Interfaith soccer teams eased Muslim-Christian tensions — to a point
Bringing rival groups together to reduce prejudices is not a new idea. But can positive contact help ethnic groups reconcile after extreme violence? A social scientist tested that idea in Iraq by putting Christians and Muslims on the same soccer teams. The resulting camaraderie among players did help bridge those communities — but only to a point. Relations between Muslims and Christians disintegrated in northern Iraq after the Islamic State took over Mosul and surrounding regions in 2014. Some 100,000 Christians from Mosul alone were among those who fled their homes, returning years later to live uneasily alongside Muslim residents who they saw as complicit in the attacks. Political scientist Salma Mousa of Stanford University, an avid soccer fan who grew up in the Middle East, wondered if the popular sport could bring those communities together. Players did make small behavioral changes on the field, but that didn’t translate to broader...