Futsal "Peace Team"

The Futsal Peace Team is a joint team of Palestinian and Israeli players who play together in order to promote a message of peace and co-existence, and to emphasize a peaceful alternative to the current reality. The team plays in friendly international tournaments and also competes in the Israeli Professional Coca-Cola Futsal League.

The Peace Team was established in January 2002 in a cooperative effort between The Peres Center for Peace and Ben Gurion University, and it aims to disseminate a message of peace and coexistence between Israelis and Palestinians through a public demonstration of cooperation and teamwork. Since its inception, the Peace Team has met on a weekly basis for training sessions, and team members have traveled together for international training camps and tournaments to Turkey, Cyprus, Antwerp, and Rome.

The Israeli-Palestinian Peace Team made its public debut on 6th October 2002 in Tel Aviv in the presence of Foreign Minister Shimon Peres, EU High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Mr. Javier Solana, Palestinian guests, and Ambassadors and diplomats from all over the globe.

January 2003 saw the opening of the winter season of the Futsal League, and the Peace Team's entry into it. The team performed with skill and finesse from the outset, and was delighted to have all their hard work rewarded with winning the League Championship at the end of the season! See below for full results of all matches. All matches were broadcast on Israeli Sports Channel 5 and provided the general public with a much-needed inspiring image of Palestinians and Israelis coexisting and working together in a positive manner. This is especially important in these times when the standard image in the media is, unfortunately, increasingly war-like.

The Peace Team open the summer season this week, and we anticipate great success for their.

Alon Beer
Sports Projects Manager
The Peres Center for Peace