Honey Thaljieh
هوني ثلجية
Born: Bethlehem, Palestine
Domain: Sports
Recognition: GLOBAL
Biography
Honey Thaljieh is a pioneering figure in Palestinian and Middle Eastern women's football, best known as the co-founder and first-ever captain of the Palestine women's national team. Born in 1984 in Bethlehem, she grew up under occupation in a conservative society where girls playing football was widely frowned upon, and her early years on dusty streets and church courtyards laid the foundation for a path that would break social and political barriers alike. In 2003 Thaljieh helped found the Palestinian women's national football team and was named its first captain, leading the side onto the international stage and becoming a visible symbol of female ambition in a context fraught with restrictions on movement, gender norms, and the daily realities of occupation. Her leadership made her a role model for women and girls across the Middle East who saw in her proof that they too could claim space on the pitch. A series of knee injuries ended her playing career, but Thaljieh transformed that setback into a new mission. She became the first woman in the Middle East to earn the prestigious FIFA Master in management, law, and humanities of sport, and the first to be employed by FIFA, where she has worked in corporate communications and championed projects promoting gender equality, education, health, and peace through sport. Thaljieh has used her global platform to advocate tirelessly for the power of sport as a vehicle for empowerment and social change. As a sought-after speaker and an ambassador for organisations such as Save the Dream and Peace and Sport, she has carried the story of Palestinian women's football from the streets of Bethlehem to international forums, including the world governing body's own boardroom. Her legacy is that of a trailblazer who opened the game to Palestinian women and who rose from a war-affected childhood to a senior role in global football administration. Thaljieh stands as one of the most influential Palestinian women in sport and a powerful counter-narrative to the assumption that football belongs to men.
Why This Person Matters
She founded and captained Palestine's first women's national football team and became the first Middle Eastern woman to earn a FIFA Master and work at FIFA, opening the sport to a generation of Arab women.