Here you go....Tanya Oziel................this wasn't disclosed on 60 minutes...............
http://www.theage.com.au/news/natio...l-jumps-barrier/2008/04/18/1208025478600.html
Sherrin ball with soul jumps barrier between Israeli and Palestinian
April 19, 2008
Tanya Oziel with members of the Palestinian-Israeli team, set to play in August.
Photo: Per Groth
THE idea for an Australian football team made up of Israelis and Palestinians in the AFL's International Cup, to be played in Victoria later this year, began with Tanya Oziel.
Ms Oziel is a Sephardic Jew whose family origins go back to Iraq. She grew up in Sydney and went to a local high school where none of the boys played Australian football.
In 1986, when she was 17, she went to Israel and worked on a kibbutz for five years and met her husband, Reuven.
In 1990, they returned to Australia where Reuven turned on the TV one night and was converted to AFL. Tanya and Reuven had a son, Haim, who grew up with his father's passion for the game and, at the age of 10, announced: "I want to play footy". "But Haim," Tanya replied, "they play on Saturday." While "not absolutely a religious Jew", the Sabbath was important to her as a family day, but her son was insistent. "I actually gave in. This is what Australian football does to people."
It was no easy thing to find a local AFL club in Sydney and, when they finally located the Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs, they were told the club's junior teams were full. Instead, they were sent down the road to the Maroubra Saints. Haim kicked four goals on debut and eight against the Bulldogs in the grand final. He has since made the NSW combined independent schools team for his age group two years in a row.
Prior to taking up footy, Haim's mother says he was a Jewish kid going to a Jewish school; that was his world. Now one of his best mates is a Torres Strait Islander and his mother shares his passion for the Maroubra Saints, which she describes as their family club. "That old Sherrin ball is special," she says. "It has a soul. It keeps jumping barriers."
Previously the CEO of the Australian-Israel Chamber of Commerce in NSW, Ms Oziel is now the executive director of the Australian chapter of the Peres Peace Centre, an organisation established by Israeli president Shimon Peres 10 years ago to encourage grassroots peace initiatives between Palestinians and Israelis. "I'm very strong in my Jewishness," she says. "But what is the alternative to peace? There is all this hatred in the world, but where does it get us?"
Footy expanded her son's life in a way she believed was good. She began to see the larger potential of this. With James Demetriou of Sport Without Borders (brother of AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou), she floated the idea of taking Auskick to Israeli and Palestinian children. Then the AFL's multicultural officer, Nick Hatzoglou, suggested bringing a team here. On Wednesday, in the AFL's boardroom, a collection of businessmen donated nearly $300,000 to make that possible.
Ms Oziel says Australian football is better than soccer for the purpose she has in mind — Palestinians and Israelis meeting through a sport about which they have no preconceptions and no history. Their world, Israeli versus Palestinian, is about little else but preconceptions.
An appeal was made to expatriate Australians in Israel to put on an exhibition match, which they did. AFL official Kevin Sheehan flew to Israel and took a series of training sessions.
Scenes from a documentary being made about the team show Sheehan in front of a whiteboard with the team instructions written in two languages, Arabic and Hebrew. The team has two coaches: one Palestinian, one Israeli. The Palestinian was previously involved in armed conflict. A Palestinian team member described Australian football as "a good meeting place".
The International Cup begins on August 27. After arriving in Australia, the Peres Centre Peace Team will be coached by former Brownlow medallist Robert DiPierdomenico. Called a Mediterranean Descendant as a schoolkid, he knows all about football's ability to transcend barriers.
Ms Oziel says her dream is that the Peres Centre Peace Team wins the International Cup's developing nation division.
"That would show anything is possible," she says.
Ms Oziel says Australian football is better than soccer for the purpose she has in mind — Palestinians and Israelis meeting through a sport about which they have no preconceptions and no history. Their world, Israeli versus Palestinian, is about little else but preconceptions.
An appeal was made to expatriate Australians in Israel to put on an exhibition match, which they did. AFL official Kevin Sheehan flew to Israel and took a series of training sessions.
Scenes from a documentary being made about the team show Sheehan in front of a whiteboard with the team instructions written in two languages, Arabic and Hebrew. The team has two coaches: one Palestinian, one Israeli. The Palestinian was previously involved in armed conflict. A Palestinian team member described Australian football as "a good meeting place".
The International Cup begins on August 27. After arriving in Australia, the Peres Centre Peace Team will be coached by former Brownlow medallist Robert DiPierdomenico. Called a Mediterranean Descendant as a schoolkid, he knows all about football's ability to transcend barriers.
Ms Oziel says her dream is that the Peres Centre Peace Team wins the International Cup's developing nation division.
"That would show anything is possible,"
