THE PALESTINIAN WOMEN’S football team has arrived in Dublin ahead of their game against the Bohemians on Wednesday. 

The West Bank-based team and its delegation were greeted by supporters in Dublin Airport yesterday. 

The historic match in Dalymount park is intended to “highlight the human rights violations in occupied Palestine”, the Bohemians website says. 

Palestine team player Busan Abuaita told media at the airport: “Every time we play for the national team and hear our anthem it’s an amazing feeling, to represent not just our country but Palestinian women.”

🇮🇪🇵🇸 Thank you to all who came to Dublin Airport today to give the Palestinian National Team such a warm welcome. 🙌 pic.twitter.com/neM3deADha

— Bohemian Football Club (@bfcdublin) May 12, 2024

“This game is more special for us as we are going to a country that shows so much solidarity to the Palestinian people, we are doing this to play a game but also to support Gaza and all Palestinian people.

“We do appreciate the invitation, we are not always able to travel because of our jobs and visas and other issues but we have done all we can to be present in Dublin at this event, people there to support us when we are playing the game we love. It’s one way of fighting, we fight on the field, our presence is a message that we are still here as a people,” she added.

The Palestinian ambassador to Ireland has said: “There is no better way to commemorate the Nakba than by having our national team come to one of the few countries in Europe that is constant and consistent in its solidarity with our just cause. Thank you, Ireland, thank you to the Irish people, and thank you Bohemian FC.”

For Palestinians and their supporters, Nakba represents the historical and continued exodus and expulsion of Palestinian people from the region. Particularly during the violent events of 1948, when many Palestinians were displaced by war upon the creation of the Israeli state. The word means “catastrophe” in Arabic.

Matt Devany, the President of Bohemian FC, said that he hopes to raise a substantial sum to assist the plight of people in a “dire situation”. 

Tickets for the game will pay for the visit of the Palestinian team, with the remainder going to charity partners Palestine Sport for Life, Medical Aid for Palestinians and Aclaí Palestine. There are still some tickets available.