Palestine Boys Choose Bombs Instead of Balls.

Whenever passing by a playground beside an elementary school, people of Hebron remind of a junior soccer team which filled the space with excitement and loud voices. The asphalt playground was a practice ground for the invincible `Jihad soccer club.` However, the club , as well as quite a few number of the club players no longer exists today.

This is the summary of the latest issue of the News Week on the soccer club.

The Jihad soccer club was organized in 1998. A student who had dropped out of school as 16, Muhsin recruited 15 boys from the neighborhood to join a soccer squad while running a book shop.

However, the fate of the team dramatically changed after intifada broke out in September 2000. One of the players was gunned down while throwing stones to Israeli soldiers in September 2000. Another player was killed after two months at the same spot.

In April, 2002, as the Israeli Defense Forces reoccupied Hebron, they imprisoned the players for the Jihad team along with other thousands of young men. They spent six months locked in a cell bur when they were finally released, they were full of hate on Israelis. On the year,

In September 2002, a player of the club carried out suicide attacks, and then other plays followed what he did. Soccer practice was also continued, and they easily defeated their rival team from across town. However, that was they last game.

On the evening after the soccer match, , Hazem, the teenage goldsmith, gave his father 500 Jordanian dinars—about 900,000 won.saying. “I always want to be someone that pleases you.” Later that night, Hazem infiltrated to the Jewish settlement with other 3 friends and then they were killed there after killing 2 innocent a Jewish couple. On May 17 another player blew himself up at the Jewish settlement and on May 18 at Jerusalem another player of the club also strapped on an explosive belt and boarded a bus in a busy area of Jerusalem detonating in the bus. Seven were killed of at the incident.

An Israeli unit stated that “ the soccer team was an organization that produced suicide attackers” after killing Abdullah Kawasmeh, the 43-year-old leader of Hamas`s military wing. Now the local people now even do not want to mention the never defeated team but live keeping the bitter memories.

sechepa@donga.com