The first Palestinian World Cup – updated 8th December
JVL Introduction
For millions and millions of people the Qatar World Cup is seen as the Arab World Cup.
And, as Nazareth based writer Baker Zoubi explains, this has also had the effect of putting Palestine in the forefront as well.
Knesset member Ahmad Tibi put it like this:
“The respectable performances of the Arab national teams brought us pride. The presence of Palestine was strongly felt in every stadium, the flag of Palestine was waved everywhere. After [years] in which the feeling that the Palestinian issue was less of an issue among the Arabs, the [Arab] people made clear that this issue is the central one for the entire Arab nation.”
8th Dec update: And there are 2 bonuses at the end from English fans on TV.
This article was originally published by +972 Magazine, In partnership with Local Call on Tue 6 Dec 2022. Read the original here.
The first Palestinian World Cup
Despite not qualifying for the tournament, the ubiquity of Palestinian flags and the rejection of Israeli reporters has put Palestine front and center in Qatar.
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In spite of their rejection of the apartheid label, Israelis in Qatar are beginning to feel like white South Africans and not before time.
Totally agree. I have seen posts on social media of support fro Palestine including Moroccan fans in London after victory over Spain.
This article is really heartwarming for Palestine but the solidarity is a long time coming. Shouldn’t we comment on the absence of it so far? When Palestinians were expelled from their homeland in 1948 they could have been welcomed more enthusiastically by the many surrounding Arab countries but this was far from the case. If the Quatari government had been politically onside with Palestine then we might have seen a very different outcome to the Naqba. Recent shows of support come as a result of European Liberal influence from the democratised human rights movements here and in 1960’s US.
When Qatar was announced as the Country to hold the World Cup, I was more than a bit disappointed, after reading of the deaths and injuries of the imported cheap labour, I was angry that it was given to Qatar. Then I read this article, I had a smile fixed across my face, a strong feeling of satisfaction and warmth for the Palestinians, I wish I was there so I could take part in the supporting of Palestine, it must have been very special seeing different nation’s fans, with waving the Palestinian flag. My dad used to say, “God works in strange ways”!!