“1,000 Martyrs’ Cup” Honors Martyred Athletes with the Return of Palestinian Football

On September 4, 2026, for the first time in three years, a Palestinian football match was held in Jerusalem at Faisal al-Husseini International Stadium in al-Ram. It opened the “1,000 Martyrs’ Cup,” so named by the Palestinian Football Association to honor the loss of 1,014 Palestinian athletes killed during Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza that began on October 7, 2023.1 Palestinian footballers in Jerusalem, the West Bank, Gaza, and refugee camps in Lebanon, constituting 226 teams, will compete in the tournament.

The comeback tournament began with the unveiling of a memorial displaying the names of the martyred players at the Football Association’s headquarters near the stadium. In a moving gesture, Palestinian children carried to the field’s center a Palestinian flag, wrapped to resemble a dead body, then unraveled it while a band played the Palestinian national anthem.

During the opening match between the football clubs Jabal Mukabbir and Shabab al-Khalil SC, at the 10-minute, 14-second mark, the referee paused the game for a minute of silence, honoring the martyred athletes, who were the heart of the occasion.

A massive banner in green, red, and white was raised in the bleachers of the small stadium with the following statement: “1,000 martyrs are not a number; their cause is what matters.” The slogan was repeated by the popular Palestinian commentator Khalil Jadallah, while he recounted how visions of slain Gazan athletes were haunting him prior to the event.2 The stadium was a site of mourning and coming together for the Palestinian community.

Football’s return to Palestine will bring a new sense of hope for thousands of athletes whose lives “came to a complete halt”3 following the 2023 Israeli war on Gaza. According to Khalil, football is more than a sport; it holds a cultural, human, and national significance to players, administrators, referees, and audiences at large.4

While two other matches in Gaza and in Lebanon took place on the launch day, the opening match in Jerusalem ended in a victory for local Jerusalem team Jabal Mukabbir, breathing life and hope into the city.

Jerusalem Story filmed a reel from the event in which Jerusalemite and football fan Ammar Mousa shares that the supporters “came despite the checkpoints, and despite the difficulties and obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation,” as al-Ram is behind the Separation Wall and has faced tightening closures over the past year.

The football teams put aside logistical difficulties and mustered all their efforts to ensure their place in the tournament. The desire to play football once again and revive the deserted football fields surpassed any hardship along the way.5

The tournament is a symbol of sumud and demonstrates an unbreakable will to live while enduring profound and searing collective loss and pain. The scenes of joy and togetherness at the opening match just outside Jerusalem are priceless and historic.