Boxing, Tennis, and Inter-Club Resistance
Jaffa’s Boxing Champion, Adib Al-Dasouki
Adib Al-Dasouki was born in Jaffa in 1914 and was Palestine’s boxing champion in 1935-48. Al-Dasouki’s father was a wrestler was a top athlete in the whole region and known internationally. He supported young athletes and prepared them for the world stage. Al-Dasouki had matches with many top boxers from the Arab region, in addition to international boxers. Some of the matches took place on the prestigious al-Hamra Cinema’s stage, or the Collège des Frères stage among other venues. Adib started his career in the Islamic Sports Club of Jaffa (established 1926). Al-Dasouki joined the resistance when his home town was attacked in 1948 and ended up a refugee as most of the Jaffans. He continued a bright career abroad.
The Palestinian Sport Union was established in 1931 but was shut down at the beginning of the Great Palestinian revolt in 1936 (and reopened in 1944). In the late 1930s, Al-Dasouki and his coach Mazin Hakki established an Olympic Institute in Jaffa which rapidly grew and continued Al-Dasouki’s vision of improving the boxing level on a local, regional, and international levels. In total there were four institutes in Jaffa that focused on boxing.
Upon a visit to the institute, a Jaffa municipality member wrote in Falastin Newspaper – “I was invited yesterday with a team of friends to visit the Jaffan Olympic Institute, which is an institute concerned with teaching participants the rules and art of boxing. The institute is overseen by the rising and popular athlete Adib Al-Dasouki who has a strong desire to empower the youth to practice in boxing and make room for it in the local sports scene, like all other developed countries. . .[Al-Dasouki’s Work] is an honorable service which he provides for his country out of his goodwill, to raise and uphold its name and status as we have witnessed a successful sports coach in our visit. . .We urge Jaffans to appreciate his efforts of establishing such an institute and invite all the youths to join in order to win sports matches in the future and honor the name of their country.”
Al-Dasouki became Palestine’s boxing champion in 1935, and in 1936 when the Great Palestinian Revolt began, Adib, his borther and his father were arrested by the British occupation and were detained in the Sarafand Camp near Jaffa. The Sarafand army camp was built by the British during the British occupation/ Mandate in 1917 and was taken over later by the State of Israel and used up until 1995. The Sarafand camp was the largest British military camp in the Middle East, later a military hospital was added to it.
During WWII Al-Dasouki had a match with the British champion Harold Anthony at the Sarafand military camp and won. He had matches with representatives of the British police and army. Al-Dasouki had matches with Jewish Palestinian clubs and boxers from Hapoel and Maccabi.
In September 1937, during the Palestinian Revolt, Al-Dasouki met first with the Syrian and then Lebanese boxing champions on the Frère School’s stage in Jaffa. The same year he had a match in Cairo with the Egyptian boxing champion. The same year Adib was one of the co-founders of the Arab Worker’s Union in Jaffa.
Al-Dasouki had a dream of having a match with Muhammad Ali, but he only got a chance to Muhammad Ali after the erasure of Palestine and Dasouki’s exile in 1948.
In 1948, Adib Al-Dasouki served in the Palestinian brigade under the Egyptian army defending his city. After Jaffa fell and the boxing champion turned a refugee, Al-Dasouki went to Iraq and became a boxing coach. In 1953 he moved to Damascus where he was a self-defense and boxing coach for the Syrian Ministry of Defense. Finally, he set up his own club in Jordan and his children continue his legacy in Jordan to this day. Al-Dasuki wrote his memoires in exile in Kuwait in 1982.
Circle Sportive
In 1911, Jaffan Edmon Roch established a general sports club in Al Ajami. Soon a group of young Jaffans established another sporting club in Al Ajami too called “al-Montada al Riyadi” (Sports Forum), later renaming it “Circle Sportive.” Circle Sportive is recognized as the first serious athletic, cultural, and social club in Palestine. Circle Sportive was a general sports club particularly promoting tennis. The club started hosting tennis tournaments and was active until 1948.
The Islamic Sport Club, with the support of the Jaffa Municipality, established the Bassa Stadium in Jaffa after the Great Palestinian Revolt (1936-38). The sport club’s members volunteered building a wall and a stadium for 10,000 spectators. They also planted natural turf (football field grass) and the Bassa Stadium was the only stadium in Palestine with turf. In December 1945 the sport club established a scout club with headquarters at the Jaffa train station.
When Sports and Culture Meet Solidarity
Sports were also a crucial part of cultural/religious foundations in Jaffa, with the Orthodox Youth Club and the Islamic Sports Club (where Adib Al-Dasouki trained) being good examples. The Orthodox Club was particularly known for its football team, making it one of the strongest teams in the country. Sports clubs also hosted intellectual and creative activities like big concerts, intellectual panels, poetry recitals, and national festivals.
During the Great Palestinian Revolt between 1936-39, the Palestinian boxing champion Al-Dasouki was arrested with his brother and father by the British occupation due to their involvement in the resistance. The curfews, the general strike, and British brutality negatively impacted the sports scene. The Orthodox Club was a pillar in Palestinian society, and it supported a lot of activities and people. The Orthodox Club was shut down and taken over by the British Mandate forces, who transformed the big vicinity into quarters for their occupying army. The Islamic Sports Club invited the Orthodox Club administrators and offered the use of offices and meeting rooms to proceed with their projects, at the Islamic Sports Club. The Islamic Sports Club drafted a protest letter to the governor, defending the Orthodox Club. When it came to social cohesion, Jaffan solidarity crossed religion, class, and affiliation. The Orthodox Club in Jaffa expanded into a Jordanian branch still thriving and active in Amman today.
References
https://www.facebook.com/534852869884658/posts/2857150620988193/
http://www.hpalestinesports.net/2017/07/1924-1948.html
الملحق الأول – الحركة الرياضية في فلسطين إبان الانتداب وبعده