Omar Droguett and Mohamad Abdulaziz are unlikely friends. Despite living on different continents – Droguett is in Santiago, Chile, while Abdulaziz resides in Riyadh – the pair have, for the past decade, been united in a common goal. Whatever the weather and whatever the time zone, they steadfastly follow the fortunes of Club Deportivo Palestino.
Droguett and Abdulaziz have cried together, laughed together and celebrated together. In 2018, Palestino – a club founded by Palestinian immigrants in Chile more than a century ago – won its first major trophy in 40 years. Droguett live-streamed the match and its emotional aftermath to his mate in Saudi Arabia; more than 10,000 miles away, Abdulaziz was glued to his screen.
When victory in the Copa Chile final was confirmed, the tears began to fall, in both Santiago and Saudi Arabia.
“For me, supporting Palestino feels like an obligation,” Abdulaziz, whose grandparents migrated from Palestine to Lebanon, explains to Esquire Middle East. “It is something I must do – to serve this club.
“Why? Because Palestino is more than just a football club; it is a message, and its message of support for Palestine is – to be honest – even stronger than can be found sometimes here in the Middle East.”
Abdulaziz’s relationship with Palestino began in 2014 when the club made global headlines for changing the number one on the back of its jerseys to the shape of Palestine before the United Nations’ 1948 partition. The controversial move drew admiration from many but also the ire of the football authorities.
Palestino were fined $1,300 and banned from wearing the shirt, with the Chilean Football Federation claiming the punishment was because it was opposed to “any form of political, religious, sexual, ethnic, social or racial discrimination”.
“This story really got my full attention,” Abdulaziz recalls. “From that moment on, I consumed everything I could in learning about the club and started watching all their matches – even though they did, and still do, usually kick off at 4am.”
As arguably the biggest Palestino superfan in the Middle East, Abdulaziz has spent the past 10 years doing all he can to promote the club in the region. He met Droguett, who was born and raised in the shadow of Palestino’s Estadio Municipal de La Cisterna, after starting a popular Arabic fans’ page on Facebook. The pair worked together to build up the club’s following in the region, and to ship and distribute Palestino shirts in the Gulf.
“Mohamad is a crazy guy for how much he loves Palestino,” Droguett smiles. “My love of this club comes from growing up here – around the stadium, these are my streets. For him, it was about this bond with Palestine, which is of course special to me too. With this club, we can show the Palestinian colours throughout South America and highlight the struggle. One day, I would love to host Mohamad here in Chile so he can see this in person.”
Visa difficulties have prevented Abdulaziz from ever travelling to see his beloved Palestino so far but he faithfully watches on TV – something only possible thanks to his own intervention. After becoming frustrated at having to scrabble around the internet for poor-quality streams of Palestino’s games, the Riyadh resident – an IT project manager by day – began lobbying the region’s television networks in the mid-2010s.
Initially just one Palestinian channel took heed, broadcasting matches on Facebook, with commentary in English or Spanish. But it wasn’t enough for Abdulaziz.
“I really wanted Arabic commentary,” he recalls. “I kept pushing and then eventually Abu Dhabi TV bought the rights and started showing games in Arabic. Then came beIN SPORTS and still now they are showing Palestino; I am very proud of this.”
A crusade to host Palestino’s 2019 Chilean Super Cup clash against Colo Colo in the UAE, Qatar or Saudi Arabia was not quite so successful. “It would have been incredible, massive,” Abdulaziz says, his voice still tinged with disappointment. “I pleaded with the authorities and told them they would have a lot of noise and a full stadium, but I couldn’t convince anyone.”
Deportivo Palestino’s ties with the Middle East go deeper than an ever-growing fandom in the region. Chile has the largest Palestinian diaspora outside the Middle East with some 500,000 people calling the South American nation home. It was from this community that Palestino was first formed in 1920. Despite this clear footballing connection between Palestine and Chile, it was almost 80 years before the link between the two nations took on a new dimension.
In 2002, Nicola Hadwa – a proud Chilean-Palestinian coach – was handed the reins of the Palestine national team. These days Hadwa is a 74-year-old politician who is a vocal critic of US foreign policy and the country’s unwavering support of Israel. Then, he was a football coach with a revolutionary plan to improve the Palestine team’s fortunes by tapping into the diaspora in Chile.
Among Hadwa’s first recruits was Deportivo Palestino midfielder Roberto Kettlun, a 21-year-old who had just become a regular for his club side. “Choosing to play for Palestine was not a straightforward decision,” Kettlun, now 43, recalls to Esquire Middle East. “I had spent my life dreaming of representing the Chile national team and had already played for the country’s Under-20s.
“But I spoke with my father and Nicola and decided to accept the invitation. Nicola was, and is, very dedicated to the Palestinian cause. His stay with the national team was short, but he left an amazing legacy.”
Having grown up wholly in Chile, travelling to – and playing in – the Middle East was a dramatic football and cultural awakening for Kettlun. His decision to represent Palestine, flying thousands of miles on multiple occasions to compete for the country, made him an instant cult hero who was adored by the fans.
The feeling was mutual. After a winning debut against Kuwait in 2002, Kettlun was given his first glimpse into just how fervent the global support is for the Palestine national team, even when playing away from the West Bank. “There were lots of Palestinian fans in the stadium and when we arrived to our hotel afterwards, they were all in the lobby waiting for us – to congratulate us, hug us and thank us for our victory. I will always remember the happiness and enthusiasm from all the people in Palestine.”
Kettlun’s eyes had been opened to a new world – one in which his team-mates regularly suffered abuse from authorities and significant delays in travelling through border checkpoints; two decades later and the challenges for Palestinian players remain the same.
“When you are young, you just want to play football and become a professional,” Kettlun explains. “But when you start to realise you are also making the people in Palestine proud, it’s a completely different kind of joy. You embrace your career with an extra sense of responsibility towards your nation, ready to raise your voice against the oppression, injustices and atrocities that our people are suffering on a daily basis.”
At Club Palestino, Kettlun had been educated about the Palestinian struggle through the diaspora, and what he describes as its “strong sense of commitment and resistance”. But the rawness of his experiences with Palestine and the stories of his colleagues led to a much deeper connection with his heritage than he had ever envisaged.
In 2012 he did what few foreign-born Palestinian players have ever done: move to the West Bank to play club football. Signing for Jerusalem’s Hilal Al-Quds, Palestine’s most successful club side, Kettlun moved his family across the world.
“The first year was very difficult because we had to adapt to a new reality in every way,” he recalls. “But things improved and in the second year, we won the Palestine Cup! It is difficult to put into words how satisfying it was and what it means to come from the diaspora to Palestine and lift this trophy – because normally it happens the opposite way.”
Kettlun also played in Hebron for Ahli Al-Khaleel before retiring in 2016. In a moment of circularity, he then returned to Club Palestino as a sporting director – recommending a number of Chilean players with Palestinian heritage to the national team, and overseeing one of the biggest successes in the club’s history.
For 40 years, Club Palestino valiantly fought for the Palestinian cause off the pitch, but failed to make a mark on it. In 2018, however, four trophy-less decades came to an end when they defeated Audax Italiano over two legs in the Copa Chile final.
On two different continents, Omar Droguett and Mohamad Abdulaziz were jubilant. The memory of the occasion remains vivid for Palestino’s Saudi superfan.
“This day was one of the most important of my life,” Abdulaziz says as he fights to hold back the tears. “The final was just a few days after my mum passed away and at that time I was so devastated. When Palestino won the cup, I was crying like a child as I felt that my mum had asked Allah to let the team win for her son.”
Palestino’s match-winner in the enthralling 3-2 second leg victory at their Estadio Municipal de La Cisterna, was 34-year-old Luis Jimenez. A club academy product who was once a team-mate of Kettlun, Jimenez made an emotional return to Palestino after a wildly successful career in Europe.
The winger won two Serie A titles with Italian giants Inter Milan, played in the English Premier League with West Ham United, and earned 33 caps for the Chile national team – becoming his country’s oldest ever goalscorer in 2021 at the age of 36 years and 282 days. He also claimed the UAE Pro League crown with Al Ahli in 2014.
Among all those successes, however, Jimenez remembers the Copa Chile particularly fondly. His goal was a strike for the ages; Jimenez picked up the ball on the halfway line before hurdling a pair of challenges and thrashing the ball home from 20 yards.
“It was incredible, being champions after 40 years was a joy for all the fans,” Jimenez tells Esquire Middle East. “I remember that even from Palestine they sent us greetings and congratulations.
“Palestino is the club where I started my career and gave me the opportunity to understand people from the Middle East in a new way. It still feels like my home and that’s why I played there on three separate occasions.”
As the final whistle blew at the Estadio Municipal to confirm the Copa Chile victory, thousands of Palestinian flags were held aloft in the stands. Among those creating the striking mosaic, simultaneously a celebration of football success and political subversion, was Droguett.
“I don’t think Luis ever thought he would actually win something when he decided to come back to Palestino,” says Droguett. “Many fans, including me, thought he was too old to make an impact but in the first match he played, I remember thinking ‘what the f***, this guy still runs like he is 15 years old’.
“He became our captain – the captain who lifted this trophy. We remember him like a hero for what he did.”
Not far from Droguett on that memorable November afternoon, another icon of Palestino – and Palestine – was in Santiago to watch the scenes unfold. Roberto Kettlun had returned to the club as sporting director and the former midfielder’s influence behind the scenes helped inspire the historic triumph.
“Palestino means a lot to Roberto and the supporters have so much respect for him because they see this,” Droguett explains. “They are also proud that he made a career in Palestine. On a personal level, we have worked together and really he is one of the world’s good guys.”
Six years after that first taste of glory, Droguett and Abdulaziz are still waiting for their second. The season after winning the Copa Chile, Palestino embarked on a thrilling run in the Copa Libertadores – South America’s celebrated equivalent to the UEFA Champions League.
Respected Colombian side Independiente Medellin were bested in qualifying and there were landmark group stage fixtures against continental heavyweights in Brazil’s Internacional and Argentina’s River Plate, though Palestino ultimately fell short of reaching the latter stages.
Since then, the club has gone through major structural changes. Kettlun and his former international team-mate Roberto Bishara – who also worked at Palestino, as a youth team coach – have both departed. Cup hero Jimenez retired in 2022.
Palestino currently lie seventh in the Chilean Primera Division but they were back in the Copa Libertadores this year – claiming two impressive victories over Millionairos of Colombia and Brazilian giants Flamengo. Every time he watches Palestino live, Droguett still sends photos and videos to Abdulaziz, who eagerly awaits his friend’s latest cross-continental updates.
Despite a failure to add more silverware, Palestino have certainly added more supporters. The 2023 invasion of Gaza has brought new pain to Palestine, prompting the club named in its honour to redouble its fundraising and awareness efforts. It means a new generation of fans is springing up in the Middle East.
“We have hosted local football tournaments and we are still spreading the message of Palestino,” Abdulaziz reflects. “We know that fans here [in Riyadh] love Barcelona and Real Madrid but we want young Arab fans to know that if they support Palestino, they are supporting a club that represents something bigger. It is a club for all Arabs.”