Jerusalem Palestinians inaugurate "Peace Stadium"

The gleaming green patch of artificial high-tech turf, nestled among old stone buildings at the lower reaches of the Jerusalem village of Issawiya, was funded by the South Korean government in hope of improving residents' quality of life.

"Encouraging co-operation between the peoples, particularly through children, is very good for peace," South Korean embassy official Saeng Kim told Reuters at the official opening of the "Korea-Issawiya Peace Stadium".

Arab Jerusalemites carry Israeli identity cards but see themselves as citizens of a future Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Regular sporting contacts between Israelis and Palestinians, locked in violence for the past five years, have been rare. Last month Israeli and Palestinian players assembled for a symbolic "peace team" lost 2-1 to Barcelona at famed Nou Camp stadium.

The pitch, which is the first of its kind, was built as part of the sports project of the Peres Centre for Peace, a foundation set up by veteran Israeli politician Shimon Peres.

"There are 250,000 inhabitants in (Arab) East Jerusalem, this is the first (such facility)," Peres Centre director Ron Pundak told Reuters.

"We need to start with the kids," he said. "They are the future and we want to show them that together with Israelis we can make peace."

The centre has established several soccer schools throughout Israel and the occupied West Bank as part of its Twinned Soccer Schools projects which was started three years ago. The centre says some 2,000 children have already benefited from it.

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