One hundred years of history and tradition accompany the Palestino FC sports club. The football team based in Chile, puts on high the clamor of the Palestinian struggle and its right to exist and not be massacred by any invader.
Its creators were Palestinians, exiled, persecuted by the Ottomans. These migrants were part of the largest community of Palestinians outside the Middle East.
It was founded in Santiago, Chile, on August 20, 1920 and won two national titles, one in 1955 and another in 1978.
His shield shows the colors of the Palestinian flag and his motto ” More than a team, a whole people”, represents his idiosyncrasy and his clamor before the world. The stadium of the club is the Municipal la Cisterna, with a capacity of 12000 people.
The team has a great recognition of both the Chilean public and international fans. In 2003 Palestino would suffer a severe financial crisis that would leave it on the verge of bankruptcy. Faced with this, the Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat himself would send a letter from Ramallah to La Cisterna to advocate for the club not to disappear.
On the other hand, President Mahmoud Abbas sent a letter to the squadron, in which he said, “I want you to know that we identify with Palestine as the second national team for the Palestinian people. You have raised our colors and given us a voice in the most difficult moments. (…) You have shown that wherever we are we are one people, whether in Jerusalem, in Beit Jala or in Santiago.”
It should be noted that as an honorary member they have the Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Saeb Erekat, who has praised the social and cultural work carried out by the team.
In a historic event, the Palestinian team, managed to play with the Palestinian league team, Ahli Al-Kheel, on Chilean soil, on August 9, 2016, In the same year they toured different provinces of the Arab nation and even helped as volunteers in some refugee camps.
During 2018 the president of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, had a meeting with the team, this was received as “illustrious visit”, and even fired a penalty shot to the goalkeeper of the team.
The ways of getting the message of the Palestinian people from the football team have been several, example in 2019, during a game of the Libertadores Cup, the match was retransmitted in Ramallah, West Bank. Another sign of support for the cause was when they changed the number 1 shirt number to the historical map of Palestine.
In May the team challenged FIFA, wearing typical Palestinian clothes on the field.
During official party ceremonies, banners bearing the names of missing Palestinians or Palestinian martyrs are common.
For the Palestino FC team, football is not just another sport, it is a platform to make visible, denounce and fight for those who are massacred day after day to defend their land, the Palestinians.