To all football teams, clubs, and leagues around the world

Friends,

We are asking for your voice of support for an important football tournament taking place June 15 –July 1 in Rafah city, in the Gaza Strip, Palestine.

The annual Rachel Corrie Ramadan Football Tournament for Young Men is now in its 9th year. The organizers in Gaza are working very hard to ensure the event’s success.

This annual community tournament was created by friends of Rachel Corrie. Rachel was a young American activist who was killed in 2003 in Gaza while defending a house with a family inside from demolition by the Israeli army.

Rachel’s Gaza friends wanted to honor her with a community event and decided on a football tournament that takes place during the holy month of Ramadan.

It was their way to honor the memory of Rachel and to give the community a festive event at a time when Gaza is marred by siege and scarcity.

This tournament at its roots is more than just community entertainment. It’s an expression of the steadfastness of the Palestinian people — a dynamic and exuberant act of resistance through insistence on normal life, despite the military blockade and occupation.

It would mean a great deal to the people of Gaza, the organizers, the players, and the youth audience who benefit from the tournament to have your endorsement and to receive your messages of encouragement.

Please let them know that their struggle for a normal life though the expression of football is heard.

Best Regards,

John Harvey
for the
Rachel Corrie Foundation for Peace and Justice
Ph: (360) 754-3998 (US/PST)
Email: info@RachelCorrieFoundation.org
URL: RachelCorrieFoundation.org

(Visit: www.gazalife.org. Find us on Facebook: English & Arabic. Also, follow us on Twitter.)

(Palestine Chronicle)