'Baseball United is a beautiful thing': Palestinian player hopes to inspire Gaza children

Yunis Halim’s latest trip to the Middle East has brought with it conflicting emotions.

This weekend, he will be living out a lifetime ambition by rubbing shoulders with stars of baseball from the country of his birth, as the sport makes its professional debut in Dubai.

And yet it is also difficult to escape for long from the thoughts of the war in his homeland.

“We are just praying for unity, and to stop the violence all over the world,” Halim, 26, said.

“We really want peace and unity, and everybody to have a safe world. We don’t want violence anywhere in the world.”

Halim plays international baseball for Palestine. He has been selected as one of the eight “prospect” players for the Baseball United All-Star Showcase at Dubai International Stadium this weekend.

The plans for the launch of pro baseball in the region initially included four teams and three days of games. Instead, it has been scaled back due to the onset of the conflict.

Now there will be two sides – East All-Stars and West All-Stars – who will play each other on Friday and Saturday.

Halim has been included in the roster for the West team, although he knows who he is really representing.

“Baseball United is a beautiful thing,” he said. “It shows that people from Palestine, from Pakistan, from Europe, from all over the world can play baseball.

“The future is here. There are always players from all over the world who can play. For me, I’m hoping that Palestinian people can look up to me and say, ‘Hey, he is playing baseball at a big level, maybe I can be like him one day.’

“It is very deep in my heart. It is motivating me to think kids could look up to me, and I have to represent them the right way.”

Halim’s journey to representing Palestine was an unlikely