Player Focus: Raad Qumsieh

Growing up in the West Bank city of Bethlehem, Raad Qumsieh probably never dreamed that his life would include a stop in Kansas. He has led a nomadic life not uncommon of Palestinians today. But Qumsieh is different than most Palestinians. A gifted soccer player from a young age, he has played for the under-17, under-20, and full national teams of Palestine. For the past three years, he has been in the United States playing college soccer. He hopes to make a career as a professional player and to represent the Palestinian national team.

Like most talented players, Qumsieh began to show interest in soccer early on. From the age of three, he began to kick anything within range. And whenever soccer came on television, he was transfixed.

Like young soccer enthusiasts around the world, Qumsieh began playing in the streets with friends. But unlike most kids, Qumsieh’s games were often interrupted by Israeli soldiers. “They would shoot in the air and tell everyone to leave,” recalls Qumsieh. When he later joined the Palestinian team Thagafi Beit Sahour, the team bus would often be turned back at Israeli checkpoints on the way to games.

Qumsieh was a precocious player and made his debut for Thagafi at age 16. Shortly after, he was invited to a try-out for the Palestinian under-17 national team. He made the team and in a match against Kuwait scored a memorable goal. With his team down 2-0, Qumsieh picked the ball up in midfield. He picks up the story from there: “I saw the goalkeeper playing like a sweeper … so I figured a shot it was worth it.” And the shot he took was definitely worth it.

After the game, people wanted to talk to him about his incredible goal. Some questioned whether he was young enough to be eligible for the U-17 team. All around him, he heard murmurs and people saying, “There was no way a kid … can have a shot like this.” So many people questioned his eligibly, Qumsieh says, that the “[tournament organizers] had to take something from my knee to see how old I was.”Qumsieh was a rising star in Palestinian soccer, but he also wanted to continue his education. When an offer came for a full scholarship to play soccer at Goshen College in Indiana, he took the offer. In two years at Goshen, he became a star at the Mennonite school, leading them to the national tournament. Qumsieh’s developed unique style – he describes it as “freestyle, moves, thinking fast” –on the streets of Bethlehm, but it translated quite well to the cornfields of the American Midwest.

At Goshen, Qumsieh was a big fish in a small pond. He longed for more space to swim and so when Park University coach Efrem Shimlis expressed interest in the Palestinian forward, Qumsieh took the chance. He transferred to the Kansas City school, where he just finished his first year. Qumsieh says that his first year with his new team was successful, even though they lost in the first round of the national tournament.Qumsieh is disappointed that the college teams he’s played on haven’t performed better in national tournaments, but says he’s grateful just to have the chance to play soccer in peace. He’s aware that the situation is quite different for Palestinian players who remain in the occupied territories.The Palestinian national team, Qumsieh notes, has, in its ten years of existence, struggled to overcome barriers imposed on it by the Israeli occupation. Qumsieh notes that, playing with youth national teams in Palestine, players would often be stopped at border checkpoints. “We would be on the borders like any other people. We would sleep in the streets at the borders.” Team officials would often appeal to FIFA to intervene, with limited success.(A movie called Goal Dreams chronicles the Palestinian national team’s unsuccessful attempt to qualify for the 2006 World Cup. The Palestinian FA went so far as bringing in Chilean players of Palestinian descent because the Israelis would not allow native Palestinians players through checkpoints.)In addition to barriers imposed by Israel, Qumsieh notes, a lack of money hinders the Palestinian team’s progress. He reckons that, on merit, he would likely be called up for the national team, but the costs of getting him to games prevents it from happening.

The political situation that has led to the West Bank and Gaza Strip being governed by separate Palestinian factions has also been played out within the national team. Qumsieh notes that spots on the team are divided equally between the two territories. This often causes problems for the players, as they get little chance to train together before matches. “Sometimes we don’t have time to know each other because of the situation. We practice maybe once or twice together. We’re not even used to each other at all.”

Despite this obstacle, Qumsieh says that atmosphere in national team camps he’s been involved with have been overwhelmingly positive. On youth national teams, Qumsieh was the only Christian, and often got good-spirited ribbing from his Muslim teammates. “They would kid me: ‘why don’t you become Muslim? Come on, man’.” But, Qumsieh says, “They’re all my friends. We respect each other. We’re representing Palestine.”

Representing Palestine is a powerful inspiration for Qumsieh. He has two goals: to become a professional player and to represent and improve the senior Palestinian national team.

Qumsieh had a trial with Egyptian powerhouse Al-Ahly last year and may have trials with European teams next year. When I ask him if he would ever consider playing for an Israeli team, Qumsieh laughs at the suggestion. Despite the geographic proximity, Israeli teams don’t scout Palestinian players. If considered in purely geographic terms, Qumsieh’s career path (Palestine to the US to, hopefully, Europe) makes absolutely no sense. But then, little in the Middle East does.

Qumsieh’s desire to represent his country again is, not surprisingly, tied closely to the political situation. He notes that all Palestinians cheer for their team, one of the few representations of statehood for a stateless people. Seeing the Palestinian national team, says Qumsieh, helps to take people’s mind off of the difficult conditions under which they live. The team allows “people [to] forget about the conflict.”

Qumsieh expresses exasperation with the conflict. “We’re really getting sick of it,” he says. “It’s boring.” The word boring may not be used often to describe the Israeli – Palestinian conflict, but its repetitiveness is, in some ways, just that.

Peace with Israel would represent a major boost for the Palestinian people of course, but also for its national team. Qumsieh is hopeful that Palestinian statehood can boost the team. “To do something to be proud of, that’s what I really wish for in the future. I want to represent Palestine with a good team, not a bad team.”

Thanks to Lee Tesdell for offering the idea that led to this interview.

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This entry was posted on Saturday, December 1st, 2007 at 7:09 am and is filed under Conflict, Interviews, Middle East, Nationalism/Identity, North America, Player Focus. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.