Palestinians wounded by Israeli fire use football to overcome tragedy

AtlantisEmpire
Published on Feb 3, 2022
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Palestinian amputees from the Gaza Strip wounded by Israeli fire during the Great March of Return protests are using football to help them cope with the impacts of their injuries.

A football match for Palestinian amputees with injuries from the often-deadly border protests kicked off on Saturday, as seen in footage filmed by Ruptly. The programme is organised by the International Committee of the Red Cross.

While many people might become despondent after facing the loss of a limb, members of Palestine's amputee football team are taking life back into their own hands.

Simon Baker, Secretary-General of the International Federation of Amputees - himself an amputee - emphasised that losing a limb doesn't have to be an impediment to achieving your goals.

"Just because you've lost a limb, doesn't mean life is over. These players are doing wonderful things, you can see behind you there. There's people with two legs that can't go as fast as some of these players," he said.

One member of the team, Mohammad Elaiwa, said that the programme was one way for Palestinians to reach out to the rest of the world with a message.

"We have come to deliver our message to the world that we have a dream, a will and strength. We need to send out a message to the world that we, as Palestinian people, have a dream which we want to achieve abroad," he said.

As of the one-year anniversary of the start of the 'Great March for Return' demonstrations in March 2019, at least 168 Palestinians have reportedly been killed and a further 15,000 injured during the protests.

Video ID: 20190413 008
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