019s trying to play the hero for his population,\u201d Bernthal says.<\/p>\n What are the consequences if FIFA rules in favour of the PFA?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cIt won\u2019t happen.\u201d<\/p>\n Internationally, the settlements are seen as controversial?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s because they do not know the truth. The fact is that 80 per cent of the club are children. The Palestinians are using football to reach their political aim, which is to kick us out.\u201d<\/p>\n Shay Bernthal says his whole family, his wife and three kids, share his love for the game.<\/p>\n \u201cTo us, football is life. I watch almost all of Ariel\u2019s matches, including youth matches. I watch teams from other areas too. I watch Barcelona, Real Madrid and all the big tournaments.\u201d<\/p>\n The first team players have started to arrive. Shay Bernthal gets up. He\u2019s about to give his pep talk to the players before the season kicks off. With quick steps he walks towards the dressing room. He turns around.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you meet Jibril Rajoub, tell him that he uses football for political gains.\u201d<\/p>\n The smile and Shay Bernthal disappear.<\/p>\n Ariel\u2019s first team captain is Eliko Benayoun. He has played several season in the two top divisions in Israel. If the name rings a bell, you\u2019re not mistaken. His uncle\u2019s name is Yossi, arguably Israel\u2019s best ever player. Eliko says he was born in Ariel 30 years ago and has lived here for most of his life. Except the year he played professionally in Cyprus.<\/p>\n \u201cI am proud to be captain of a team of Christians, Muslims [Israeli Arabs, that is], Druze and blacks. Football does not divide people, it uniteds them,\u201d Benayoun says.<\/p>\n Adjacent to the dressing room, two rusty containers have been placed. They have probably been there since 1978 when the first settlers arrived. The inside walls are grafitti-sprayed with anti-Arab slogans.<\/p>\n \u00abDeath to Arabs\u00bb is most prominent.<\/p>\n The man with the tooth This road leads to a Palestinian village. Driving on is dangerous for Israeli citizens.<\/i><\/p>\n The road sign is not the work of Palestinians, but of the Israeli army.<\/p>\n We\u2019re in the home of Ahmed al Dimes Shahin. While his wife serves us coffee and biscuits, he tells stories of his youth as an active Communist. The 83 year-old laughs a lot. Whenever he laughs, we get to see he has only one tooth.<\/p>\n The conversation turns to Ariel.<\/p>\n Through several generations and hundreds of years, Ahmed al Dimes Shahin\u2019s family has owned land in what today is known as the illegal settlement of Ariel. He asks his wife to find the maps and documents that prove it. He shows us which areas in Ariel he owns.<\/p>\n \u201cHouses have been built there,\u201d our interpreter Hussein tells him.<\/p>\n \u201cReally? I didn\u2019t know that. I haven\u2019t been there since 1973.\u201d<\/p>\n At first he\u2019s silent when we ask him to tell his story. Then he says:<\/p>\n \u201cIn the beginning of the 1970s I got a visit from the head of the armed forces of the area. He said the Israeli army wanted to rent my land. He offered me money. I said no. I was a farmer and told him I did not want to rent out my land,\u201d Shahin says.<\/p>\n Two, three months later the first containers and caravans with Israeli settlers arrived. They came without a permit, but with military protection.<\/p>\n The Palestinian name for Ariel is Wad Haja. The Palestinians lived in Salfit, but used the land for livestock and to farm vegetables, grain and fruit.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the first settlers arrived, I went I out there. I tried to visit the land I own, but the soldiers stopped me. Settlers with guns stood behind the soldiers. I was told to stay away as this now was military territory. I was ordered not to come back. If I had any trouble with the decision, I was told to contact the army\u2019s headquarters for the West Bank in Nablus.<\/p>\n \u201cI went there, but once again I was told the land now was in the possession of the army. In the meantime, the settlers, with help from the soldiers, had started building fences. I couldn\u2019t access my land\u201d, the 83 year-old Palestinian says.<\/p>\n He asks for a break. He doesn\u2019t like to speak about this, he says. It evokes too many bad memories.<\/p>\n \u201cI have never been to Ariel. I am not welcome there. Even though I own land there,\u201d Ahmed al Dimes Shahin says.<\/p>\n What\u2019s your view on the settlers?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThe colonists are our enemies. They occupy our lands, our homes. They ruin our lives. I am fifth, sixth or seventh generation farmer. The soil is part of me. I start crying every time I think of what has been stolen from me. The land is my blood, my life. It\u2019s as if a part of me is gone.\u201d<\/p>\n 40 acres of land in Ariel are his. Half of it consists of housing. The other half has become desert.<\/p>\n Ahmed al Dimes Shahin gets up. Two men have come to visit. One of them is named Khaled Ameen Maali.<\/p>\n Those who come knocking at night \u201cWhere should I start?,\u201d he asks.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have virtually no freedom of movement. For example, I cannot travel to East Jerusalem. Only Palestinian men over the age of 65 can travel there. Travelling on the West Bank is a constant problem, regardless of where I\u2019m going. We\u2019re being harassed by the police and soldiers. You go in and out of checkpoints, where soldiers do whatever they can to make it as miserable as possible for us. They\u2019re ruining our lives on a daily basis.<\/p>\n \u201cIn Salfit, like most of the Palestinian villages on the West Bank, night raids are frequent. Soldiers come at night. It happens every year, every month, every week. Some weeks they come several nights in a row. Sometimes they come to arrest someone. Other times they come to deliver a message or simply to bother us. To demonstrate power and create fear. Many have trouble sleeping. Is it our turn to be granted a \u2018visit\u2019 tonight?\u201d<\/p>\n On 8 November last year the soldiers knocked on the door of Khaled Maali and his family.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was two o\u2019clock in the morning when my wife, children and I were awoken by loud banging on the door,\u201d he tells us.<\/p>\n When he opened the door, he saw between eight and ten military jeeps. Each carrying four or five heavily armed soldiers. Five soldiers pushed Khaleed aside and made their way into the house. They confiscated his phone and computer. One of his hard drives contained information from almost 20 years of research.<\/p>\n \u201cThe soldiers had camouflage-painted their faces. My four children were scared to death. My eight year-old daughter starts to cry every time she sees soldiers. She thinks they\u2019ve come to take her daddy away. That is the result of the occupation.\u201d<\/p>\n Khaled Ameen Maali was arrested, jailed and handed a fine of 2000 dollars.<\/p>\n On the fourth day of his imprisonment he was taken to a judge in Jerusalem. The army did not have grounds to make the arrest, the judge ruled.<\/p>\n But he needed to pay the fine before he could be released. His wife had to borrow money from an acquaintance in Salfit. After eight days he was a free man.<\/p>\n He didn\u2019t get back the computer containing 20 years of research material.<\/p>\n \u201cThey told me to stop publishing information about the colonists. It didn\u2019t help that I explained to them that the information came from the settlements\u2019 own homepages. \u2018If you behave in the future, do not post information about the settlements and are a good boy, one day you will get your computer back\u2019, was their answer.\u201d<\/p>\n Khaled Ameen Maali is still waiting. He knows he\u2019s waiting in vain.<\/p>\n Suddenly he asks a question.<\/p>\n \u201cDo you own a home in Norway?\u201d<\/p>\n Yes.<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cWhat would you have done if I had come to take over your house? Would you be OK with it? Would you throw stones at me? Shoot me? All we demand is justice. We will never give up. Not before Israel tears down the settlements, every single one of them. Palestinians have not come here to kill. We have always been here. It\u2019s the Israelis, who have arrived from all over the world, who come here to kill us. We want peace, Israel wants conflict.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re tired of suffering. We hate war. We\u2019re tired of being second-class citizens in the so called \u2018democratic\u2019\u2019 State of Israel. Which other democracy sends dozens of soldiers to your house to arrest people in the middle of the night? Is it because I have done something illegal? No. All I have done is to collect information \u2013 information the settlers themselves have made public. Is this a crime in a democracy?<\/p>\n Am I the criminal here. No, it\u2019s the Israelis who have stolen my computer, my phone and my money. And this is nothing new. Israeli soldiers have been doing this all my life,\u201d the 39 year-old says.<\/p>\n Khaled Ameen Maali was a teenager when he first witnessed a night raid. The Israelis knocked on his mother\u2019s door.<\/p>\n \u201cMy mother refused to let the soldiers in. She wanted to protect us children. Using the gunstock, one soldier hit her hard in the stomach. She passed out. Eventually we woke up the neighbours, who took her to hospital. The doctor said her kidneys had been severely damaged. She never recovered. Her health deteriorated quickly and she died within a year from the injuries.\u201d<\/p>\n He changes the subject.<\/p>\n \u201cDid you know the Israelis steal our water and send their sewage in return?\u201d<\/p>\n We thank our host Ahmed al Dimes Shahin and travel on with Khaled Ameen Maali as guide. Ten minutes later we are down in the valley. Being the West Bank, it is surprisingly lush and humid. We spot a few rusty containers some distance away. They serve as homes for Bedouin families.<\/p>\n \u201cCome here!\u201d<\/p>\n Khaled Ameen Maali holds his nose. A small river runs through the valley. The \u201cwater\u201d is brown. It stinks. It is sewage.<\/p>\n \u201cUnderneath most of the West Bank, you\u2019ll find large water reservoirs. The Israelis steal our water. The consequences are that we, who own the land, must ration our water. Especially during the summer, in the hottest periods, we suffer from water shortages. Sometimes we don\u2019t have access to water at all. They steal our water, and what do they send back to us? Sewage.<\/p>\n \u201cThis is my life\u2019s calling: To inform the people. And I will never quit.\u201d<\/p>\n The wall A few hundred metres west of the checkpoint that marks the entrance to Oranit, lies Kafr Qasim. It\u2019s a town with an Israeli Arab majority. A few hundred metres to the east, we find Azun Atma \u2013 the Palestinian village behind the wall. We drive to the entrance and see two young Palestinian men being stopped and held by the Israeli soldiers. The two youths are probably on Israeli occupied territory without the necessary permits. The soldiers take them away.<\/p>\n We walk over to the wall. It\u2019s six metres in height. Massive concrete, barbed wire and surveillance cameras. The construction dominates the landscape.<\/p>\n Only Palestinians who work in Oranit or Kafr Qasm who possess the right permits are allowed through. The brothers Ahmad, 14, Mustafa, 13, and Yosef, 10, walk towards the gate. According to a sign, the gates are open between 07:00 and 07:30, from 12:30 to 13.00 and from 18:00 to 18:30. If you live in Azun Atma, you have to make sure you show up at these times. If you\u2019re running late, you will not be let in or out. The brothers work on land owned by their family between Oranit and Kfar Qasm and have finished work for the day. They\u2019re returning home. It is 12:30.<\/p>\n More than ten minutes later a jeep with four young and heavily armed Israeli soldiers arrives. We\u2019re told to back away when they\u2019re about to open the gate.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s often trouble here,\u201d a soldier says.<\/p>\n It\u2019s 12:49 and the brothers can walk through.<\/p>\n A woman\u2019s sorrow \u201cWe\u2019ve used this land to grow vegetables and grain for generations. I remember working our fields in Oranit as a girl. Now I haven\u2019t been there since 1983, when the settlers arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cFor years we fought for access to our lands. We\u2019ve had lawyers working for us, we\u2019ve written to all the responsible authorities. The official explanation is that the area has been confiscated by the Israeli army \u2013 for military reasons. During the 1980s Oranit grew into the town it is today\u201d, Insherah Yahea says.<\/p>\n In 2007, she was told her land, where once all sorts of vegetables had grown, had been destroyed by the town administration in Oranit. They \u00a0said there were snakes there and the snakes were a threat to the children.<\/p>\n When you worked there in your youth, were snakes a problem?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cYou have to remember that this isn\u2019t the reason. It\u2019s just something they say. I never saw a snake when I worked those fields.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen I first heard, I started crying. The tears just wouldn\u2019t stop.I couldn\u2019t believe it. Who wants to destroy perfectly farmable land, cultivated through generations? I almost had a heart attack. I was that upset.\u201d<\/p>\n A car approaches where we\u2019re sitting. Three men step out of the car. They talk with Insherah Yahea for a few minutes. She remains silent throughout. She strolls into the caravan and disappears out of our sight. One of the men, who presents himself as her nephew, comes over to us to explain.<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s afraid. She\u2019s worried there will be consequences for talking to you.\u201d<\/p>\n What is she afraid of?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThe Israelis and what they might do.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey are our enemies\u201d We have tried to get hold of the chairman of the football club \u2013 to no avail. Instead we decide to visit the town\u2019s administration to hear if they might help us. Inside the administration\u2019s building, we explain the purpose of our visit to a woman.<\/p>\n \u201cJust a moment. I will find the number for you\u201d, she says.<\/p>\n She disappears, but returns after a short while with a note in her hand. As she\u2019s about to hand it to us, a man with a loud voice asks:<\/p>\n \u201cWho are you and what are you doing here?\u201d<\/p>\n A tall and well-built man approaches me and my photographer. I explain who we are and what we are doing here.<\/p>\n He turns to the woman and says in Hebrew:<\/p>\n \u201cYou shall not help them. They are our enemies.\u201d<\/p>\n I ask the man who he is and what the problem might be.<\/p>\n \u201cWho I am? You ask me who I am? You come to my home and ask me who I am?\u201d<\/p>\n He\u2019s angry. From out of nowhere another man appears. In his belt he has a revolver. The armed man looks at us with a grin.<\/p>\n The tall man shouts to the other people working in the town\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n \u201cNo-one shall talk to these people. They are against us, they are our enemies,\u201d he repeats in Hebrew.<\/p>\n The situation has turned tense. We decide to leave. Outside the building we do an internet search. A man named Shlomi Langer is the mayor of Oranit. We\u2019re about to call him when our next search reveals that Shlomi Langer is identical to the man who minutes earlier described us as \u201cenemies\u201d. Later we find out the very same Shlomi Langer for 30 years worked for Shin Bet, the brutal Israeli security service who has tortured and murdered Palestinians for decades. In Israel, they say, Shin Bet is above the law.<\/p>\n In the desert It means that the Bedouins here is forced to find a different place to live. Many Bedouin families have already moved (been forced to move, that is) to other areas. 20 years ago the village held 1600 goats and 28 camels. Today the herd consist of 250 goats and no camels.<\/p>\n To meet the Bedouins, we have to cross the heavily trafficked motorway. The small village consists of 40-50 caravans and containers. Sand and stone define the landscape. About 500 Bedouins live here, young and old, in severe poverty and under constant surveillance.<\/p>\n Israel denies the Bedouins electricity and water. They want them gone and are prepared to use any means.<\/p>\n The Bedouin leader Eid Abu Khamis welcomes us with coffee in his tent. The area was under Jordanian jurisdiction until 1967, he tells us. The Bedouins lived in freedom and off their livestock. A few years after the war, the Israeli army arrived and said this was now military territory. They were told to leave. The Bedouins refuse to do so. But at a high cost.<\/p>\n \u201cThe soldiers have become more aggressive in recent years. They harass us night after night. They shoot towards our tents and caravans while we and our children are asleep. They even fire using tanks. We confront them: Why are you shooting at us? There are children here!<\/p>\n \u201cThey answered that they were doing target practice,\u201d Abu Khamis says.<\/p>\n The Bedouin community spread into smaller groups through the Jordan Valley numbers 7000 people. They have lived here for generations. 52 year-old Eid Abu Khamis was born here in Khan al-Amar. In 1977 the army decided they would pass on the land to Jewish settlers. One night, not long after, the first ones arrived.<\/p>\n Built with car tyres Because Israel sees the Bedouins as living on military land, the law does not allow them to build anything that can resemble a proper building. No concrete, no walls. With economic contributions from various sources, they started building a school in 2009. After 30 days, the school, which today has 170 pupils, opened.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s built using car tyres, mud and clay,\u201d Abu Khamis says with a smile. \u201cThe law says nothing about buildings made from car tyres.\u201c<\/p>\n The settlers of Ma\u2019ale Adumim were furious when they discovered the school. Soldiers arrived and threatened to tear it down. But because international organisations, like the EU, had contributed economically, the Israeli authorities had second thoughts about destroying it. It could mean unwanted international attention.<\/p>\n Israelis of the nearby settlements have tried to take matters into their own hands. Several times they have snuck into the camp at night and tried to set fire to the school. They want the Bedouins gone, by any means necessary. Almost every night since 2009, parents have taken turns guarding the school at night.<\/p>\n \u201cIn practice, we live under apartheid. If anyone falls ill, the ambulances needs special permissions to come here. To get the permits they need can take days, even weeks. Often it\u2019s too late,\u201d Abu Khamis says.<\/p>\n Several organisations want to help the Bedouins.<\/p>\n \u201cThis spring an Italian organisation sent us three caravans. The following night they were vandalised beyond recognition by the settlers. A Dutch organisation provided the school with solar panels. The day after they went up, the soldiers came and took them down.\u201d<\/p>\n How can it be that they steal things straight after you\u2019ve received them?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThey monitor us,\u201d Abu Khamis says and points to the sky.<\/p>\n \u201cUsing drones.\u201d<\/p>\n What does the future hold for you?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThey take away anything we have. We have nothing to live from. Our survival depends on help from the outside.\u201d<\/p>\n A shopping centre and a disappearing ball \u201cAs soon as new goals are in place, the settlers come with machine guns and pistols. Usually, they fire a few shots into the air, to scare the players away. They cut the nets, and kick the posts until they break. They play loud music, drink alcohol, smoke hashish and party through the night. It has happened so many times we\u2019ve lost count,\u201d Abu Khamis says.<\/p>\n 50 boys and men ranging from 8 to 25 in age play football. Once a week they get to train on an artificial grass pitch in Jericho, 20 kilometres away.<\/p>\n Josimar will watch them train later. But first we visit Ma\u2019ale Adumim.<\/p>\n As usual, we must show our identification papers to the military personnel at the checkpoint before we\u2019re let in. According to the last count, there are over 300 checkpoints with armed guards on the West Bank.<\/p>\n Ma\u2019ale Adumim is a Jewish settlement with almost 40 000 inhabitants. At the same time as the number of settlers rose dramatically during the 1980s, 1000 members of the Jahalin tribe of Bedouins were forced out.<\/p>\n This is now an \u201call mod cons\u201d community. A huge shopping centre is the heart of the settlement, with caf\u00e9s, shops and fast food outlets.<\/p>\n Eyebrows were raised when McDonald\u2019s in 2013 rejected the opportunity to open restaurants on occupied territory. The settlements then accused McDonald\u2019s of anti-Israeli propaganda. You won\u2019t get a Big Mac here in Ma\u2019ale Adumim, but Pizza Hut and other, local fast food chains have opened restaurants in the settlement. The sporting goods store sell brands like Nike and Adidas.<\/p>\n The town\u2019s administration is located in the adjacent building. Several attempts to get hold of the chairman of the local football club, Beitar Ma\u2019ale Adumim, have not yielded any results. Still, we\u2019re hoping for a warmer welcome than we received in Oranit.<\/p>\n But we don\u2019t even get a foot inside the door. A firm security guard tells us we won\u2019t get in without an appointment. We try to explain the reason for why we\u2019re here. Again, in vain.<\/p>\n We drive back to the Bedouins of Khan al-Amar.<\/p>\n We follow eight boys onto the plateau, surrounded by deep valleys, that function as playing surface. Some wear football boots, others wear trainers, one is barefoot.<\/p>\n For goalposts they use rocks. The boys play four a side. After five minutes they take an unwanted break: One of the boys shoots towards goal. It\u2019s not hard, but the uneven playing surface makes the ball gain speed. It doesn\u2019t rest until it finds the bottom of the valley, several hundred metres away. The barefoot boy runs to fetch the ball.<\/p>\n He returns after ten minutes with the ball under his arm. The match can continue. The boys are enjoying themselves, but controlling the ball on sand, gravel and rocks is not easy. When the training session ends, I ask them who the best player in the world is.<\/p>\n \u201cMessi!,\u201d some of them shouts.<\/p>\n \u201cCristiano,\u201d respond a few of the others.<\/p>\n \u201cI am,\u201d Ahmed, the barefoot boy, says and laughs.<\/p>\n Trust in the FIFA family We\u2019re approaching Al-Ram, driving parallel to the wall dividing Palestinians and Israelis. On the other side of the six-metre high wall with barbed wire, sits the home of the Palestinian FA. Everyone travelling to Al-Ram must go through the checkpoint Kalandia, one of the biggest and most-feared on the West Bank. We are early. The driver knows from experience that you could be here for hours. We\u2019re lucky, the traffic is less heavy this morning than usual.<\/p>\n Photographs adorn the walls of the PFA offices. Several of them are of Jibril Rajoub with Sepp Blatter, and Rajoub with Michel Platini.<\/p>\n His office is big, the sofa almost swallows you.<\/p>\n \u201cI hope the FIFA council will reach the right conclusion. Organising football outside one\u2019s own jurisdiction without permission is a breach of FIFA regulations. What do we need regulations for, if they\u2019re not adhered to? And the colonist clubs are in violation of UN\u2019s human rights code. FIFA has asked the UN to verify, and the UN has confirmed it, that these clubs play on Palestinian territory,\u201d Rajoub says.<\/p>\n Do you believe they will reach a judgment after stalling for years?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cThe repeated postponements is not fair play. It has been tough for us, but it\u2019s better to have a right decision late than no decision at all. The Israelis should of course be permitted to play as much football as they want, but they have to do so within their borders. But as we\u2019ve come to know, the Israelis continue being the playground bully, and insist on organising football also outside their borders.\u201d<\/p>\n FIFA is renowned for not following their own regulations. What makes you so sure they will do that in this instance?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t say FIFA doesn\u2019t play by their own rules. I have trust in the FIFA family and I trust the rules will be upheld. I know the majority of the member nations supports us.\u201d<\/p>\n The PFA is a member of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Israel is a member of UEFA. How does the AFC view the Palestinian complaint?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s just about consensus for our cause, something the last AFC congress showed.<\/p>\n \u201cListen: Israel uses any means. Prior to the FIFA congress in Bahrain in May, Netanyahu called Infantino. During the 40 minute-long conversation he is believed to have persuaded Infantino to postpone the decision. The Israelis fear that a negative FIFA decision will have political repercussions. The diplomatic corps was sent to work. The ambassadors were told to contact the presidents of the football associations in the country they were stationed to tell the Israeli side of the story,\u201d Rajoub claims.<\/p>\n \u201cNetanyahu told Infantino he would present FIFA with an alternative, but he has not done so. It\u2019s just an attempt to stall, so they can go on like before: by being the bully in the playground.\u201d<\/p>\n A secretary walks in and pours coffee. Rajoub is passionate:<\/p>\n \u201cI cannot believe the Israeli FA continues down their fascist path, why can\u2019t they just comply with the regulations, like everyone else? Instead they follow the braindead policies of Netanyahu. To me that\u2019s unfathomable.\u201d<\/p>\n The recommendations \u201cEuropeans struggle with their conscience after the Holocaust. But there are limits to how long Israel can use the Holocaust as an excuse all the while they\u2019re discriminating against Palestinians,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Two years ago, FIFA set up a task force to investigate the Palestinian complaint. The committee, chaired by the South African Tokyo Sexwale, have come up with three options:<\/p>\n \u201cWe have to wait and see, but I have high expectations that they will make the right decision. You must remember that international law means nothing to Israel. They don\u2019t care about the UN, or FIFA, or international codes. They do exactly what the want \u2013 no respect or considerations for others. I believe it is a question of time\u2026and the time has arrived.\u201d<\/p>\n Shay Bernthal, chairman of Ironi Ariel FC, told me to say that you are using football for political gains?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cI believe\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Rajoub goes quiet for a moment.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst of all: he is a terrorist. He lives on land which, according to international law, does not belong to him. According to the international criminal court, the settlements are war crimes. What can you expect such a man to say? As I said: I recognise the State of Israel and its FA to organise football activity. But they have to be in line with international regulations. These religious zealots, with their guns and their fascist, racist and imperialistic worldview cannot go on like before. Every national football association in the world have to play by the international rulebook. Israel doesn\u2019t care. But what else can you expect from a country who every day makes life a misery for millions of people?<\/p>\n \u201cThis decision should be an open goal.\u201d<\/p>\n Epilogue Traffic is out of control, like in the of other Palestinian towns we have visited. There\u2019s only one rule, that there are no rules.<\/p>\n We\u2019re about to visit the town Kiryat Arba, infamous for housing some of the most fanatic and violent settlers. Kiryat Arba also have a football club. We hope to talk to someone at the club.<\/p>\n The soldier at the checkpoint controls our papers. He asks where we\u2019re headed. We tell him we want to talk to the head of the football club, and maybe someone in the town\u2019s administration.<\/p>\n \u201cSorry. Without an appointment, I can\u2019t let you through,\u201d the soldier explains.<\/p>\n Can we not just have a look at the football ground?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cUsually that wouldn\u2019t be a problem, but today nobody without an appointment gets in. There\u2019s an army rehearsal going on.\u201d<\/p>\n Can\u2019t we just take a quick photo of the pitch?<\/b><\/p>\n \u201cSorry. The pitch is full of tanks and armoured vehicles\u201d, the soldier says and smiles.<\/p>\n
\nTranslated by Lars Johnsen<\/em>
\nInterpreter Hussein Abu Dweikh<\/em>
\nPhotos Faiz Abu Rmeleh<\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/2-e1508757511461.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>\u201cFootball has been played here for 30 years. Children and youths from Ariel and the surrounding areas come here to play several times a week. There is no better activity for young people,\u201d Bernthal says with a smile.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/3-e1508757593234.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>The following evening 40-50 boys aged 8 to 15 are warming up on the pitch in Ariel. The coaches are giving instructions. Shay Bernthal is present. His smile too.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>Some of those owning land in Ariel live in Salfit, the neighbouring Palestinian town. At the road junction that leads to Salfit, the warning sign is impossible to miss.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/6-1-e1508757856933.png\")
<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/4-e1508757906648.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>He has spent most of his adult life researching the Israeli settlements. Most of the information he finds, the settlers have published themselves. Often on their own websites. Khaled Ameen Maali translates them from Hebrew to Arabic and spreads the information, usually through Facebook. Over the years he has become a kind of expert on settlements. We ask about life in Salfit. He says it\u2019s good and difficult at the same time. We want him to explain.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/5-e1508757949821.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>We have driven several kilometres along the omnipresent wall that separates the Jewish settlements and Palestinian villages on the West Bank. We are trying to find the settlement Oranit, where the football club Hapoel Oranit is located. Hapoel Oranit is another of the clubs included in the Palestinian FA\u2019s complaint to FIFA. The much-hated and equally much-loved wall divides three close towns. Oranit was established in 1983. Around 8000 people live there. The settlement is infamous for being home to some of the most extreme and most fanatic Jewish colonists.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>Close to the Oranit checkpoint there\u2019s a field where vegetables grow. Insherah Yahea watches over her crops. She grows aubergines and cherry tomatoes. Until the war in 1967 this area was part of Jordan. 30 acres in Oranit belongs to 61 year-old Insherah Yahea, her brother and their families.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>The soldier guarding the checkpoint entrance to Oranit lets us through after checking our identification papers. Just like everywhere else in the West Bank, the difference between the illegal Jewish settlements and the Palestinian villages is huge. In Oranit, the inhabitants can enjoy indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a basketball court, tennis courts, a spa and football pitch. The football pitch is located on what used to be farmed land that still belongs to Palestinians, according to Insherah Yahea.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>It\u2019s a sweltering hot day in the Judea Desert. As we park along the motorway, the thermometer shows 44 degrees. We\u2019re close to Ma\u2019ale Adumim, one of the biggest settlements on the West Bank. We\u2019re about to visit the Bedouin community in the village Khan al-Amar. A few weeks previously, Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited the area. He assured the Jewish settlers that the Bedouins would be chased away. The goal is, Netanyahu said, to incorporate Ma\u2019ale Adumim and the other settlements nearby into the new Greater Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>Back in 1991 the Bedouins applied to the Israelis to build a school. The application was denied. Then they asked if Israeli authorities could provide them with a bus to take the children to the nearest Palestinian school. Another rejection.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>The most popular after-school in Khan al-Amar is football. On the flattest plateau in the valley, roughly one kilometre from the camp, the children play football. An American woman who visited the Bedouins in 2015 have since provided them with kits, balls and goals. The goals don\u2019t last long.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"http:\/\/www.jahalin.org\/archive\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/7-e1508758022397.png\")
<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>The Palestinian national men\u2019s team is on its way to Bhutan to play an Asian Cup qualifier while we\u2019re headed towards the city Al-Ram where the PFA\u2019s offices are located besides the national team\u2019s home ground, the Faisal Al-Husseini International Stadium. We have an appointment with PFA president Jibril Rajoub. He has lived an illustrious life. Before he became PFA president, he was, among other things, head of Yassir Arafat\u2019s security forces on the West Bank. He was only 15 the first time he was arrested by Shin Bet.<\/p>\n
\n<\/b>Rajoubs takes a zip of his coffee.<\/p>\n\n
\nWhat if FIFA postpones a decision again?<\/b><\/p>\n
\n<\/b>We drive through Hebron, where Hamas, the Palestinian resistance movement (or, as classified by some, like the US and Israel, terrorist organisation) has strong support. Palestinian flags fly next to Hamas flags.<\/p>\n