Orthodox Club – Jaffa
Founding and mission
On 24 February 1924, the Orthodox Youth Club in Jaffa was announced, and it adopted the motto: “Through knowledge and unity.”
The club was the first of the Orthodox clubs in Palestine — the first Orthodox club founded in the country — and it was established in response to the call issued at the first Orthodox Congress in Haifa.
The Orthodox Club in Jaffa aims to advance the Arab Orthodox community and its youth, raise its social, cultural, and sporting standing, and foster a spirit of brotherhood and cooperation among Orthodox youth in the country.
Accordingly, the club embraced young people within the framework of youth movements, formed a football team and an Orthodox scout troop, and held cultural and educational seminars, until it became the pride of Orthodox clubs. It also joined national Orthodox youth, locally and nationwide, in the struggle to obtain the community’s national rights from the Patriarchate.
The Club’s journey and premises
The club had no permanent premises at first. It first opened in a building belonging to the Shuheibar family, then moved from one location to another until it settled in the building now known as the Frères School.
In that period it was decided to build a dedicated clubhouse on the land surrounding St. George’s Church. Construction began, but in the final stages, before it was inaugurated, the Nakba war of 1948 broke out, and everything came to a halt.
Given the dangerous security situation during the war in some parts of Jaffa, they were forced to leave and take refuge in a building belonging to the Sawabini family, where the club’s premises have remained to this day.