PeacePlayers is helping change perceptions for Israeli kids through basketball

By Danny Ourian

Feb. 4, 2009. It was a glorious PeacePlayers day, from start to finish. We started the day with the third installment of this year's Jerusalem Girls League. The league is a partnership with the Jerusalem municipality; the Jerusalem Girls League pits girls' aged 10-12 from neighborhoods around Jerusalem against one another in a league that PeacePlayers has adopted as one of its own.

With various PeacePlayers' girls' teams involved in this year's league, we have taken the opportunity to use the league as a platform for teaching some of our most important life skills: picking an opponent up off the floor if they foul, shaking hands properly after the game (even when you lose), and other sportsmanship ideas.

Before every league begins, we take a few moments to address these vital teaching points.

And, the girls have a ball. They take the games very seriously – sometimes too seriously – as they are given the opportunity to miss school once a month and participate. Of course they love this. The league gives them the chance to play in the same arena where professional Israeli league team Hapoel Jerusalem holds their games – an amazing experience.
Later that same day, it was opening night of the Jerusalem Peace League. In its second year, the Jerusalem Peace League has been a crown jewel for PeacePlayers activity in the Jerusalem area. What we do is this: All year long, the kids practice on single identity teams – Arabs practice with Arabs, Jews practice with Jews.

In the league, the teams play on mixed teams with their twinning pairs with the idea that "those who play together can learn to live together." It's a powerful thought, and even more powerful when you see it in action. Small things count: knowing each other's names, having your coaches working together – all of it matters.

We look for these minor successes, knowing that each one is a drop in the ocean of bridging these long-standing divides. Kids taking foul shots giving hi-fives. Passing unselfishly. Supporting one another. These are the sorts of small victories we celebrate.

A difference maker

Some of our teams did not want to participate in the Peace League, especially in light of the recent war in Gaza and the south of Israel. Many of our kids were against the idea. But we persisted.

The theme of this year's Peace League is "brotherhood through basketball," and it is as relevant as ever. We did our best to make sure it would be a positive experience for them, and, so far, we have succeeded.

At the end of the day, my colleagues and I came home and congratulated each other on an action-packed 12 hours of work. We didn't bring peace to the Middle East – you can't do that with basketball alone. But the kids we brought together that day – more than 200 Jerusalem youths – had their lives positively impacted in a basketball experience they won't soon forget.

And hopefully, somewhere along the way, we changed some perceptions. OC

Danny Ourian lives and works in the Middle East as a program director for PeacePlayers International. He has coached basketball for kids of all ages, ranging from youth summer camps to an assistant coach with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice men's basketball team in New York City. He has also worked in the marketing and management departments of the Harlem Wizards and an American Basketball Association expansion team.

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites