Mohammed Al-Dajani is a young man from Jerusalem who has been fascinated by sports since his early childhood until he achieved his ambition to reach the world level, but the occupation blocked his path and forced him to return to Jerusalem.
In this video, Al-Dajani speaks to Tel Aviv Tribune Net about his beginnings in football in occupied Jerusalem and his progression in training players despite all the challenges resulting from the occupation and its policies, then completing his academic studies in Palestine and Europe in the same field.
During his postgraduate studies in Norway, he continued to train with local clubs, and from the same country he obtained the highest football coaching certificates.
After 8 years in Norway, Al-Dajani made a qualitative leap by moving to the Dutch club Ajax, one of the biggest European clubs.
But 11 months after joining the club as an assistant coach, Al-Dajani was confronted with the occupation’s threat to revoke his residency in Jerusalem if he did not return and “prove his residency,” even though all the details of his life were in the city, which forced him to terminate his contract with the Dutch club.
The occupation treats the residents of Jerusalem as “residents,” and their residency is revoked if they reside outside of the city for long periods.
Currently, Al-Dajani aspires to benefit his country with what he has learned, including developing sports curricula, and he looks forward to joining the Palestinian national football team.