By Elliott West
“A sportsman that we lost too soon, but his memory will never be forgotten”.
Alessio Brancaccio
Introduction
War is a terrible concept. An act that some say is a necessary evil to quash a tyrant or regime into submission. Yet the consequences of these actions are devastating, killing and maiming untold numbers of innocent victims who just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time. Israel’s mission to rid the world of Hamas has according to reports killed in the region of 40,000 Palestinian civilians and one of these victims whom many of you probably have never heard of is the Palestinian football player Mohammed Barakat. Someone died at his Khan Younis family home in a Gaza airstrike on 11 March 2024 and was killed by a bomb during the holy month of Ramadan.
A Gifted Individual
Mohammed Barakat was no ordinary man. Nicknamed ‘The Lion’, this 39-year-old was blessed with a natural talent for playing football to a jaw-dropping standard. Yet those who rule this world have chosen to let his name be forgotten in the dust of pugnacious debris. So for this piece, I want to celebrate his life and show how much he contributed to football and the sadly ignored brilliance that he enriched Palestinian sport with. Barakat had all the qualities needed to make it big in the world of football. He had already played for a number of clubs in Gaza, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. He would go on to become a professional footballer in 2015, playing for Shabab Khan Younis where he became the first player in Gaza to score 100 goals with a single team.
This young man was impressive. At the AFC Challenge Cup, part of the Palestinian team, he helped carve out a 1-0 victory against Bangladesh and this was followed by a 9-0 win against Northern Marina Islands two days later in the same tournament. His last march was in a friendly against Qatar where they lost 2-0 on 17 April 2013. Yet if you Google this football player, the search stretches to less than a page with a few articles on his death and a much-repeated video that he recorded shortly before his death. giving a stoic and brave speech with what he knew could get his last words to the echo of falling bombs in the background. Tragically his fate was sealed and his life was extinguished in an instant. A kind soul who was much loved by his family and friends but was denied the fullness of life.