The President of the European Jewish Congress Pierre Besnainou attended a Barcelona football match on November 29th, between a joint team of Israeli and Palestinian players against the Spanish team FC Barcelona, in the presence of Shimon Peres and various Israeli and Palestinian personalities.
Entitled the “Peace Match” this good-spirited game used sportsmanship to forge greater ties between Israelis and Palestinians, raising money at the same time for children from both Israel and Palestine. It was organized by the Peres Center for Peace, of which Besnainou is a Board member, and was attended by various celebrities and political personalities.
The Israeli-Palestinian team eventually lost 2-1 to the Spanish champions, whose team includes such football greats as Ronaldinho and Sumuel Eto’o.
The football match, held at the Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona, took place under the framework of the Euromed summit between 25 EU and its 10 Mediterranean neighbours, including Arab countries and Israel. The summit celebrated the 10th Anniversary of the Barcelona Declaration, which aims to create greater links between the European Union and Middle Eastern countries, with a free-trade zone for the entire region envisaged for 2010.
