30 July 2007
The black smoke billowed up from the burning rubber tires, drifting off to become a fine gray mist way above the Dheisheh camp. I had been sitting in the restaurant as usual when the smell wafted into the room and someone offhandedly mentioned that they were burning tires in the street in protest of the lack of water in the camp. I walked over to the open window and stared down upon the scene unfolding below Ibdaa. The tires were set to block the street going both ways and children running from side to side throwing new tires and other refuse on the blazing piles. As I mentioned before, the camp has been without water for days. The Palestinian Authority has to buy the water from Israel and something has happened to hinder this process. The frustration of those in the camp hung heavy in the air with the smoke.The mood was different later as scores of people piled into various cars and small buses to go to the basketball championships at the Catholic Action Cultural Center. The roar of the hundreds of people in the crowd filled the arena. Ibdaa had been looking forward to this game for years as the other team, Al Amal, had apparently disrespected the Ibdaa team since they were from a refugee camp and not “a real team”. This was the first meeting between the two and on Al Amal’s home court.
The Ibdaa supporters occupied their own huge section of the stands; one particularly vocal section stood the entire game and yelled various chants to drum beats throughout the game. It is a matter of pride and hope for many of the people from Dheisheh that their basketball team plays and wins. Ibdaa started the game with a flurry and led 10-0 in the first quarter. They never looked back…And after we switched the defensive scheme to focus on the one American player with Al Amal who drained three-pointer after three-pointer to give the other team a breath of life there was no question who would hoist the trophy. They had no inside players and Iad (Ibdaa’s 6’6” center) blocked shot after shot while Ibdaa’s American player (Turner) and other guard Yajya weaved circles around the other team. The final score was 91-68 and as the clock ran out the crowd and the players gathered near the metal divider to cheer together.
In a show of solidarity the Ibdaa team asked Turner to receive the first place trophy and hoisted him above their shoulders as they continued to cheer with their fans. The boisterous crowd returned elated to Ibdaa though we found out as we were driving back that there had been clashes between the Palestinian Authority and Dheisheh residents while we were gone, reality sunk back in just a little bit.
It was a day of two different worlds…