DURA, West Bank – Thousands of Palestinians celebrated the arrival of Barcelona in the West Bank early Sunday where Argentine forward Lionel Messi and his team mates showed off their skills to adoring fans. Some 25,000 spectators, many clad in Barca shirts, packed every corner of a new stadium in the town of Dura in the southern West Bank as the Barca players held an hour-long clinic with some 40 young Palestinian boys and girls. Hundreds of other fans itching to get in were left stranded outside the packed ground as a large security force secured the perimeter. The streets of Bethlehem and the city of Hebron near Dura were adorned with Barcelona flags as people lined the route to catch a glimpse of their heroes and the team bus. “It's great to see Barcelona, Messi, Xavi, Iniesta and Neymar in Palestine. This is my lucky day,” said 17-year-old Fadwa from Bethlehem. The Spanish league champions were making a brief stopover in Israel and the Palestinian territories en-route to a pre-season tour of Asia. Palestinian sports supremo Jibril Rajoub described Barcelona's visit as “the most important event in the history of Palestinian sport.” The Catalonians and Spanish arch-rivals Real Madrid are the most popular teams among Palestinians. In February, Barca said they wanted to play a friendly match against a side made up equally of Palestinian and Israeli players in Tel Aviv but the Middle Eastern neighbors could not agree on arrangements to facilitate holding the fixture. The Palestinians have complained that Israel's security forces often prevent athletes traveling freely between the Gaza Strip and West Bank, where the Palestinians have limited self rule but over which Israel maintains overall security control. While in Bethlehem, Barca's players also met Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. After meeting Abbas at his Ramallah headquarters they held a football clinic near the southern West Bank town of Dura. Israeli President Shimon Peres on Sunday praised Lionel Messi and his fellow Barcelona stars as “messengers of peace.” “Israeli and Palestinian children dream of two goals,” Peres told the visitors in remarks broadcast on public radio. “Scoring the winning goal at Camp Nou, and the great goal of peace.” “Barca is more than just a club,” Peres said at the reception. “You became each of you messengers of peace.” “Sport, and football in particular, breaks down barriers,” he added. “In football there are no victims but always hope for the next match.” The training sessions are organized by the Peres Centre for Peace as well as the Israeli and Palestinian football federations. – Agencies
