NOVANEWS
Judo master only learnt he had become the first Palestinian to qualify for the Olympic Games on merit a few weeks ago.
Palestinian judoka Maher Abu Rmeileh, who trains at the Al Quds sports club in Jerusalem. Photograph: Gali Tibbon for the Guardian
The mini-judokas abruptly cease rolling around like play-fighting puppies at the coach’s command and clear the floor for the serious business. Six adult men in blue or white robes step on to the patriotically coloured judo mats. At their centre is an athlete who has just made Palestinian sporting history.
Maher Abu Rmeileh is the first Palestinian to qualify for the Olympic Games on merit. Under rules exempting developing nations from having to reach the qualifying standard, Palestine is sending a team of four – two swimmers and two runners – to London this summer. But the 28-year-old judoka is a late addition, having only learned of his unique achievement a few weeks ago.
With sweat dripping down his face on a scorching Jerusalem afternoon, and the broad grin that rarely leaves his face, Abu Rmeileh recalls the day he got the call from the Al Quds club, where he trains. “They said ‘come now and bring sweets’. That was all. Then when I got here, they told me I was going to London. I was in shock, I didn’t believe it.”
The International Olympics Committee’s decision rested on Abu Rmeileh’s success at the world judo championships in Tokyo in 2010.
“At the beginning of this year I hoped I would qualify [for the Olympics] but as the months went by I lost hope,” he says. “But the word ‘impossible’ is not in my dictionary.”
His participation in the Olympics will be the culmination of 21 years of practising judo, initially accompanying his judoka father, Shafik, at whose scarf shop in Jerusalem’s Old City alley ways Maher works each day before heading to the Al Quds club in the east of the city to train. “My father had a lot of hope in me. It was also his dream to represent Palestine at the Olympics, and now he is fulfilling his dream through me.”
Abu Rmeileh trains for at least two hours a day, seven days a week, a programme which is intensifying in the run up to the Games in the UK. The club, which has about 20 judoka, the youngest of whom is five, charges no fees, relying instead on volunteers and donations. “There is no bar to poor families,” says the club’s head, Numan Dkeidek.
Discipline and commitment are required, but, says Abu Rmeileh, the rewards are great. “Judo is one of the most beautiful and one of the most practical of sports. It is a big part of my life.”
He will compete in the under-73kg category, which eliminates the possibility of a politically delicate encounter with Israel’s main judoka hope, Arik Zeevi, who is in a heavier class.
Abu Rmeileh will not be drawn on issues concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, preferring to focus on his achievement so far and the task ahead.
“I’m very proud to be the first Palestinian to qualify. The feeling is indescribable. It means we can send a message to the world that we are as capable as any other country.”
His two sons, aged six and four, will watch their father on TV from their East Jerusalem home. “I will encourage them to take up judo too, but they are a bit young now. I’m very happy I will be going as an ambassador for the Palestinian people. I will be carrying the Palestinian flag. It means a lot to us.” He hopes to do well, but “it is enough for us to be able to tell the whole world that we Palestinians exist”.
Maher Abu Rmeileh is the first Palestinian to qualify for the Olympic Games on merit. Under rules exempting developing nations from having to reach the qualifying standard, Palestine is sending a team of four – two swimmers and two runners – to London this summer. But the 28-year-old judoka is a late addition, having only learned of his unique achievement a few weeks ago.
With sweat dripping down his face on a scorching Jerusalem afternoon, and the broad grin that rarely leaves his face, Abu Rmeileh recalls the day he got the call from the Al Quds club, where he trains. “They said ‘come now and bring sweets’. That was all. Then when I got here, they told me I was going to London. I was in shock, I didn’t believe it.”
The International Olympics Committee’s decision rested on Abu Rmeileh’s success at the world judo championships in Tokyo in 2010.
“At the beginning of this year I hoped I would qualify [for the Olympics] but as the months went by I lost hope,” he says. “But the word ‘impossible’ is not in my dictionary.”
His participation in the Olympics will be the culmination of 21 years of practising judo, initially accompanying his judoka father, Shafik, at whose scarf shop in Jerusalem’s Old City alley ways Maher works each day before heading to the Al Quds club in the east of the city to train. “My father had a lot of hope in me. It was also his dream to represent Palestine at the Olympics, and now he is fulfilling his dream through me.”
Abu Rmeileh trains for at least two hours a day, seven days a week, a programme which is intensifying in the run up to the Games in the UK. The club, which has about 20 judoka, the youngest of whom is five, charges no fees, relying instead on volunteers and donations. “There is no bar to poor families,” says the club’s head, Numan Dkeidek.
Discipline and commitment are required, but, says Abu Rmeileh, the rewards are great. “Judo is one of the most beautiful and one of the most practical of sports. It is a big part of my life.”
He will compete in the under-73kg category, which eliminates the possibility of a politically delicate encounter with Israel’s main judoka hope, Arik Zeevi, who is in a heavier class.
Abu Rmeileh will not be drawn on issues concerning the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, preferring to focus on his achievement so far and the task ahead.
“I’m very proud to be the first Palestinian to qualify. The feeling is indescribable. It means we can send a message to the world that we are as capable as any other country.”
His two sons, aged six and four, will watch their father on TV from their East Jerusalem home. “I will encourage them to take up judo too, but they are a bit young now. I’m very happy I will be going as an ambassador for the Palestinian people. I will be carrying the Palestinian flag. It means a lot to us.” He hopes to do well, but “it is enough for us to be able to tell the whole world that we Palestinians exist”.
