{"id":345,"date":"2017-05-30T16:30:37","date_gmt":"2017-05-30T16:30:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spbr.sheffieldpsc.org.uk\/?p=345"},"modified":"2017-05-30T06:34:55","modified_gmt":"2017-05-30T06:34:55","slug":"freedom-thru-football","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spbr.org.uk\/index.php\/2017\/05\/30\/freedom-thru-football\/","title":{"rendered":"Freedom thru football"},"content":{"rendered":"

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In early June 2017, the Diyar women\u2019s football team<\/a> from Bethlehem is coming to the UK \u2013\u00a0they will visit and play matches in Bristol, Bath, Liverpool, Leeds, Sheffield and London on theirtour.<\/p>\n

They visit Sheffield on the same weekend as the small park BIG RUN – June 10\/11. We are very honoured that Diyar will be opening our run on Saturday at noon and participating in a fun penalty shootout competition on Sunday morning. From 1pm on Saturday they will participate in a tournament at UMIX<\/a> \u00a0(details below).<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Diyar Bethlehem was founded by players at Bethlehem University in 2008. It is one of the West Bank\u2019s leading teams and many of their players are in the Palestine national women\u2019s team.<\/p>\n

Honey Thaljieh is co-founder of Diyar and first captain of the Palestinian women\u2019s football team. She explains:<\/p>\n

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\u201cFootball is more than a game. It\u2019s about social inclusion, identity and pride for one\u2019s country. It\u2019s about putting Palestine on the world map.\u201d Her advice to other women players is \u201cbelieve in your talent and be determined\u2014with support you can achieve\u201d.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

\"\"In 2014, two women\u2019s football teams, Easton Cowgirls from Bristol and Republica Internationale from Leeds, toured the West Bank area of Palestine to play against Diyar and other women\u2019s teams.<\/p>\n

They saw what life was like in towns and villages under Israel\u2019s military occupation. In particular they found out some of the issues facing women wanting to play football in Palestine.<\/p>\n

On their return, they made a film\u00a0Balls, Barriers and Bulldozers<\/a>\u00a0about their experience. It shows how joyful but also how challenging, thought-provoking and at times sad their experience was.<\/p>\n