Prestigious Spanish football team FC Barcelona will pay a two-day visit to Israel and the Palestinian Authority where they will conduct practice games with the participation of teams of Israeli and Palestinian children in order to promote peace.
The team is to include Barcelona’s star Lionel Messi.
All proceeds will go “to the promotion of peace between Israelis and Palestinians through the values of sport”, the club said.
“FC Barcelona has become a channel for dialogue between Israelis and Palestinians. The FC Barcelona Foundation has organized sports activities between the two communities in the past and is committed to continuing to do so as part of its ongoing effort to bring peace to the area,” it said on the club’s website.
“FC Barcelona wants to thank Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his personal commitment to this project, as well as President Shimon Peres and the President of the Palestine National Authority Mahmoud Abbas for their vision and leadership.”
The team will go to Bethlehem and later Ramallah on August 3 where they will be received by President Abbas.
The following day in Jerusalem, the team will visit the Western Wall, and will be received by Israeli President Shimon Peres and Prime Minister Netanyahu.
The team will also visit the Prime Minister’s residence. On Aug. 4, both Palestinian and Israeli children will come together to play in the Bloomfield stadium in Tel Aviv.
The Peres Center for Peace, the Israeli Football Association and the Palestinian Football Association are involved in the events.