From Bailieborough to Palestine

Getting a group of young hurlers from the West Bank to Ireland is the new ambition of retired primary school teacher John Donnellan.

The Bailieborough man shared his experience travelling from Cavan to the Middle East, and his hope to help bring young Palestinian GAA enthusiasts to Ireland this summer.

In travelling to the GAA Palestine Club in the West Bank, John was most aware of the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. He knew he would have to travel through Israeli checkpoints, and also that the destination itself may not be safe.

Having made the decision to go, the former county footballer was “nervous.”

“We were given the worst-case scenario as to what can happen,” he told the Celt.

“You’d be a bit tense approaching check points and that but we got lucky,” he surmised.

“They were showing videos of the jeeps coming in at night and pictures... things can happen but luckily we didn’t witness anything directly.

“Initially, when we signed up, we were supposed to be visiting four or five different places but it was only safe for us to go to Ramallah.”

Growing up in a border county, checkpoints were nothing new for the Cavan man who donned the blue and white jersey 30-odd years ago, when he often travelled across that delicate line to play a football match up north.

This time though it was hurling, a relatively unknown territory for John, and he knew getting to the West Bank from Bailieborough would be an entirely different ball game.

“Even heading up to Donegal, you’d have to go through a couple of checkpoints with guns pointed at you so it wasn’t like it was something I was experiencing for the first time.”

He described how the soldiers at the checkpoints are “only teenagers” and have a “horrible attitude towards Palestinians”.

John believes they’re “kind of brainwashed into thinking these people are second class citizens and that they’re enemies”.

He adds: “Not every Israeli is like that obviously but the majority seem to be at the moment.”

Teachers for Palestine

A member of ‘Teachers for Palestine’, John attends most of the marches organised by the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign. It was here that he heard of the opportunity to help out at the GAA Palestine club based in Ramallah.

The 57 year old said he wanted to do something “concrete” for the Palestinian people, “rather than marching and waving a flag or making a statement.”

“You have to put your money where your mouth is as far as I’m concerned,” he reasoned.

“Football is my game and I would have played football all my life, and coached football, but I would have had some experience with hurling.

“I signed up,” he said.

At the start of April, the former Bailiebrough Shamrocks player headed off with another volunteer from Dublin. They departed from Dublin and landed in Amman in Jordan before making the trip to Ramallah.

They met with the coach of the Moataz Sarsour Club in the Al-Amari refugee camp. Home to 6,000 people, a “really tight knit community”, the camp has been there since the 1950s and has almost become a “small town within a city”.

That John was travelling to a country torn by conflict became immediately apparent upon arriving.

“The Moataz Sarsour club was named after a young man who got killed there last year by the Israelis,” he was informed.

The former primary school teacher coached boys and girls, aged nine to 16 years, on the municipality 1G soccer pitch. They had one training session per day with each group, for a period of 10 days.

While there, he went “back to basics” on the game to get the children’s skills up to scratch. It had been a while since they had been coached, however John was delighted to discover they still had the basic grip, the pick up and the striking of the sliotar.

“They were a bit rusty after a month not practising so we started with the basics again and got them going.

“They had no helmets and some of the hurls weren’t up to scratch either. It’s limited the amount of gear they could get in there.”

Under the sweltering sun, children attempted to strike the sliotar around the pitch, while the heat, which reached thirty degrees Celsius, posed the main challenge for John.

“As an Irish man in April, running around on an all-weather pitch in that heat, it was tough enough going for a while.

“In my head I still think I’m fit to play for Cavan but I’m afraid the reality doesn’t match up,” he laughed.

Despite this, the infectious enthusiasm from the “amazingly happy, resilient kids” energised him.

“They’re very enthusiastic, they were great fun to be honest,” said John, who was heartened by how “welcoming” they were. This sentiment extended beyond the football club and around the entire community in Ramallah.

Hospitality

“The welcome we got from the very start was amazing.

“Initially people, they stare at you and look at you. Then they get to know you and wave and the word gets around that you’re there helping the kids. They’re very, very friendly.”

‘Selam ya sadiqi’ which translates to ‘hello my friend’ was often cheered across the street during his time there. While walking home from training one day, John heard friendly calls of “come, come, come” and turned to see a local business man beckoning them into his patisserie.

“He filled up two big bags of this pastry for us, that was amazing.

“They just looked after us so well, every day we were fed an unbelievable amount of food, brought to houses for visits and every house you went to, there was a huge platter of food put in front of you and you were almost force fed.

“When you go to Palestine, they take their hospitality very seriously and they really look after you very well. You put on about a stone weight while you’re there for two weeks,” he laughed, adding that the people are “very, very” proud of their indigenous food.

Desire for peace

It was while he was sitting around these tables that John got to hear the perspective of people from the West Bank on the conflict. He shared the opinion of a policeman and a teacher.

“They say no, we want peace. We’re quite happy with a two-state solution. We’re happy as we are.

“They do still see that things are not good for them. In the West Bank, they’re so horrified by what’s happening in Gaza. Obviously, they’re very worried that, if it can happen in Gaza, it can happen in the West Bank.”

While there, John also got insight as to what daily life is like.

“When you drive through the West Bank you realise the huge amount of Israeli illegal settlement that is happening there. They’re ultra-modern towns all have been built up on the top of hills overlooking Palestine, Palestinian villages and farmland.

“There are roads there, which are only for settlers, and they join the settlements back to Israel. If any Palestinian is found driving on that, they can be shot on sight basically. We were warned to be careful, don’t turn on to one of those roads,” he said, adding that there are roads “where they both drive”.

He also heard how people who want to leave the West Bank must go through a “three check point system”.

“I’ve seen that it could take a day for them to get through that system.

“We were fit to skip the queues because we were tourists and get on, they’re called VIP buses, you have to pay extra though,” he revealed.

Looking at the queues and the two-tier system in operation John reflects: “You can see why people [Palestinians] get frustrated and angry because it’s all kind of just pressure pressure pressure. They’re treated differently to everyone else, it’s not nice to watch now.”

While there, John spent time applying for visas for the whole team, who are planning a trip to Ireland in July for a couple of weeks.

“We just have to make sure that they get their visas first and that everything gets put in place.”

Currently fundraising, John said there are “major, major logistical” hurdles to cross.

“We didn’t really mention much about that out there because we didn’t want to be getting their hopes up too much but that is the plan.”

Visa depending, the team are planning to mainly tour Dublin and the south, however John stated he would “love to get them to Cavan”.

“If we could get a game against East Cavan Gaels that would be fantastic,” he said.

“These children are amazing; they’ve never been to the sea. We all have this hope that, when they come to Ireland, we’ll be able to bring them to a beach.

“Just to give them hope as to what their life could be like if they were fit to have a bit more freedom.”

Back on home soil, John reflected on his experience.

“I did enjoy it. It’s funny when you come back, you’re thinking I could do so much more.

“They need so much support over there and so much help. What we’ve done is only a drop in the ocean but it’s better than nothing.”

Occupied Territories Bill

As a country, John feels that we “should be doing more” to help the Palestinian people.

“Like passing the Occupied Territories Bill,” he pointed out.

“I would say to people, just please contact your politicians and ask them to pass the Occupied Territories bill, which was promised before the election and hasn’t happened.”

“Also to find out about BDS, a peaceful protest where you can boycott all companies, which are seen as complicit in the genocide over there.”

To donate to the fundraising efforts to bring the children to Ireland, click here. .

Anyone who would like to get involved with GAA Palestine or help with the tour can email info@gaapalestine.com