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GAA IS THRIVING in Palestine, and the founder of the country’s gaelic games association says he was inspired to act as a way of extending a cultural hand of friendship from a nation “very in touch” with oppression.
Stephen Redmond, who lives in London, embarked on a trip to the West Bank with a specific goal in mind, one month into Israel’s ferocious bombardment of the Gaza Strip at the end of 2023.
He founded GAA Palestine which serves as an umbrella organisation overseeing the spread of Gaelic games throughout the West Bank and other parts of the Palestinian Territories.
Although over 90km east of the war-torn Gaza Strip, the West Bank still saw 498 Palestinians killed by the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) in 2024 during various military operations, according to UN figures.
The West Bank, named for its location by the River Jordan, is the largest section of the now-fragmented Palestine and home to more than three million people.
Many of its refugee camps resemble small cities, mostly established after Palestinians were expelled from their homes during the Nakba (catastrophe) that led to the formation of Israel in 1948.
Around 40,000 Palestinians were displaced by the IDF’s ‘Operation Iron Wall’ over the space of three weeks in February which saw the deaths of 51 people, including seven children.
Speaking to The Journal, Redmond said he hoped setting up a local GAA organisation would help protect the cultural identity of those living in the West Bank.
As of today, his vision has led to the establishment of five GAA clubs actively training Palestinian youngsters in Gaelic football and hurling in locations throughout the region: Ramallah, Tulkarem, Jenin, South Bethlehem and Hebron.
“I think any nation or any people that have been subjected to apartheid occupation or genocide will automatically have an empathy or sympathy for another nation when they see it happening,” he said.
“So I think especially for Irish people, it’s something that we were very in touch with.”
He added: “As soon as you say you’re Irish, Palestinians will smile every time, and they will thank you.”
Redmond’s mission to bring Gaelic games to Palestine has faced inevitable obstacles posed not least from the IDF.
“What we face now really is dealing with the troops at checkpoints, the closing of towns and villages.
“Sometimes you could be up to three hours waiting in queues to try and get through a checkpoint.
When you’re at a checkpoint, you know members there are abused because they’re Palestinians.”
Turning to matters on the pitch, he said local kids had taken a particular interest in hurling, which they call the “sport of freedom”.
“They saw the hurley sticks and picked them up. It was so new and different. They’ve all sort of latched on to it because it’s just an unusual game. They’ve never seen it before. These kids are getting good.”
At the time of writing, GAA Palestine has helped set up two hurley manufacturers in the West Bank, including in Tulkarem.
Sadly, GAA Palestine was rocked by the killing of one of its co-founders, 17-year-old Palestinian Moataz Sarsour.
According to official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the teenager was shot dead by the IDF last summer during a raid on the homes of two Palestinian doctors in the Am’ari UN refugee camp.
“There was an early invasion by troops in the in August of 2024,” Redmond said. “It was two doctors that had been arrested, accused of being resistance fighters.
“They went to destroy the houses. The local people came out to protest, to try and save the families that were living there. He got shot in the chest and was brought to the Palestinian Medical Complex and pronounced dead there.”
GAA Palestine is now determined to spread Gaelic games further in the Middle East, even as far as to refugee camps in Lebanon, Jordan, Syria and Gaza.
It has been working with the GAA World Council to have the five clubs in the West Bank officially recognised.
A spokesperson for the GAA told The Journal: “We are still liaising with the proposed new club in Ramallah regarding official status as a registered club with the GAA.
As with the establishment of all new units, certain processes have to be followed before that happens.”
Redmond is currently raising funds to bring almost 50 Palestinians, including 33 children, to several cities in Ireland in July to expose them to how the GAA works here, and he is calling for donations to help make the kids’ dreams come true.
“These children have been dreaming about this for over a year now,” he said.
“This is such a big thing for them. They do floodlit training for this to make sure that they’re up to skill, so that they’re not embarrassed when they come over.”
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