Sport and Peacebuilding in Israel/Palestine

Abstract

Those working in the Sport for Development and Peace (SDP) sector often claim that sport can, and does, make a difference. This article assesses this claim in the context of the conflict between the Israelis and Palestinians. Attention is given to the ‘peace’ component within the SDP initialism and on what ‘peace’ means in this conflict. An assessment is made of the work of thirteen organisations engaged in peacebuilding in this region. The article identifies that many of the sport-for-peace schemes involve Israelis and Palestinians/Arabs within Israel with few schemes seeking to involve Palestinians who live in the West Bank, in Gaza or in refugee camps in neighbouring countries. It is concluded that sport is not an appropriate vehicle for peacebuilding between Israelis and Palestinians because there is no peace – a necessary precursor for reconciliation. Realpolitik, in the form of Israeli territorial expansion and the Palestinian struggle for basic human rights, leaves sport-for-peace schemes attempting to build a bridge too far.¹

以色列/巴勒斯坦的体育与和平建设

体育促进发展与和平组织（SDP）的官员声称, 体育运动能够并且确实发挥了巨大作用。本文在巴以冲突的背景下对这一说法提出质疑。文章认为该组织“SDP”中的字母缩写 “P”代表的“和平”, 但“和平”在这场冲突中苍白无力。一项对参与该地区体育促进和平建设的十三个组织的评估显示, 许多体育促和平项目只涵盖了以色列境内的以色列人、巴勒斯坦人或阿拉伯人, 而居住在西岸、加沙或邻国难民营的巴勒斯坦人几乎都未能参与到项目中来。文章得出结论, 体育不适合作为在以色列和巴勒斯坦两国人民之间进行和平建设的工具, 因为和平是双方达成和解的必要前提, 而该地区并无和平可言。以色列领土扩张问题尚未解决, 而且巴勒斯坦人民的基本人权尚无保障, 在这样的现实政治环境下, 试图通过用体育促和平为两国牵线搭桥的想法, 目前看来是不切实际的

Keywords:

• Conflict resolution
• Palestine
• Israel
• sport for peace
• peacebuilding

关键词:

• 冲突解决
• 巴勒斯坦
• 以色列
• 体育促和平
• 和平建设

Acknowledgments

The author would like to thank the anonymous reviewers for their constructive and insightful comments in relation to this work.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 The expression ‘a bridge too far’ was first used in connection to the Israel/Palestine conflict by Sugden and Tomlinson (2017).

2 During the peer review stage of this article, it was suggested that because this was a critical response to the orthodoxy of sport-for-peace in the current literature, I should explain why I was drawn to this topic and to what extent my identity or positionality features into or influenced the analysis: I spent part of my youth living in Israel.

3 The term ‘Occupied Palestinian Territories’ is used to describe the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip – all controlled by Israel. The Israeli government prefers either Judea and Samaria or the ‘disputed territories’ (Morris, 2001; Pappé, 2007; Zertal and Eldar, 2007).

4 A further grant of c. €19,000 was awarded in 2013–2014.

5 Examples of non-sport related conflict resolution schemes include Beckles Willson, (2009); Colman, (2006); Maoz, (2004); Shani and Boehnke, (2017).

6 Established by Shimon Peres, a ‘founding father’ of the Israeli state who later served as President, Prime Minster and Defence Minster.

7 The full account of their 2016 Camp is available at http://www.ultimatepeace.org/campup/

8 The ‘green line’ refers to the border that emerged between Israel and its neighbours in the aftermath of the 1948 War of Independence/Al Nakba.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jon Dart

Jon Dart (Ph.D., Leeds Beckett University, UK) is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology and Sport Policy at Leeds Beckett University. He teaches the socio-cultural and political aspects of sport. With research interests in the political economy of sport, he has published on sport and social media, sport and protest, sports fandom, and sports politics in the Middle East. He has also published on the contribution of sociology in studying ‘sport’. His latest book is an edited collection, with Stephen Wagg, titled Sport, Protest and Globalisation: Stopping Play.