As a Palestinian, I have complicated feelings about proposed football matches between Israeli and Palestinian teams.

I believe in the power of sport. I believe sports can build bridges, but before we talk about symbolic matches, we have to talk about survival.

Palestinians should not have to be used as symbols of peace while children are living without limbs, families are struggling to access food, and people who need urgent medical care cannot freely travel to receive it.

Gaza has been described by UN officials as having the highest number of child amputees per capita in the world. Many of these children need surgery, prosthetics, rehabilitation, nutrition, pain control, and long-term trauma care — not photo opportunities.

If we are serious about dignity, then the priority should be medical care, food, mobility, and the right to live without restrictions that prevent people from healing, traveling, studying, competing, or simply living.

A football match may create a powerful image, but images are not justice. Images are not accountability. Images are not freedom of movement. Images are not a child getting the prosthetic leg, physical therapy, or evacuation they need.

I hope for a future where Palestinian and Israeli children can play against each other because they are free, safe, equal, and seen as fully human, but peace cannot begin with a kickoff while basic human needs remain out of reach.

Sport can unite people, but Palestinians need more than symbolism. They need care, food, freedom of movement, and the chance to live.

Check out the article and let me know your thoughts.

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