Statement by
Ms. Hadas Mezad

Mr. President,

Throughout history, sport has served as a common language for the nations of the world.

Sport fosters friendship, cooperation and harmony. It transcends our differences and reminds us of our commonality. It requires basic human values such as honor, teamwork, and tolerance. As Israel’s President Shimon Peres once said: “No matter if you’re black or white; Muslim, Christian, Buddhist or Jewish; man or woman; Sport is a world where you can compete without hating, where you win without killing.”

Mr. President,

Sport serves as a powerful tool to promote peace, tolerance and understanding in places of tension. It brings people together across boundaries, cultures and religions.

Israel seeks to build new and lasting bridges and promote peaceful coexistence among the diverse people that make up our society, particularly between Jewish and Arab youth.

The Israeli NGO Mifalot oversees over 300 projects that use soccer to foster cohesive communities within Israeli society. MIFALOT’s annual sporting event brings together 20,000 young persons from Israel, the Palestinian territories, and Jordan as part of an effort to change perceptions and stereotypes. The event promotes acceptance, understanding and respect. Following its remarkable success in Israel, the program has expanded to Cameroon, Jordan, Rwanda and Haiti.

Through its activities in hundreds of educational and community frameworks, Mifalot instills moral, social and educational values among youth. It helps to improve their self-image, develop communication skills and provide them with a sense of belonging.

Sport has also been a powerful tool for progress and development. It has played an important role in advancing the Millennium Development Goals, including the promotion of gender equality. MIFALOT has used sport to promote gender equality in minority communities by developing programs for the empowerment of women. For example, in Bedouin villages in southern Israel, programs targeting young girls have proven to be highly effective in improving their self-confidence.

Mr. President,

Israel prides itself on its sport for peace accomplishments and hopes to expand these initiatives to other communities around the world.

We are proud to be one of the co-sponsors of the Resolution entitled, “Building a better and more peaceful world through sport and the Olympic ideal,” which will be adopted by the General Assembly today. Israel’s interest in using sport to promote peace was reflected in the active role that we played in the negotiations for this resolution. In particular, we brought forward additional language on the leadership of Olympic and Paralympic athletes and their special role in promoting peace through sport and the Olympic ideal. Athletes embody the spirit of the Olympic ideal. They can be extremely influential as role models and ambassadors for peace and their global popularity can be used as a powerful communication platform that can be used to promote a culture of peace.

Mr. President,

Unfortunately, not all sporting events have followed the principles laid out within UNOSDP. While painful to mention, we must recall the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich and the terrorists that broke into the Olympic village and killed 11 Israeli athletes, coaches and referees. The memory of this inhumane act is still felt in Israel. Today my country continues to take very significant security measures to protect our athletes abroad. It is also crucial to mention Israelis’ exclusion from certain sport leagues; this exclusion represents a direct contradiction of the ideals that we speak of today.

Mr. President,

Finally, on behalf of my country, I would like to thank the UN Special Adviser on Sport, Mr. Wilfried Lemke, for his important work in encouraging dialogue, collaboration and partnerships around sport for development and peace. We were honored to host him in Israel last month.

Israel is proud of its competitive, yet respectful approach to all international sporting events, and we hope that the upcoming summer Olympic Games in London will represent the true essence of sport as a way to promote tolerance and co-existence.

Israel, through its words and actions, strongly supports the concept of sport for peace and development, as well as the Olympic ideal, and calls on the nations of the world to join together in these endeavors. We view sport as essential for the promotion of peace and coexistence in our own state, the Middle East, and the international community.

Thank you, Mr. President.