International relations through football. This was the motto for a match on Monday between a team made up of German and Israeli authors and a selection of pupils and teachers from Ernst-Abbe-Gymnasium school in Neukölln. DFB.de were in Berlin to watch the match.
A dozen young men in red and white kits run around in the penalty box without a hint of organisation. One after the other, they cross the ball into the box, despite the choppy wind, and take shots on goal. “Wallah, I couldn’t keep that out!”, shouts the helpless keeper before booting the ball forward in a huff.
These sort of scenes can be found every day on the sports field at Maybachufer. Just like the young students playing for the Ernst-Abbe-Gymnasium school, most of the kids and young people who come to play on the large 3G pitch in north of Berlin-Neukölln have an immigrant background. Many of the boys have Turkish of Arabic roots.
Culture Foundation promotes project
On this unusual Monday lunchtime, they are not playing against another Berlin school or a club side from Pankow, Spandau or Kreuzberg. They meet a team of German and Israeli writers. As part of the project “Wir vergessen nicht, wir gehen tanzen” and with the support of the DFB Culture Foundation, the authors Norbert Kron and his Israeli colleague Amichai Shalev organised the fixture.
The project, which also shares its name with an anthology of stories from 19 writers, is focussed on the German-Israeli relations. The reason for this is the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two states, which should receive attention on both a personal and political level, as a result of the project. Kron’s key concept in this context is “coolness”. Coolness in our social interaction with each other, and on this particular day in Neukölln, coolness on the football pitch.
"It looks like street football between old boys”
Fair play was the overall winner here. The two sides play against each other, Kron gave away a signed shirt to the school kids and there was a friendly atmosphere as the game played out. The footballing ability of the 35 on looking pupils and teachers isn’t really that high. Or, to quote Moritz Rinke, the injured striker of the German national author’s team: “It looked like a game of street football between old boys.” The result of the match – the teacher/pupil side won 3-1 - was of little importance. It was all about international relations, having fun playing football and breaking down of prejudices.
For Norbert Kron things have come full circle. It was in 2008 when he first met Amichai Shalev during the first meeting between the German and Israeli author’s team. More game and more trips followed and they developed a close friendship, which ultimately led to the project. Schalev was injured and didn’t play in the game, but the centre back Kron scored from the penalty spot - the only goal for the writer’s team.
Brücken bauen: "Lässigkeit auf dem Fußballplatz" in Berlin-Neukölln
The young referee has everything in his hand
There was no evidence of the traditionally difficult relationship between Palestinian’s and Israelis during the game. The three policemen that watched from the sidelines, and the two police vans who parked nearby for security reasons, seemed utterly superfluous as a result of the relaxed atmosphere and Rinke remarked smugly, “we haven’t yet had to play under police protection.”
International relations through football. This was the motto for a match on Monday between a team made up of German and Israeli authors and a selection of pupils and teachers from Ernst-Abbe-Gymnasium school in Neukölln. DFB.de were in Berlin to watch the match.
A dozen young men in red and white kits run around in the penalty box without a hint of organisation. One after the other, they cross the ball into the box, despite the choppy wind, and take shots on goal. “Wallah, I couldn’t keep that out!”, shouts the helpless keeper before booting the ball forward in a huff.
These sort of scenes can be found every day on the sports field at Maybachufer. Just like the young students playing for the Ernst-Abbe-Gymnasium school, most of the kids and young people who come to play on the large 3G pitch in north of Berlin-Neukölln have an immigrant background. Many of the boys have Turkish of Arabic roots.
Culture Foundation promotes project
On this unusual Monday lunchtime, they are not playing against another Berlin school or a club side from Pankow, Spandau or Kreuzberg. They meet a team of German and Israeli writers. As part of the project “Wir vergessen nicht, wir gehen tanzen” and with the support of the DFB Culture Foundation, the authors Norbert Kron and his Israeli colleague Amichai Shalev organised the fixture.
The project, which also shares its name with an anthology of stories from 19 writers, is focussed on the German-Israeli relations. The reason for this is the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two states, which should receive attention on both a personal and political level, as a result of the project. Kron’s key concept in this context is “coolness”. Coolness in our social interaction with each other, and on this particular day in Neukölln, coolness on the football pitch.
"It looks like street football between old boys”
Fair play was the overall winner here. The two sides play against each other, Kron gave away a signed shirt to the school kids and there was a friendly atmosphere as the game played out. The footballing ability of the 35 on looking pupils and teachers isn’t really that high. Or, to quote Moritz Rinke, the injured striker of the German national author’s team: “It looked like a game of street football between old boys.” The result of the match – the teacher/pupil side won 3-1 - was of little importance. It was all about international relations, having fun playing football and breaking down of prejudices.
For Norbert Kron things have come full circle. It was in 2008 when he first met Amichai Shalev during the first meeting between the German and Israeli author’s team. More game and more trips followed and they developed a close friendship, which ultimately led to the project. Schalev was injured and didn’t play in the game, but the centre back Kron scored from the penalty spot - the only goal for the writer’s team.
Brücken bauen: "Lässigkeit auf dem Fußballplatz" in Berlin-Neukölln
The young referee has everything in his hand
There was no evidence of the traditionally difficult relationship between Palestinian’s and Israelis during the game. The three policemen that watched from the sidelines, and the two police vans who parked nearby for security reasons, seemed utterly superfluous as a result of the relaxed atmosphere and Rinke remarked smugly, “we haven’t yet had to play under police protection.”
Referee Hassan, a pupil of Palestinian roots from the school, had no problems during the relaxed game. “He did a brilliant job and everyone else in the team agrees”, said teacher Jan Ebert. His colleague Stefan Paffrath, who himself played during the first half, hopes for long-term success following the game. “Prejudice is always greatest wherever there is the least contact”, he said. “Therefore it was important for the boys to get to know some Israeli’s personally.”
Discussions about sport, religion and conflict in the Middle East
An hour later a small get together took place in the school. The majority of the authors enjoyed the leisurely ten minute walk. They were obviously a little tired after the game against the obviously younger school children, as they passed Arabic shops, new student bars and various kebab shops on Sonnenalle. In one of the school’s art classrooms, a vibrant discussion was brewing. Around 20 pupils stayed behind after school had officially closed to talk with the writers about Israelis in Berlin, conflict in the Middle East and religion. The discussion was pleasantly sophisticated and not and characterised by prejudice.
Kron and Shalev made the conscious decision to help “build bridges and breakdown prejudices” in the heavily Muslim community of Neukölln. Teacher Ebert believes this has been a great success. “It was a great thing to do and we should do things like is more often.”
After four hours the pupils, teachers and writers go their separate ways. Kron calls out to his remaining colleagues with a loud “Yalla” and epitomises the impact of the whole day. It turns out German and Israeli authors and school children aren’t that different after all.
