Episodes Summaries for The Team in Palestine

Season 1

Episode 1

The series opens in the club house, where old club members play cards, argue over what to watch on TV, and try to ignore that the club is going bankrupt and they will likely have to disband. Lurking in the shadows is Qasem, who has come to look for Khaled, the handsome young poet and footballer to whom many turn for guidance. But Khaled has quit the club to go to college, and Qasem, who has been in hiding from the police, goes to Khaled’s home to ask him to deliver a message to his wife. We also meet Khaled’s girlfriend, Salem; his sweet but hot-headed younger brother, Sufyan; and their widowed mother, Samiha.

Episode 2

The wealthy Abu Waal realizes his money can reinvigorate the club and, in so doing, further his political ambitions. Meanwhile, Khaled and his university friends are staging “Romeo and Juliet,” and the love story between Khaled and Salem gets complicated as other students have romantic designs on both of them. Khaled delivers money to Qasem’s wife on the fugitive’s behalf.

Episode 3

The team plays a disastrous match. A player doesn’t show up because he’s caught up at a checkpoint; Coach Abu Lawaha recruits Ahmed, the son of one of the old players, to play instead. A referee’s red card results in a fist fight among players; the police are called and some players, including Sufyan, are detained. Qasem, still watching in the shadows, flees when the police come. Khaled arrives and manages to calm everyone down, speaking with the police on behalf of those detained. Meanwhile, Salem’s mother urges her to get engaged, and the young woman becomes determined to marry Khaled (though he has not proposed yet).

Episode 4

Abu Waal decides to invest in the club, providing a place for the team to play at a resort he owns. His wife is not happy, saying he’s wasting his money on “the little people.” The status of Abu Lawaha as coach is under question; some wonder who will replace him if he retires (Qasem appears in the back of everyone’s mind). Samiha makes plans to study at the university.

Episode 5

Abu Waal buys the football team new uniforms. Maha, Abu Waal’s secretary, has ambitions to improve her position in the club, prompting her to become her boss’s mistress. Khaled is asked to rejoin the team, but he declines. To her family’s chagrin, Salem refuses a marriage proposal (from a man other than Khaled).

Episode 6

Salem hints to Khaled that another man proposed to her; he panics at the idea of her marrying someone else so says he will propose, though he is not really ready. Dana, a friend from the university, pays a visit to Khaled, sparking jealousy in Salem. Samiha questions Khaled’s intentions with Dana.

Episode 7

Maha divorces her husband in her quest for more influence through her new relationship with Abu Waal. In contrast, Samiha is shown working on behalf of women’s rights (in later episodes, she will start a football team for girls.) Two members of the team are arrested for being in Israel illegally. 

Episode 8

Coach Abu Lawaha is given a second chance, though he fails to improve the team’s ability to play, frustrating everyone. Qasem wants to stop being a “wanted” man, and hopes Khaled can help him. Sufyan becomes interested in a Christian girl, and Khaled’s uncle Abu Amzi – Samiha’s former brother-in-law – proposes marriage to Samiha; she turns him down.

Episode 9

Abu Amzi leaves behind his traditional clothes to show Samiha that he is part of the modern world; his marriage offer is still declined. Salem and Khaled remain deeply in love but he still does not propose. Abu Lawaha loses his job as coach, sparking emotional reactions of both support and dissent among team members. A decision to retain Abu Lawaha in an administrative position with the team resolves the dispute.

Episode 10

Maha offers Khaled an administrative job with the club, and his friends finally convince him to rejoin and play football again. The job offer seemed innocent, but Maha is actually very attracted to Khaled. He does not return her interest but nonetheless incurs the jealousy of Abu Waal, setting in motion a chain of events that will change Khaled’s life.

Episodes 11 to 28

Episodes 11 to 28 chronicle Khaled’s fall from grace after being falsely accused of theft. After spending a few days in jail, he finds that his reputation in the community is destroyed, and his girlfriend is pressured by her parents to leave him. Thus is revealed a dark side of Palestinian life and the damage that can be done to an innocent man without due process. Yet rather than prompting Khaled to take revenge, this injustice propels him to resurrect his reputation by breathing new life into the local club’s football team. Khaled’s strength of character emerges as he demonstrates true leadership and support for his community despite being deeply hurt from its betrayal. His standing is restored due to his unshakeable determination to make a better life for himself, his family and his community.

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