For this yeshiva graduate teaching Palestinian kids to wrestle is a political act

For SAM STEIN, giving the children of Masafer Yatta a proper wrestling mat and techniques to burn their stress is a small way of fighting the occupation.

When someone first sees me, "wrestler" is probably just about the last word that pops into their head. At about 175 centimetres, I'm roughly average height, but my skinny frame seems to make people surprised that I can pick up household objects, let alone engage in a sport as physical as wrestling.

But since I took up the sport at the age of 15, wrestling has been the only physical activity I've really enjoyed. I get bored with basketball, football or baseball after 10 minutes. But I can wrestle for hours and want to keep going long after I've hit the point of exhaustion.

After more than a decade, it's become more than a hobby. Wrestling has helped me learn to focus, gain confidence, and work towards a goal. It's been a source of personal growth and is a part of my identity.

Before leaving New York, I coached high school wrestling at my alma mater, DRS Yeshiva High School. It was an incredibly fulfilling experience that gave me the opportunity to introduce growing young boys to the sport that's given me so much. We did well, too: everyone on the team earned a top-six finish in their weight class. Winning definitely made things more fun.

So, when I moved to Israel-Palestine in 2019, I knew I wanted to continue coaching wrestling,

As I became involved in Palestinian solidarity activism, I realised I had a great opportunity to mix my activism and my passion for wrestling.

I had formed deep relationships with the Palestinian communities in the South Hebron Hills, also known as Masafer Yatta, an area of the West Bank that faces rampant settler violence, discriminatory infrastructure, and regular home demolitions.