Peace sports

Also participating in the tournament will be coaches from the youth divisions of Europe's leading soccer clubs— Fulham (Britain), and FC Basel and FC Lugano (Switzerland). The coaches will be accompanied by the Foreign Minister of Lichtenstein, Rita Kieber-Beck, who will take part in events surrounding the tournament.

On each day of the tournament, 50 Israeli boys (Jewish and Arab) and 50 Palestinian boys will train and compete on mixed teams, at the same time getting tips and strategies from the European coaches.

Alon Liel, president of Hapoel "Katamon" Abu-Ghosh-Mevasseret said: "Our club is proof that it is possible to find a common language between Jews and Arabs, and that the two can live side-by-side in peace. We see the arrival of the European coaches as an opportunity not only to provide a unique experience for these boys but to send the message to Israelis and Europeans that Jews and Arabs can cooperate."

"The coaches of Europe's biggest soccer clubs believe it's important to show that soccer and coexistence are compatible and that opponents can cooperate on the field as well," says Gal Peleg, director of the sports division of the Peres Center for Peace. "I hope that through events like this, the word will spread to the Israeli public."

Hapoel "Katamon" Abu-Ghosh-Mevasseret soccer club was the initiative of Alon Liel, a former Israeli ambassador to South Africa who now serves as the club's president. Hapoel Katamon is a club where Jewish and Arab boys from Abu Ghosh and Mevasseret have been jointly training and competing for the past four years.

The Peres Center for Peace operates the Twinned Peace Sports Schools for Israeli and Palestinian boys and girls. These schools combine sports training with education for peace, academic tutoring and skills-building, and sports and social activities in which Israeli and Palestinian students take part together.