Palestine Making Progress in Sport

Certain to Be in the Next Olympics as Separate Entity for First Time.

SOCCER TEAM WILL TOUR

Maccabee Eleven to Play Initial U.S. Game at the Yankee Stadium Next Sunday.

An ambitious sports program with participation in the Olympic Games in Japan in 1940 as its objective is now under way in Palestine. The ancient homeland of the Jews is rapidly becoming sports conscious, and interest in athletics there is so abounding that it is certain that Palestine, for the first time in history, will have representation in the Olympics as a separate entity.

Dr. Alexander Rosenfeld, vice president of the Maccabee Sports Organization, the governing body in Palestine, made these facts known yesterday while outlining the program of the champion Maccabee soccer team, recently arrived here for a tour of the United States.

Will Make U.S. Début

The Jewish soccer aggregation will make its first American appearance next Sunday at the Yankee Stadium against an all-star eleven picked from among outstanding players of the New York area. The game will be played for the benefit of the Jews of Poland, and will be sponsored by the Federation of Polish Jews in America, an organization of which Benjamin Winter is president.

Dr. Rosenfeld explained that the present trip of the Maccabee players is a natural step in the movement to gain representation for Palestine in the Olympics. The squad now in this country, he pointed out, already has met and defeated teams in Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Hungary and Rumania, and has gained the championship of the Near East.

Training Facilities Poor

The appearance of the Jewish team in this country will serve greatly to show American sports followers the advances that have been made in athletics in Palestine, even in the face of inadequate training facilities and financial hardships. In addition to excellence in soccer, the natives of Palestine have shown considerable aptitude for other sports, particularly water polo, track and field, fencing and gymnastics.

The itinerary of the Maccabees here will include games in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Boston, Detroit and Chicago, as well as the one in New York.

New York Times, 20. September 1936, S. S7 (=146).

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