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  • Chile Elects José Antonio Kast, Pro-Israeli President Who is The Son Of A Nazi [ Thu, Dec 18, 1:12 AM (Palestine Time) ]
  • US Donors Fund Pro-Israel Lobby Driving European Policy – Report [ Thu, Dec 18, 1:12 AM (Palestine Time) ]
  • ‘Largest in History’ – Netanyahu Announces Gas Deal with Egypt, Cairo Silent [ Thu, Dec 18, 12:23 AM (Palestine Time) ]
  • United Nations: 55,000 Families Affected by Recent Rains in Gaza [ Thu, Dec 18, 12:09 AM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Gaza Civil Defense: Severe Cold Wave Threatens Children’s Lives [ Thu, Dec 18, 12:09 AM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Israeli Occupation Forces Assault Two Young Men in Hebron [ Thu, Dec 18, 12:09 AM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Egypt Calls for Accelerating Deployment of International Stabilization Force in Gaza [ Wed, Dec 17, 10:12 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Israeli Artillery Shelling Targets Eastern Khan Yunis [ Wed, Dec 17, 10:12 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Red Cross Warns of Risk from Collapse of War-Damaged Buildings in Gaza [ Wed, Dec 17, 10:12 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Trump Says Mega-Donor Miriam Adelson Backed Third-Term Bid with $250 Million [ Wed, Dec 17, 8:57 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Trading with Apartheid: India’s FTA Talks with Israel Cross a Moral Red Line [ Wed, Dec 17, 7:30 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • ‘Dangerous Escalation’ – Prominent Palestinian Detainees Face Brutal Assaults [ Wed, Dec 17, 6:51 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Israel Releases 11 Prisoners from Gaza [ Wed, Dec 17, 6:42 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Berlin Calls on Israel to Facilitate Entry of Aid into Gaza [ Wed, Dec 17, 6:42 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • US Refuses to Condemn Illegal Israeli Settler Violence in West Bank [ Wed, Dec 17, 5:57 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Four Palestinians Shot, Several Detained in Israeli Army Raids across West Bank [ Wed, Dec 17, 5:53 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Six Pulled Alive from Collapsed Roof, Israeli Airstrike Targets Civilians in Gaza City [ Wed, Dec 17, 5:26 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Israel Approves Creation of New Settlement North of Jerusalem [ Wed, Dec 17, 5:17 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Egypt Calls for “Effective” International Measures to Halt Settlement Expansion [ Wed, Dec 17, 5:17 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • 11 Injured in Israeli Airstrike in Central Gaza City [ Wed, Dec 17, 5:17 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Gaza Health Ministry: Death Toll Rises to 70,668 Killed [ Wed, Dec 17, 5:17 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Source: Doha Meeting on International Force Was Not Decisive [ Wed, Dec 17, 5:17 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Prisoners’ Society: 40 Palestinians Arrested in Widespread West Bank Campaign [ Wed, Dec 17, 5:17 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Israel iOccupation Forces Detain Four Released Prisoners in Tulkarm [ Wed, Dec 17, 5:17 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Six Rescued after Home Roof Collapses Due to Storm West of Gaza City [ Wed, Dec 17, 11:04 AM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Israeli Occupation Forces Storm Eastern Neighborhood of Jenin [ Wed, Dec 17, 11:04 AM (Palestine Time) ]
  • UN Warns of Declining Priority Given to Aid Entry Into Gaza [ Wed, Dec 17, 11:04 AM (Palestine Time) ]
  • UN: Israel Intensifies Crackdown on Journalists and Rights Defenders in Palestine [ Wed, Dec 17, 11:04 AM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Israeli Soldier’s Suicide Raises Total to 61 Since Start of War [ Wed, Dec 17, 11:04 AM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Israeli Occupation Force Incurs into Syria’s Quneitra Countryside, Arrests One Person [ Tue, Dec 16, 11:23 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Riyad Mansour: Israel Is Doubling Its Violations of UN Resolutions [ Tue, Dec 16, 11:23 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Hamas Warns Israel’s Repeated Ceasefire Violations Threaten to Collapse Deal [ Tue, Dec 16, 11:12 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Netanyahu to Hold Meeting Thursday to Discuss Second Phase in Gaza [ Tue, Dec 16, 9:42 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Australia’s PM Rejects Netanyahu’s Blame of Bondi Beach Attack on Recognition of Palestine State [ Tue, Dec 16, 7:29 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Big Tech and the Architecture of Israeli Genocide: From Execution to Media Whitewashing [ Tue, Dec 16, 7:04 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Two Palestinian Youths Killed in under 24 Hours in Ongoing West Bank Raids [ Tue, Dec 16, 5:05 PM (Palestine Time) ]
  • Airstrike Targets Vehicle Between Markaba and Adaisseh in South Lebanon [ Tue, Dec 16, 4:57 PM (Palestine Time) ]
HomeWritersIssam Khalidi

Writer: Issam Khalidi

– Issam Khalidi is an independent scholar, is the author of History of Sports in Palestine 1900-1948 (in Arabic), One Hundred Years of Football in Palestine (in Arabic and English), co-edited  Soccer in the Middle East, as well as articles and essays on the subject of sports included at
www.hpalestinesports.net. He contributed this article to The Palestine Chronicle.

Is It Possible to Restore Sports in Gaza? A History of Destruction, Survival, and Return

November 10, 2025

By Issam Khalidi Sport may not return to its former glory. However, as demonstrated throughout history, every time Israel attempts to destroy the Palestinian people, they come back stronger and more resilient than ever before. […]

FIFA Insists on Not Expelling Israel, Choosing Silence over Justice

October 7, 2025

By Issam Khalidi In many ways, FIFA’s stance resembles that of the West, in general, which calls for justice and democracy but ignores them in its dealings with Israel. As Inside World Football has reported, […]

‘Game Over’: FIFA is under Increasing Pressure to Expel Israel

September 19, 2025

By Issam Khalidi As a result of the events in Palestine and, in particular, the genocide in Gaza, hidden truths have been exposed, and many have become aware of the falsity of Western claims about […]

No Accountability: FIFA Has No Intention to Expel or Punish Israel

May 19, 2025

By Issam Khalidi The Gaza genocide has proven several things: that moral standards may never have existed to begin with; that if they did, they may no longer hold any value or urgency. As of […]

FIFA’s Sideline: Why the World Football Body isn’t Punishing Israel

April 23, 2025

By Issam Khalidi Despite compelling evidence of violations against Palestinian sports, FIFA’s prolonged inaction and delayed decisions suggest a reluctance to hold Israel accountable. A Palestinian Football Association proposal was submitted to the FIFA Congress […]

FIFA’s Inaction: Why Israel Should Be Expelled for Violating Palestinian Sports Rights

January 2, 2025

By Issam Khalidi FIFA’s failure to hold Israel accountable for its ongoing violations of Palestinian sports rights reflects the broader issue of international inaction towards the occupation. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association, or FIFA, […]

‘Sports for Political Purposes’ – What Can Be Expected from the Call for FIFA to Expel Israel? 

August 24, 2024

By Issam Khalidi As soon as FIFA President Gianni Infantino rejected the calls for an immediate vote for expelling Israel from the global football governing body, one could predict that nothing positive would come from […]

Will and Persistence: The Destruction of Sports Infrastructure in Gaza Won’t Stop Sports

June 24, 2024

By Issam Khalidi It has been demonstrated throughout history that every time Israel attempts to destroy the Palestinian people, their history and culture, they come back stronger and more resilient than before. There is a […]

A Message to FIFA: Enough with Hypocrisy and Double Standard

May 19, 2024

By Issam Khalidi The problem is not mixing sports with politics, but rather abandoning humanitarian principles to preserve personal interests. Earlier this month, the Palestinian Football Association submitted a draft to the May 17 FIFA […]

Israeli Anger is Growing at Palestinian Sports as a Way to Silence the Truth

May 6, 2024

By Issam Khalidi Whenever the West preaches democracy and human rights, but acts in a way that violates them, it is hypocritical, especially when it comes to US and Europe’s relations with Israel. Israeli Foreign […]

Genocide in Gaza – Western Hypocrisy and FIFA’s Double Standards

March 30, 2024

By Issam Khalidi Sports is not a marginal component in Gaza’s society. There was a time when Gaza was the center of gravity for Palestinian sports. In the same way that many others are concerned […]

Palestine’s Sports in the Arab National Consciousness

November 22, 2022

By Issam Khalidi Even seventy-four years after the Nakba, its repercussions and effects still remain, and sympathy for the Palestinian cause continues to exist. In spite of the dire economic and political conditions in the Arab […]

The Palestinian Body: A Pillar of Existence and Resistance

November 8, 2022

By Issam Khalidi There have been many legends depicting Palestinian resistance to the Zionist colonial expansion and occupation throughout modern Palestinian history. Heroism in Palestine was a byproduct of body resistance and bravery.  It was […]

The 2022 Mondiale: For Palestinians, Football is More than Just a Sport

August 18, 2022

By Issam Khalidi Hundreds of millions of people are eagerly awaiting the World Cup to be held in Qatar in November this year. Even though Palestine is not one of the 32 teams participating in […]

Dispersion of Palestinian Sports: A Stumbling Block to Sports Development

July 19, 2022

By Issam Khalidi Palestinian sports movement is unique in the modern age because no other people have experienced catastrophes, displacement, or dispersal as the Palestinians have. During the years before 1948, this movement was marked […]

Hypocrisy and Double Standards: The FIFA Message to Palestine, the World

July 3, 2022

By Issam Khalidi The Russian invasion of Ukraine and the international sympathy with Ukraine illustrate the hypocrisy and double standards the West employs to handle this issue as opposed to the silence and superior handling […]

Palestinian Sports Will Miss Shireen Abu Akleh

May 20, 2022

By Issam Khalidi I did not know Shireen Abu Akleh personally, and I didn’t know that she was interested in Palestinian sports and its history. However, in November 2021, I received an email from her informing […]

Palestine Goes International: On Palestinian Achievements in Sports throughout the Decades

October 8, 2021

By Issam Khalidi Throughout decades, sports were a mirror that reflected Palestinian reality and portrayed it with all its details. The Palestinian struggle has always been multilateral and sport was one of them. Sports developments […]

‘Fruits of Peace’: Beitar Will Remain a Bastion of Israeli Racism

December 26, 2020

By Issam Khalidi Just recently Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Nahyan, a member of the UAE royal family, has pledged to invest 300 million shekels, or about $90 million, into the Beitar (Jerusalem) club over […]

Palestine Media Watch: A Trumpet for Zionist Propaganda

November 14, 2020

By Issam Khalidi The more Israel is internationally criticized for its repressive and brutal practices against Palestinians, the more it creates circumvented malicious methods and means to cover and justify its behavior and continue achieving […]

Why Should Palestinians Write Their Sports History?

August 6, 2020

By Issam Khalidi Palestinian modern history is unique, not only because of the Nakba (i.e. catastrophe) of 1948, and the expulsion of the 750,000 refugees from their land, but because this history consistently has been […]

Palestine and Olympics: A Creation of a Collective National Consciousness

June 1, 2020

By Issam Khalidi When thirty-two-year-old Majdi Abu Marahil crossed the finish line in the men’s 10,000-meter race at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics, and thus became the first Palestinian athlete to compete in the leading international […]

Oslo Accords and Palestinian Sports: One Step Forward, Three Back

May 19, 2020

By Issam Khalidi Though Palestinian sports had made remarkable progress (especially internationally) since the Oslo Accords in 1993 until now, however, this progress was on the account of many national values accumulated throughout the period […]

When Palestinian Sports Become an Israeli Nightmare

August 30, 2019

By Issam Khalidi Just recently Israeli police stormed the YMCA in Jerusalem in order to cancel a memorial service for the late sports activist Ahmed Adela. The ceremony also included the honoring of his colleagues […]

Do FIFA and Its President Infantino Publicly Declare Their Absolute Complicity with Israel?

July 9, 2019

By Issam Khalidi Just recently at the United States-brokered conference in Bahrain FIFA pledged to build more football pitches in the Palestinian “Territories” to present the economic side of a settlement plan for the Israeli-Palestinian […]

Palestinian Sports: Decades before and after the Nakba

May 1, 2019

By Issam Khalidi Most of sport sociologists believe that nothing awakens national feeling so easily and strongly as sporting success. Glorious history, royalty, a splendid army, democracy and the welfare system, ancient ideals and traditions […]

When FIFA Abandons Its Principles for the Satisfaction of Israel

January 25, 2019

By Issam Khalidi Sport has never been isolated from social, economic or political aspects. Certainly, the existence of sport outside the political arena is rare, and in many cases, we see the overlap between sport […]

The Bondi Deception

Yaakov Aharon discusses Bondi attack’s aftermath, weaponization of antisemitism, and how Muslim hero Ahmed al-Ahmed challenged divisive stereotypes.

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The Black Dress: Unveiling the Truth about Rape, Sexual Assault on October 7


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