Playing for Palestine: Former captain of Israel's youth soccer team explains why he switched nationalities

Ataa Jaber, who formerly played for Maccabi Haifa and now plays for Azerbaijan's Neftchi Baku, told Arab News about the reasons for his decision: 'I realized that politics and sports cannot be separated, I wanted to deliver a message to players inside the Green Line that this choice is available to them'

Ynet sports |09.18.23 | 08:10

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Ataa Jaber

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Ataa Jaber, a former player for the Maccabi Haifa soccer who served as the captain of the Israeli national youth team, currently plays for Azerbaijan's Neftchi Baku and began playing for the Palestine national team in June. In an interview with Arab News, the 28-year-old midfielder explained the factors that led him to switch nationalities.
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In Israel, he said, " they feed a narrative to (Arab) players that sport should not mix with politics, that you represent your community, that you will have a voice, and that you don’t need to sing the (Israeli) national anthem. After what happened in Sheikh Jarrah, I realized that it was impossible to separate politics from sport and even if I wanted to represent ‘48 Arabs, there were better ways of doing it."
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Ataa Jaber now plays for the Palestine national soccer team
(Omri Stein)
Rami Hamadi, the goalkeeper of the Palestine national team who left the local league in 2020 because of the coronavirus and joined Israel's Bnei Sakhnin team, had a big part in Jaber's decision to join the Palestine national team. 
“Things changed for me when I met Rami Hamadi while playing for Sakhnin. I then found out that there was a league in the West Bank and a Palestinian national team that we can represent. I didn’t know that was even a possibility because I didn’t have a passport,” Jaber said. 
The pursuit of a passport issued by the Palestinian Authority - a prerequisite for any player who wants to play for the Palestine national team - was a process that lasted almost two years. 
“I made the decision to represent the Palestinian national team for many reasons. First because I am Palestinian, second because I have the ability, and third to deliver a message to players inside the Green Line that this choice is available to them,” Jaber said.
Indeed, winger Alaa Al-Deen Hassan of Bnei Sakhnin and defender Amid Mahajna of Hapoel Umm El-Fahm were included in the Palestine national team's squad for the friendly matches held this month against Oman and Vietnam. Palestine, ranked 96th in the FIFA rankings, will participate in the 2024 Asian Championship, which will be held from January 12, 2024 to February 10, 2024. It will play in Group 3 along with the United Arab Emirates, Iran and Hong Kong.

2Comments

1.

Not necessarily because he cares about Palestinian identity

Jaber can claim that he 'switched sides' to be an example to other Israeli Arab footballers that they can play for Palestine and in some ways, playing for Israel is 'alien' to them, and the injustice that Arabs endure under Israeli rule... However, there's more than that. He is obviously a talented footballer, at least when he was young, and had no 'moral' problem representing Israel at youth level. However...what has happened to his career seems to be more of a prompt to represent Palestine and an easier and convenient route play international football, as he's clearly missed the boat with the Blue and Whites. He's 28, at his peak, and has never represented Israel at senior level, and at this point it doesn't look like he will, especially with the youngsters coming through. In other words, he was great as a youngster but never fulfilled his potential, and it's not some kind of discrimination as there are Arabs in the squad, there has been at least a couple of Muslim captains of the side. Further, Jaber now plays his club football in Azerbaijan of all places... the 29th most 'competitive' league in Europe by UEFA coefficients, a full 13 places below Israel, and just above Moldova. If Jaber were even a reasonable player, he'd still be good enough to play in the country of his birth, or in one of the 12 different leagues in between. However, this is his level, he didn't go for money, Azerbaijan isn't Qatar or Saudi Arabia. However, that narrative would inconveniently show him to be a sub-standard footballer, who couldn't cut it for Israel, which isn't the greatest nation side or club league around, and his international dreams are therefore dashed. Better that he became a Palestinian 'nationalist', and a beacon for Arab Israeli footballers that they too can make a 'moral', 'righteous', and even 'ethical' decision, as Arabs. Had he been 22 and done this, and was still playing for Maccabi Haifa, I couldn't argue.

Gadam| 09.18.23

03

Do Israeli Jews ever stop whining?

Interesting long-winded whine about a Palestinian who doesn't want to belong to an "Israeli" team. Perhaps he should have joined Beitar and meet the "Familia"? I'm sure they would welcome him with open arms.

Mikesailor| 09.18.23

12