This film would not have been possible without the generosity of the people who lived this story. Our thanks go out to them for their time, and their hospitality in making out stay in Israel warm and welcoming. Meet the cast of characters that tell us the story of Sakhnin United.
Team Captain, Abbas Suan
“Everything that happened in the last year, it surprised everyone… If we don‘t survive, its finished”.
Born and raised in Sakhnin, Abbas Suan joined Bnei Sakhnin when it was an obscure club in the third division. 10 years later, when they shock Israel by winning the national cup, Abbas is the team’s captain and star player.
While his team struggles in the premiere league, Abbas scores a crucial goal for the Israeli national team in a world cup qualifying match that propels him to national stardom.
After the goal, his fame brings new pressures and demands for his time, while Bnei Sakhnin’s season begins to unravel and they fall perilously close to relegation.
Team Owner, Mazen Ghanaim
“As a minority, as Israeli Arabs, we identify with both our Palestinian brothers and our state. So we are always placed between the hammer and the anvil.”
After B’nei Sakhnin wins the cup, Mazen receives congratulatory phone calls from both the Prime Minister of Israel and the Chairman of the PLO. Those phone calls, received within minutes of each other, illustrate the split identity of Bnei Sakhnin and its mostly Israeli Arab fans.
The Cup victory earns Bnei Sakhnin entry into the UEFA Cup where they become the first Arab team to represent Israel in European competition. For many, the team represents the possibility of better relations between Arabs and Jews in Israel.
But as Bnei Sakhnin struggles to survive in the premiere league, its powerful imagery as a beacon for co-existence begins to give way to a different and potentially dangerous symbolism. The team’s difficulties start to reflect the struggles of its mostly Arab fans, and the club becomes a symbol of their frustration. It falls on Mazen to keep his increasingly unhappy fan base calm, and keep their beloved team in the premiere league. For Mazen, his team represents a flag planted in the conscience of broader Israeli society, and it is important to him that his team continue to build bridges.
Head Coach, Eyal Lachman
“We’re a very small team, very small, but for the people in Israel, it’s something like a miracle.”
As a result of winning the cup the players shoulder enormous pressure both on and off the field, and part of Lachman’s job as head coach of Bnei Sakhnin is to protect them.
The other part of his job is to win enough games to insure Bnei Sakhnin’s survival to continue playing in the Israeli Soccer first division. While his players are young and inexperienced, this is no time for excuses. Bnei Sakhnin; his team, has virtually no professional infrastructure. Their entire budget is less than rivals Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and Haifa typically spend on a single player, and still they have no stadium for home games and practice. Their practice is on a cleared out olive grove that floods when it rains, against all odds they must survive.
To compensate, he instills a fierce, intense, and sometimes violent style of play. The strategy is effective on the field, but off the field, the media begin to question whether such an aggressive team can represent a lofty ideal like co-existence and peace. The negative attention rattles Bnei Sakhnin and its fans, threatening to undermine both their identity and their cherished place in the top division. The once prolific coach now finds himself fighting for more than just team survival, but now his own as well.
Local Sportscaster, Wajee Aboud
“The day of the game, I can not eat, I can not even speak, only smoking and drinking coffee”
As the sole reporter for the local TV station Neptune Studios, Wajee gives voice to Sakhnin’s obsession with their local soccer club. Operating out of a ramshackle studio, he provides play-by-play, commentary, discussion, and analysis, covering the trials and tribulations of all things Bnei Sakhnin. Wajee’s candor and honest look at the team and city he loves give a glimpse into the passion that every fan has, and makes him the perfect voice for the team desperate to survive.
