oklou williams

Rest in peace, Mahmoud Kamal Abdel-Malek. The Palestinian FA have announced the 20-year-old Gaza goalkeeper was killed by Israeli airstrike. Just weeks ago, Abdel-Malek was in goal for his club in the Thousand Martyrs Cup, the first taste of organised football Palestine had seen in almost three years. He helped Gaza Sports Club to the final of the Gaza and North branch of the competition. This was a tournament created to honour more than 1,000 athletes killed since October 2023. Now this young keeper who played in it is one of the many names it mourns. When football returned to Gaza as an act of remembrance and defiance, it did so on five-a-side artificial courts. Why? Because nine of the Strip’s ten stadiums have been damaged or destroyed. The same sport many of us rely on to be a safe space offers no such guarantee to the people of Gaza. According to the Palestinian FA, 1,107 athletes have now been killed. Around 570 of them were footballers, more than 100 of them children. And while this happens, winter is arriving in the region. The first storm of the season flooded the tents of around 26,000 households over the weekend, per the UN. At least five people were killed when an embankment collapsed onto shelters near Deir al-Balah. People who already lost their homes lost what little they had left. Football loves to talk about family, community and togetherness. Here is a goalkeeper killed weeks after standing shoulder to shoulder with the sons, brothers and parents of those who have lost so much in the name of the beautiful game. The sport owes him and every Palestinian player more than its silence. Our thoughts are with Mahmoud’s family, his teammates at Gaza Sports Club and everyone in Gaza facing this winter. Free Palestine.