9th International Hapoel Games 1971

Israel Sports

April 13, 1971

9th International Hapoel Games 1971

Complete set of 3 nos. of postage stamps on the Ninth International “HAPOEL” Games in Israel :

Issued by Israel

Issued on 13 Apr, 1971

The Designer : The stamps were designed by: D. Pessach & S. Ketter, Ma’abarot

Type : Stamps, Mint Condition

Colour : Multi colour

Denomination : 50 Agorot each

About :

Since 1928, there have been eight Hapoel Games, the first four of which (1928, 1930, 1932, 1935) were modest and of rather private character. Riots, the war, and the task of establishing the State of Israel account for the fact that no games took place during the next 17 years. Since 1952, however, they have recurred at regular five-year intervals.
Hapoel Games have now become vast rallies indicative of the federation’s diversity. While top sportsmen and women compete with each other and Israel’s finest, thousands of ordinary members take part in group displays, mainly in the form of mass demonstrations of rhythmics and folk dancing, etc. at the festive openings.
The Ninth Hapoel Games during this Histadrut Jubilee year will be greater than ever. Some 1000 sportsmen from 24 countries on all continents have announced their participation. Members of European workers’ sports organizations will contest various championships, and top sportsmen will demonstrate their prowess.
During the week of the meet (April 29 – May 5, 1971), some 100 events are scheduled to take place all over the country, in cities, development towns, kibbutzim, army bases, border settlements, and villages, both Arab and Jewish.
Four numbers are symbolic in the current games: 9, 23, 45, and 50.
- 9 symbolizes the continuity of Hapoel Games.
- 23 symbolizes Israel’s 23^rd year, in the celebration of which the meet is an important element.
- 45 stands for Hapoel’s 45^th anniversary year, marking the organization’s steady progress.
- 50 stands for the Jubilee of the Histadrut, which Hapoel, being an important expression of Histadrut strength and achievements, and devoted to its values, joins in celebrating.
The activities of the Games are of three types: massed displays, national evenings, and sports events. There will be three mass gatherings. The opening on April 29, a main item in the Independence Day celebrations, will take place in the Ramat Gan Municipal Stadium, with the President attending. The exercises and dances executed by thousands of young people promise to be a grand audio-visual experience. The closing ceremony on May 5 at Binyanei Ha-ooma in Jerusalem will be attended by the Prime Minister. It will be a solemn event in academic style, and among the participants will be dance and folklore troupes from Israel and abroad. The May 1 event will take place in Haifa in the presence of Histadrut leaders.
National evenings will feature rhythmics, dancing and folklore. About twenty such events will take place all over the country, some of them in army bases under the “Hapoel Salutes the Israel Defence Army” program.
There are plans for sports events in 17 categories, the most outstanding of which are athletics, gymnastics, and ball games, and these three are the subjects of the commemorative stamp issue.
Hundreds of members of European workers’ sports organizations will be coming, the largest groups expected being from Italy, France, Belgium, Austria, and Switzerland.
Series of basketball, volley ball, soccer, and water-polo games are scheduled, with select American and European teams competing with the Hapoel, Maccabi and other Israel teams.
The Ninth Hapoel Games bid fair to be a festival of national and international importance, a sports event uplifting to both body and mind. It will celebrate Hapoel itself, the Histadrut and the nation, embracing the entire country and reverberating beyond its borders to the world at large.