Over 100 Arab and Jewish women came together to contest a football tournament aimed at celebrating the International Women's Day in Israel. 

The teams were constituted of female players - women and girls - from Arab and Jewish towns around Tel Aviv, who played in mixed groups under the slogan "Let's kick sexism and racism out of football."

The event was organised by Kick It Out Israel, a football anti-discrimination campaign of the Fare member New Israel Found, whose work focuses on using football to bring Jewish and Arab communities together, while addressing prejudice and discrimination.

It was backed by the Israel Football Association and attended by representatives of Kick It Out Israel Team for Social Responsibility, a movement formed by some of the country's top professional football players, who addressed the participants on issues such as racism and gender-based discrimination.

To also mark the day, Nura Abu Shnab, professional player and member Team for Social Responsibility, wrote an op-ed article in one of Israel's most popular news websites - "Women's football is no longer just an educational extra-curricular activity" - where she talked about her experience growing up in the Arab town of Sakhnin, where she was the only girl playing football.

The event comes weeks after another highlight initiative of Kick It Out Israel. In February, they organised the first anti-homophobia tournament ever held in Israel to celebrate diversity and the international campaign Football v Homophobia.

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Supplied by Kick It Out Israel/ New Israel Fund[/caption]