Bethlehem, occupied West Bank /PNN/

Bethlehem Mayor Maher Nicola Qanawati on Tuesday visited a football pitch in Aida refugee camp that Israeli authorities have threatened to demolish, in a show of solidarity and opposition to the decision.

The visit was hosted by the camp’s Popular Services Committee, Fatah, the Aida Youth Centre and local institutions.

Qanawati was received by Saeed Al Azzha , head of the Popular Services Committee; Monther Amira, head of the Aida Youth Centre; members of the centre’s board; Marwan Farrarja, Fatah’s secretary in the camp; and representatives of several community organisations.

Children from the centre’s sports teams welcomed the mayor and played football with him on the pitch, a symbolic gesture underscoring their rejection of the demolition order.

Qanawati said the land belongs to the Armenian Patriarchate and that the Bethlehem municipality has a lease agreement allowing it to be used as a football field and public garden. 

He thanked the Armenian Church and the Armenian Monastery for their continued cooperation with the municipality and the camp.

Questioning the rationale behind the demolition order, Qanawati said the pitch is used by children to play football. “Why kill the smiles on the faces of these innocent children?” .

He asked. “This is not a space for politics or conflict. It is a space for children — for joy, for investing their energy and talents in sport.”

He said Bethlehem’s message to the international community is a call to protect the pitch and uphold basic human rights, including ensuring a safe and stable life for the camp’s children. “Bethlehem’s message is one of hope, steadfastness and remaining on the land of peace,” he said, adding that Palestinians are a people who love life and peace and want their children to grow up in an atmosphere of safety befitting the city of Bethlehem.

For his part Saeed Al Azzha welcomed Qanawati and extended greetings to the people of Bethlehem on the occasion of the Christmas holidays and the New Year, expressing hope that the coming year would bring freedom and independence. 

He said the mayor’s visit, coinciding with Bethlehem’s reception of church leaders celebrating Christmas according to the Eastern calendar, sent a clear message rejecting Israeli demolition orders and expressing solidarity with the camp’s children and residents.

“The pitch is a lifeline for the camp and its children,” al-Azza said, adding that demolishing it would mean destroying children’s dreams and hopes. 

He thanked the Armenian Church and Monastery for leasing the land through the Bethlehem municipality and the Palestinian Presidency to establish the pitch, a garden and a theatre, saying the agreement offered hope to the entire community. He voiced confidence in the church’s commitment to protecting the land from Israeli demolition.

Munther Amira director of Aida Youth Centre described the mayor’s visit as significant on several levels and said it carried the message of the camp’s children to the world. 
 

He noted that Aida camp’s children and youth had been without a football field for 70 years, questioning what he called a discriminatory Israeli decision to demolish a facility that has become a source of hope for hundreds of children.

Amira said all activities aimed at protecting the pitch are directed at the international community, urging it to intervene to halt the demolition. He added that the Popular Services Committee, the youth centre, Fatah and all camp institutions would continue their efforts to prevent the demolition, saying its destruction would mean “demolishing the future of our children.”