The communitys biggest source of pride, however, is Palestino, a professional soccer club founded in 1920. Palestino is still the only top division team in the world to play with Palestine’s colors. The team made headlines in January, when players appeared on the pitch wearing shirts on which the number 1 had been replaced by a map of Palestine as it existed before the creation of Israel. It seemed to bring them luck. Palestino won three matches. Chiles Jewish community, with an estimated population of 70,000, protested against what it saw as as politicization of soccer and accused the Palestinian community of importing to Chile a religious conflict, more than a territorial one. Maurice Khamis Massu, the president of Palestino, was then summoned by the national soccer governing body, which forbade players from wearing the controversial shirt and fined the club $15,000 dollars. Players responded by tattooing the banned Palestine map on their arms.
Posted on: Tue, 25 Nov 2014 19:42:01 +0000
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