Palestine vs. The World : Palestinian Profiles: Omar Jarun

At first glimpse, you wouldn't think Omar Jarun could possibly be a Palestinian footballer. Towering at a ridiculous height of 6 feet 5 inches, Omar looks more like he plays american football and is as American and white as can get. He has a deep, southern voice and dosen't speak a word of Arabic. However, Omar is a Palestinian football legend. Since his first callup to the team in 2007, Omar has established himself as a great of Palestinian football and by far one of the greatest defenders to represent Palestine. At age 31, Jarun's career is coming to a close and we look back into the start of his career, his greatest moments, and current performance.
Omar was born in Kuwait to an American mother and father from Jordan, but had Palestinian roots. With the ensuing Gulf War, Jarun's family fled the country when Omar was still at a young age. They moved to the promised land, The United Sates and lived in Peachtree, Georgia. Omar was raised and started his footballing career here. Jarun played for his high school soccer team, and showed immense talent as a forward (later he changes to a more defensive role). Combined with his incredible vision and towering height, Jarun was a top talent and a move to a top college for soccer was imminent. Like every young teenager, Jarun dreamt of playing for the United States National team, but it was to be otherwise.

Omar using his height to beat a defender and win a header.

Omar was offered to play soccer for the University of Memphis and later at the University of Dayton, where he started his promising career. Jarun was a great forward and later center back, but not enough to be drafted into the MLS, so he had to start his professional career from the bottom. He was offered his first professional contract with American third division side Fort Wayne Fever in Indiana. Jarun had to crawl his way up to a truly great team, and stated by giving consistent performances with his lowly team. Upon his impressive games in Indiana, Jarun was spotted by Chicago Fire FC, and got an offer to be a part of their U-23 squad. After a year, it was time for Omar to move on, and he decided to move back to where he grew up, Georgia. He played a solid two years with the second division side, Atlanta Silverbacks.
Atlanta was where Omar started making a name for himself, and got the attention of Palestinian and Jordanian scouts looking for footballers who had roots in their respective countries. Omar was the product of the Palestinian diaspora and was highly coveted for scouts looking for incredible, foreign talent to bolster the squad. Despite an offering from the highly rated Jodanian national team, Omar agreed to play for the land of his ancestors and be a part of Palestine's unjust, difficult, and dangerous footballing journey. At club level, Omar was offered a move to another NASL side Vancouver Whitecaps (started in MLS in 2010) where he played his some of the best games in his career. He even featured in a match agianst L.A. Galaxy and superstar David Beckham. However, Jarun's most incredible stories come form his lesser known and highly underated national team.

Palestinian football is now greater then it has ever been, but it was a long, difficult, and dangerous road to get there. Jarun started in 2007, where he would become an integral part of Palestine's under-preforming, under funded, and highly disappointing team. The team faced all sort of problems, from internal problems with the PFA(Palestinian Football Association) to external problems including travel restriction, player arrests, and other problems put in place by Israel. Football was Palestine's only voice, and a medium for the country to get some international recognition it despretaley needs and deserves. With knowledge of a rapidly growing team, Israel has tried everything to hinder any team progress by arresting and torturing players (Mahmoud Sarsak), murdering former players (Ahed Zaqout), and placing extremely difficult travel restrictions to avoid the team from leaving the country. Despite all this, Omar Jarun was not afraid of playing and was proud to represent his people. Although not much to show for it, Omar career with Palestine team has been nothing short of incredible. Despite enduring several disappointing losses, Jarun has been an active part of the squad. He has participated in all types of tournaments including the West Asian Football Federation Championship, 2 disappointing World Cup qualifying campaigns, and several runs in the AFC Challenge Cup. His hard work finally came to fruition in the summer of 2014, when he lead Palestine to an AFC Challenge cup victory and allowed no goals the entire tournament.

Omar (middle) preparing for a World Cup qualification game.

For all his hard work and dedication, Jarun was rewarded by not being chosen to play in Palestine's biggest and most important tournament, the 2015 AFC Asian Cup in Australia. After a horrendous tournament, Palestine's faliure of a coach, Ahmad El- Hassan, will be shaking his head at the stupid decision to not bring Omar along. After several brief stints with teams around the world including Belgium, Omar returned to another NASL team, Ottawa Fury, and is an important member of their squad. Omar's future with the Palestine national team is uncertain, and he may decide to hang up his boots after not being chosen despite all his hard work. However, Palestinian fans everywhere can only pray Omar decides to remain with the team, for his experience and work ethic is unprecedented. On a personal note, I want to say I have met Omar and must describe him as a gentle giant, and an extremely kind and humble man. I watched his NASL game between Ottawa and his former team Atlanta, and despite not playing, he met up with me after the game and was extremely kind. His contagious smile, combined with his ridiculous work ethic makes him a legend on and off the pitch. I speak for Palestine fans everywhere when I say Omar is one of the greatest players to have worn the Palestinian jersey, and can only hope that he decides to remain with the squad. Thank you Omar!