Anyone for Football for Peace? The challenges of using sport in the service of co‐existence in Israel¹

Abstract

Football for Peace (F4P) is a joint University of Brighton and British Council initiative that aims to use values‐based football coaching to build bridges between neighbouring Jewish and Arab towns and villages in Israel, and in doing so make a modest contribution to the Peace Process in this most troubled of regions. The work of F4P seeks to make pragmatic and incremental grass‐roots interventions into the sport culture of Israel, helping to build bridges between otherwise divided communities and at the same time make a contribution to political/policy debates around sport in the region. Specifically its fourfold aims are to: provide opportunities for social contact across community boundaries; promote mutual understanding; engender in participants a desire for, and commitment to, peaceful coexistence; and enhance soccer skills and technical knowledge. The following essay overviews the history and development of the project before focussing on the 2005 initiative and the aborted 2006 project.